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Ads Have Been Approved for NHL Jersey’s
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Source: EveryDay Sens
The world of sports is working on recovering from the pandemic, from the grassroots youth leagues to the biggest of the pro sports leagues - including the NHL. The NHL, which relies on gate revenue for 70% of total revenue, lost over $1 billion in revenue during the pandemic. Necessity breeds innovation, and the league was quick to create new assets for sponsorship, including helmet ads.
This month, the league’s board of directors voted to expand their revenue opportunities by selling off another piece of their real estate in the form of jersey ads. A sponsored jersey patch will be on NHL jerseys as soon as the 2022-23 season, with the patch size being a bit larger than what we see on NBA jerseys.
The helmet ad program allowed teams to recoup about $100 million in revenue from sponsorships, and the jersey ads are expected to be more valuable than helmet ads. The NBA jersey ad program has created over $150 million in revenue, with individual teams selling ads between $2 million $14 million.
This development has mixed reactions from fans, with some worried about Pandora’s box this will open up, citing European jerseys (which are filled with ads all over) as the eventual next step. Other fans are satisfied that the league is opening up new revenue streams for teams, especially with the recent news that the players are ~$1 billion in debt to the owners (based on the 50-50 revenue split in the collective bargaining agreement).
The success of the program comes down to how creative teams will get in connecting the jersey ad to the synergy of their brand. The Gatorade bolt on a Tampa Bay Lightning jersey feels like the perfect relationship because of how alike their logos are, and the Florida connection. It feels inevitable that the helmet ad sponsors will also request to be on the jersey patch, but here’s to hoping we see some creative partnerships emerge from this opportunity.
Published: August 20th, 2021 - Issue 5 of The Sport Marketeer