MLS makes advertising move; questions are raised

October 4th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanR

Similar to their Euro and other world-y counterparts, Major League Soccer has decided to sell ad space on the front of their jerseys next spring. Which begs the question, how far away are we from seeing this in the NBA, NFL or MLB? (Apologies to the NHL, but no one cares about you. I kid.)

At this point, I’m pretty sure it’s a matter of inevitability. David Stern has hinted at it. It’s going to happen at some point, I believe.

But how will fans react?

When Bud Selig threw those Spiderman 2 ads on the bases a few years back, people were pissed. Will fans be as passionate about sponsorship on the front of jerseys as they were about that?

NBA and MLS-wise, I can picture it. I’ve seen plenty of European jerseys for each sport to be desensitized to it, if the change does indeed occur.

But baseball?

I don’t know. Something about it doesn’t quite feel right. It would look weird. Perhaps in time I could get used to it, but right know I just don’t see it.

I’d rather see a team’s logo as their dominant image on the front of a jersey, but with costs continuing to soar, I’ll accept the fact that a move like this will be probably be made sometime in the foreseeable future.

C’est la vie, my friends. C’est la vie.