NBA Jerseys Have Carried Ads for Years

It's the logical choice to wring even more revenues out of whomever's watching.

Why wouldn't the NBA want to let more advertisers join the jersey-as-billboard party?

And why would anyone object to it?

What are these?

Every jersey in the league has them. It's obviously part of the deal when adidas shelled out a kajillion dollars for the privilege.

Just as obviously, the jersey manufacturers are less than excited about losing their exclusivity they thought they were buying.

The NBA office seems to have sorted the revenue sharing issue, proposing a 50-50 split between teams and a league pool, and has clearly adopted a strategy to gradually introduce their expanded brands policy to the public.

European sponsors saw the value of logo placement on pro sporting apparel decades ago. Their original purpose was to provide a cheaper source of advertising in the print media, as soccer action shots were prominent on tabloid newspapers' back pages for all to see.

The three pro sports that originated in North America are well aware that corporate sponsorship on game apparel and team branding is an accepted fact of life overseas.

Hell, some team names are more sponsor than location; case in point: Japanese baseball's Nippon Ham Corporation owning the Fighters. No one's initial impression of that club starts with Hokkaido.

And really, how can North American fans complain when countless numbers of them serve as human billboards and, ironically, pay for the privilege to do so?