What’s so wrong about adding more advertising?

What not to do

The first thing people think of when it comes to logos in sports is Nascar.

In the picture above, driver Joey Logano’s car is plastered with logos for Ford, Pennzoil, Shell, Mustang, Lincoln Welders, Goodyear, AAA, Discount Tires, Coca Cola and a bunch of logos too small to make out.

In the Swedish Hockey League, the uniforms can best be described as garish.

Rangers prospect Nils Lundkvist (above) plays for Luleå and in this picture is a walking advertisement for the Champions Hockey League (CHL), LKALB, Engelbert Strauss,  Lakarjouren and Warrior.   That’s the CHL uniform.  Go to the team website to see their regular season uniform with as many ads.

It’s a  bit much and definitely not what the NHL should be looking to adopt. However, there are options the league should consider.

Other sports

The NBA allowed corporate logos on their uniforms starting in 2017-18. There were distinct rules about size and placement and the ads didn’t seem obtrusive.  The Nike swoosh was already on the uniform and the Knicks sport a Squarespace logo as well.

This season, Major League Soccer allowed teams to add a sponsor logo to the players’ shorts.  This is in addition to a small logo allowed on their jerseys.

The NFL and Major League Baseball have been discussing increasing the presence of advertisiing on uniforms.

The current NHL

Gary Bettman has been very vocal for a long time about keeping logos off uniforms. Three years ago he responded to the NBA allowing ads. “The fact of the matter is we take great pride in our sweaters. We think they’re the best in all of sports, and that’s not something we’re running off to do. We think what we have is special. We talk about history and tradition and how special hockey jerseys are.”

One other issue would be exclusivity.  In 2017-18, the NHL did a uniform deal with Adidas (they are the only major sport without a Nike deal) and you can  be sure that Adidas has the right to keep other logos off their merchandise.

When you look at a hockey player, it’s not like they are logo-less.   There are logos on their gloves, pads, sticks, helmets and skates.   In those instances, the players can pick the brands that they choose to use.

There does appear to be a double standard when it comes to goalie pads and helmets.  With that equipment, it’s the opposite of plain and some goalie masks are just wild.  Among the many commercial images on goalie masks you can find Wile E. Coyote, Darth Vader and Looney Tunes own Marvin the Martian (below).

What to do?

The most important issue facing the NHL is financial stability.  At a time when teams are hemorrhaging money and facing a season with zero ticket sales and concession revenue, the purists need to step aside.

The league could keep the jerseys clean with only an Adidas logo.  But adding advertising to the helmets and hockey pants wouldn’t hurt a  bit.  Granted, once you do it, there is no going back.

The league has already experimented with pre-game warmup jerseys dedicated to special causes such as Hockey Fights Cancer.

Why not let the teams sell an ad -filled warm up jersey that comes off when the game starts and then make sure that any pre-game coverage includes a lot of shots of the warm up?

Hey, what about the referees and linesmen.  They get a lot of screen time so put ads on their uniforms.   Would that hurt anyone????

But it’s not just logos on uniforms, the league should be doing anything it can to generate additional revenue.  Would it really hurt to brand in-game elements?  Call it the Timex Time Out.  Call it the Duracell Power Play.  What about the YouTube Video Review?   The New Era hat trick? The Rolex overtime?  The Target shootout?

Hey, let’s replace the goal net with a Target logo!  Let’s plaster the Zamboni with corporate logos! Why can’t the P.A. announcer proclaim “It’s the Swatch last minute of play” in each period?

Okay okay, while some of these suggestions are over the top, the NHL needs to do everything it can to get back to good financial  health.  It’s time to get creative. Adding an advertising logo to a helmet should be a no-brainer.

Some of you may remember when the boards were white and  there was no imagery on the ice.  Now, the boards a filled with ads and virtual advertising is added to the glass during play stoppages.  Has it hurt the game at all?.

After all, when you watch a golfer hit an approach shot  two feet from the pin, are you looking at the Titleist logo on his hat or the UPS logo on his shirt?  When an alpine skier wins a downhill does it bother you when he or she immediately yanks their skis off so you can see the K2 logo?   When you see Stephan Curry hit a jump shot are you focused on the Rakuten logo on his jersey?  And when Artemi Panarin feeds Mika Zibanejad for a  breakway would it really matter if he had a Fedex logo on his hockey pants or helmet?

Agree?  Disagree?  Have a great idea?  Feel free to weigh in below.