Will the MLB, NFL, or NHL Adopt Corporate Jersey Sponsorships like the NBA?

It would be a wise investment if they did…

The NBA made a bold decision in 2016 to approve corporate sponsorship patches on team jerseys. for the 2017–18 season.

According to Forbes and GumGum Sports, the 2.5 by 2.5-inch patches are generating over $350 million worth of value just through exposure on social media. The only other signage in the NBA that generates that much revenue is the Nike logo stitched on NBA jerseys.

Many sponsorship deals for these patches started as low as $5 million over three years, yielding a return on investment of 70 percent for the sponsors. Others have paid between $20–60 million for these sponsorship spaces and still see an ROI of over 5 percent.

An example of the reach one post by LeBron James has on two corporate sponsors: Both StubHub and GoodYear were exposed to James’ 41.1 million followers in this post. All thanks to a $5–20 million investment each company made for a 2.5 x 2.5-inch jersey sponsorship.

One must wonder why the MLB and NFL have not copied the NBA, given their absurd increase in revenue for the league and its franchises through this sponsorship strategy.

Both football and baseball players have plenty of space on their sleeves, chests, and backs for corporate sponsorships.

MLB commission Rob Manfred was asked about this topic during a 2017 interview with Bloomberg. And despite his apprehension, he is open to the idea of corporate sponsors.

“We’ve talked about advertisements on jerseys. Baseball is a very traditional game,” Manfred said. “We are going to have front-of-the-jersey branding with Under Armour for the first time in the next couple of years. It’s a big change for us and I think we’ll need to digest that change before we think about going further.

“I think you have to remain open-minded. Our game evolves like all games. You have to be careful with the changes you make so that you don’t offend the traditionalists that are our core audience.”

The NFL has not made any indications on when or if they would incorporate sponsorship patches on jerseys — or even logos on the helmets.

The NHL did make it very clear a few years ago that they will not sell ad space on the player’s jerseys. This was out of a fear that the league would lose fans who felt the sport was becoming too commercialized.

Regardless, the numbers speak for themselves, and the NBA has proven once and for all the jersey sponsorships are extremely impactful no matter how quickly the game moves, or how far away the camera angles are.

Even professional soccer proved that to us with the myriad of sponsors each team deploys on their jerseys.

If the NBA corporate sponsors can generate over $350 million alone social media from a 2.5 by 2.5-inch patch on a jersey, then what is stopping the MLB, NFL, and NHL from following suit?