NBA fans AGAINST ads on jerseys

Dear Commissioner Silver and NBA,

Please reconsider your efforts to allow advertisements on jerseys. No league in the four major American sports leagues uses jersey ads. It's a major draw of American professional sports leagues. European leagues are aesthetically disappointing, and in some cases, downright terrible looking. Their players look like moving billboards. It is distracting and frankly, makes me not want to watch their brand of basketball at all.

As diehard NBA fans, this decision is not only disappointing, but absolutely saddening. Classic looks like those of the Bulls, Celtics, and Spurs will be ruined with jersey advertisements. It was quite obvious to fans that the Rising Stars Challenge was a test run for these advertisements, and the jerseys looked awful.

We are former season ticket holder, merchandise purchaser, and TV broadcast consumer. We feel that the league makes enough money, the fans are forced to view enough ads, and there is only one piece of material left without advertising on it: the jersey. Can we not leave one single piece of sport unblemished? Can we allow jerseys to only represent a few things: the team, player, league, and jersey supplier? The vast majority of fans do not want their favorite league to look like the advertising-ridden leagues of Europe. 

The D-League and WNBA use jersey advertisements because they gain MUCH less fan revenue than the NBA. They generally do not have TV deals like the NBA does with ESPN and other outlets, and many less fans buy tickets and purchase merchandise. The NBA does not have this problem. It obtains millions upon millions of dollars through ticket sales, merchandise sales, and TV ad revenue. NASCAR is also a problematic comparison. NASCAR, the organization itself, gains the revenue from TV deals with FOX and ABC. The individual teams do not, and unlike NBA teams who can ink a deal with a local provider (like Fox Sports Midwest, etc...), NASCAR teams cannot, as they have no local market. Thus, it is up to them to sell their available space to sponsors in order to make up operating costs and keep their teams competitive. NBA franchises do not have this issue either. Major League Soccer is also not a viable comparison. Those teams also ink local TV deals, and they use jersey ads to supplement the revenue they lose out on because when soccer is televised, entire halves are played without any commercial interruption. Whereas in the NBA, we are subjected to TV commercials approximately every 2 minutes (or so it seems).

Again, we ask you to please reconsider your efforts to place advertisements on the classic, beautiful, long lasting jerseys that have been loved by millions for decades. We look forward to hearing your response.