Soccer jerseys have sponsors front and center; NASCAR vehicles are essentially rolling billboards.
Soon, the NBA could join them in giving advertisements a prominent position next to their athletes.
[seealso slug=http://sale-online.click/2014/06/19/crazy-world-cup-fans/%5D%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EThe NBA logo will appear on the back of players' jerseys next season, a move that has caused speculation that ads could soon appear on the newly vacated space on the shoulder. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has called ads on jerseys "inevitable."
Previously, the NBA logo only appeared on the shoulder of jerseys.
Starting next season, the logo will move to the back, leaving open the space in which the league previously considered putting ads. ESPN's Uni Watch first noticed the change in the new uniforms released by the Charlotte Hornets.
It begins... RT "@MikeKing00: Nets remove Ball Logo from back of jerseys, replace it with NBA Logo. New NBA Rule. pic.twitter.com/qqkLl2LLVW"— Chris Creamer (@sportslogosnet) June 20, 2014
Other teams have followed.
NBA logo moving to back of all jerseys for "stylistic reasons" (aka ad patches soon) --> http://t.co/WnVxjKbnRt pic.twitter.com/wODJ0xjoZd— Paul Lukas (@UniWatch) June 19, 2014
The NBA confirmed to Mashable the move was due to style choices, but would not comment on any speculation regarding advertising on jerseys.
Other U.S. professional sports have explored new, more prominent places for ads. WNBA jerseys have large ads on jerseys, introduced in 2009 as a way to bring additional revenue to the league. Major League Baseball put advertisements for the movie "Spiderman" on bases in 2004. The ads were removed after heated criticism.
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