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Sports advertising is a billion dollar industry. It's an arms race for companies all over the world to put their names on everything they can. First it was apparel companies signing deals with a team; so that Arsenal would be the official team for Puma, or Real Madrid would be the face of Adidas (the biggest of these deals resulted Adidas paying $86.2 million to Manchester United per year). Next came the naming rights to the stadiums, and most recently we see putting advertisements right on the front of the players jerseys. Soccer was the first, and is still the only major team sport to do this, but that is all about to change according to Adam Silver of the NBA, and for good reason.
The amount made by the 20 Premier League teams over the 2014-15 season was $325.1 million for jersey advertisements. That doesn't include the amount apparel companies like Adidas, Nike, and Puma are paying each team, and only reflects the ads that Fly Emirates and Chevrolet, and King Power put on the front of jerseys. So when you see these figures you have to wonder why is soccer the only one doing this? Are they just smarter than the other leagues? I think the world of soccer was just ahead of the curve, and saw a business opportunity and capitalized.
Another reason I think soccer did this before the other leagues is that soccer seems to evolve and adapt better than the other leagues and understands that little items like this don't truly affect its tradition. If the other leagues want to pretend that they don't want to do this because of the "tradition" of the game then why do the Lakers play at the Staples Center now instead of the Forum? Why does the Green Monster at legendary Fenway Park look like a giant green billboard?
I mean look at that this thing, they have covered it top to bottom, but better not put advertisements on the jerseys or it will mess up the sanctity of the game.
The reality is that all sports leagues will eventually follow soccer's model and find every way they can to make money on advertising that they can. And in the beginning fans will do what they do about all change and complain, but in the end they won't care if it means that money helped keep Lebron in Cleveland for one more season, just as no Real Madrid fan should be mad if Fly Emirates helps you hold on to Ronaldo. It's part of the game, like it or not. Sports advertising is a monster of an industry and I will be curious to see what the next way to make money is for these teams, is it going to be the sponsoring of a player specifically?
BMW presents to you Lionel Messi, or that goal was brought to you in part by Mercedes-Benz.
I truly believe that when it comes to making money, nothing is off limits.
