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Neophyte NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, speaking at the IMG World Congress of Sports (which is apparently a real thing), was asked if he envisions sponsorships appearing on player jerseys in the next five years. Without hesitation he responded, "Definitely." This, of course, is not revelatory, as there has been smoke coming from this fire pit for years. But the foregone conclusion of his answer, making a foray where none of the other major North American team sports have gone, still felt surprising. He would later add fuel to the fire stating, "Its inevitable. Its such an enormous opportunity for our sponsors to connect with us. I think the marketplace is asking for it." There is something sitting uneasily in those words. First, an admission. I get it. This is the way of the world and not just in athletics. Corporate advertisements are now an integral part of bringing sports and entertainment to the masses. Ads subsidize a ton of beloved stuff from music festivals to television series to this website. I am thankful for the ad models that bring value to the advertisers and consumers alike. Frankly, at this point if an event doesnt have corporate sponsors it feels amateur to my eye. But my beef is that the NBAs latest revenue tool doesnt arrive with even the most basic pretence of being a value add for the consumer, and at a time when the league is massively, historically profitable. It isnt even a plea from the league to fans to understand that novel revenue tools are needed to sustain stability or whatever. Its just that "the marketplace is asking for it." (Quick note before further maligning the Commish. He did admit yesterday that maybe the whole t-shirt-as-jersey experiment the NBA launched towards the end of last season isnt a lock to pan out. Phew.) The precedent of sponsored jerseys has long been established in countless sports from international soccer to Nascar. (This is apparently a Liverpool FC jersey for kids though that wouldnt have been my first guess.) Even sibling leagues, the WNBA and NBA D-League, have encouraged and profited from jersey sponsorship for several years. Um, but when Commissioner Silver says "the marketplace is asking for it" he is hedging on what the marketplace actually is. Shouldnt the marketplace consider the biggest stakeholders and contributors in the hard-earned dollars-to-NBA equation (AKA the fans)? Numerous related tweets and blogs have erupted in the past few days concerned about the same distractions 1981-me dealt with. But despite a tendency to stand in solidarity, I find myself less than concerned. My focus is not so much aimed at the inevitable uniform developments, but more on predicting the next step. Where will the advertising stop? If the NBA allows the final frontier of their reach, the players clothes, to be monetized by sponsors, how much would it diminish their capacity to limit players from earning off their own skin? Players are already more or less free to cut private sponsorship deals in practically every segment of product or service. Wouldnt the league erode their own ethical (read: judicial) high ground that might have otherwise prevented a player from tattooing an ad on their neck or sleeving their arms with monthly specials? With the next collective bargaining session set for three years from now, it is altogether possible that the questions raised by these types of sponsorships will be debated for the first time. What is without question is that how to divvy up the new-found revenue from jersey ads will loom large. I dont know a ton about the inner-workings of the mind of agents, but I suspect they dig on money and material if HBOs Entourage has taught me anything. What is to keep those agents from speculating on the next set of potential revenue tools? This new territory is, of course, a way for neophyte commissioner, Adam Silver, to make his mark on the league and, more importantly, to get in the good graces of team owners and league sponsors. I do not have a problem with these tactics as they are baked into his job description. But when the final vestiges of the basic game have to share space with sponsors who subsidize it, and in a time when the NBA is flourishing, I havent heard a word on what we fans get out of this latest version of the marketplace, other than a personal expectation that whats to come would have blown 1981-mes head straight off. Gallays Poll #4 Where should the NBA draw the line on advertisements? a) A small patch on the jersey is no big deal. But thats it.b) I dont mind if they re-name the Raptors with pretty much any corporate identity. 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