Phoenix Suns In-House Advertising for Jerseys

The National Basketball Association has recently taken a new approach with deciding to sell advertisements on the jerseys of teams and their players. The Phoenix Suns, however, are planning to sell this form of advertising in-house instead of choosing the approach that several other teams have chosen which is to hire an outside firm. There have been numerous other teams that have hired outside firms to help them with the process of selling advertisements on the jerseys. At the beginning of the NBA season for 2013-2014, the NBA will officially allow a sponsorship logo to be featured on the team jerseys. This is not as drastic as the type of logos that are featured on soccer jerseys and Nascar clothing but it is definitely a start. And, the NBA says that this can help them to bring in about $100 million worth of revenue on an annual basis. Each team can earn roughly $3 million-$5 million per year from the advertising.

The logo patches are quite small and are typically about 2.5 inches lengthwise and widthwise. These patches, however, can make a huge difference for the teams in the NBA, helping to make such a huge impact by allowing these teams to generate revenue during a period in time when the economy is still so sluggish and recovering so slowly. And, in the meantime, sponsors get to advertise for certain products and brands up close and personal, making it a win-win situation for everyone who happens to be involved.

The president of the Phoenix Suns, Jason Rowley, and the vice president, Tanya Wheeless, believes it is in the best interest of the team to handle the sponsorships of the uniforms in-house instead of hiring outside help. Rowley has said, “We sold the first-ever branded jersey in WNBA or NBA history to LifeLock and we were one of the first NBA teams to sell the branding of our practice jerseys (to The Annexus Group), so if there’s a team that knows how to sell the NBA jersey patch it’s our internal team.”

In the meantime, the NBA is work on ways to increase revenue from these patches that will be displayed on the uniforms. A recent analysis from the Joyce Julius & Associates Incorporation firm claims that advertisers can receive a lot of exposure if they place their logo on the jerseys of a team that ends up in the playoffs. Rowley says, “Interest in the patch has really been building, which is not surprising given the unprecedented visibility it will give to the ultimate sponsor.”