We know the NBA is seriously contemplating crossing the line in two seasons by adding advertising patches to its jerseys, but the NFL has had its teams sell sponsorship patches on its practice jerseys for three years now, and although it’s a bit more innocuous because it’s not the spotlight of Game Day, it’s still a foreign sight to these eyes connected anywhere to the field of play.
(The Tennessee Titans have won an ad patch since 2005, but the NFL had no official rule until 2009.)
The patches can’t be bigger than 3 ½ by 4 ½ inches, and usually the sponsor is tied into a much bigger six or even seven figure financial relationship with the team, the advertising patch just one of the line items in a package, so it can be had to always say exactly how much revenue the patch alone is bringing to a club.
There’s no patches allowed for alcohol products, and a team can even sell rights to its post-season practice jerseys to a different sponsor than the regular season, if it makes the playoffs.
Unlike the NBA, let’s hope the NFL stops at practice jerseys.
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Authentically Speaking Trivia Time: What year did the Chicago Bears add the famous white wishbone “C” to their helmets, and in what season did they add orange to that “C”? Answers on Friday.
Wednesday’s answer: Penn State wore numbers on its helmets between the 1968-74 seasons.
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