Watch above: NHL’s chief operating officer has gone publics, saying jersey sponsorship is coming, but he won’t say when. Eric Sorensen looks at what ads on uniforms could mean for the game.
TORONTO – NHL hockey jerseys may soon feature corporate sponsorship advertisements.
NHL chief executive officer John Collins told the Sports Business Journal on Thursday jersey sponsorship is both “coming and happening,” but no time frame was given.
Collins told the Journal while speaking on the first day of the 2014 NeuLion Sports Media & Technology Conference in New York City.
“Jersey branding by manufacturers is already a form of jersey sponsorship,” Sports Business Journal noted Collins as saying.
It has long been rumoured that ads were eventually coming, following in the footsteps of European hockey and soccer leagues.
According to TSN, jersey sponsorship could fetch the NHL an additional $120 million in revenue at minimum.
In September, an NHL insider told TSN that the league wasn’t interested in jersey sponsors.
“Gary (Bettman) and owners like the money, but they don’t want to be first out of the box with this in North America,” the person told TSN. “They’ll wait for the NBA or baseball to do it and then be second or third.”
Here’s what some are saying on social media:
Comments