Time For A Debate: Advertising On NHL Jerseys
By no means is the first time this conversation has been brought up before, but with news coming out earlier this week that Adidas will be taking over jerseys in the NHL starting in 2016-17, the conversation has opened back up again. A lot of people are speculating that with the new jersey provider, it only makes sense that the NHL will explore opening the lane for corporate sponsors to advertise on the sweaters like in soccer and European hockey. Long story short in case you don’t want to read all the words that are about to follow…. I am against jersey ads in the NHL but I 100% understand why Bettman and the NHL would go for them since they could bring in millions and millions of dollars to the league. And with how congested the viewing experience as a hockey fan has become already, jersey ads are the only logical next step.
Flying Bobby. One of the most iconic photos in hockey history. And when you look around, what do you see? The boards are empty and the only things painted on the ice are the lines, crease and faceoff circles. Now here’s what watching the game on TV looks like today.
Every board pane is filled up. You’ve got an ad superimposed on the glass. And every team usually has at least 4 advertisements in the neutral zone. Unless you want every square inch of the ice surface to be covered in ads, it appears that jersey advertising is the only way to go. Which sucks. But you have to keep in mind that this is a business and if any hockey player is ever going to get anything close to a Giancarlo Stanton type of contract, the league needs to bring in more money.
Okay so Europe sucks. They’re a bunch of sellout pricks who needed America to step in during both World Wars just to stop the whole continent from wiping themselves completely off the map. And the way they do hockey advertising disgusts me. I get that once the NHL puts any sort of advertisement on the uniforms anywhere, it opens up the possibility of getting to this level. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, looks worse than the helmet decal ad. And North Americans have already adopted that look.
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Looks fucking atrocious. Douche billboard. But as long as the NHL stayed away from completely ruining the jersey like those disgusting Europeans do, and as long as they stay away from the helmet decals, well then maybe things won’t get TOO out of hand. Something like this wouldn’t necessarily kill anybody.
Does it suck? Yes. Is hockey a sport where it’s players and fans deeply care about and respect tradition? Yes. Does throwing ads on the jersey sort of ruin some of those traditions a bit? Yes. But will you still buy jerseys and buy tickets to games and watch them on TV regardless of if there are ads on the jerseys or not? Yes. And that’s the most important part. Ads or no ads, it’s still the game we watch and the NHL knows that. So as much as ads suck (like having to watch 30 seconds of an ad for a 15 second pizza review), it’s just something that’s inevitable so deal with it.
P.S. – Here’s a concept of what an Adidas jersey could possibly look like via @jprterp.
Pants aren’t that bad but fuck those shoulder stripes. Oh, and to everyone saying that Reebok is owned by Adidas and they are technically the same company. I understand what you’re saying, but you’re also dead wrong. Just because one company is a subsidiary of another doesn’t just automatically make them completely the same. I’m sure there won’t be tons of changes made with Adidas, but there will certainly be some. And they’ll find a way to screw it up. Especially when dealing with team apparel.