I know this particular topic doesn’t necessarily fall under the category of social media or online advertising but it is something I’ve been mulling over fairly frequently for the past couple of weeks. If I haven’t already stated this on the blog, I am an avid basketball fan of all levels and take basically every change I get to watch a game. Several weeks ago, during the NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix, Dwyane Wade began wearing a band-aid under his left eye to cover stitches he had previously received. Since then he has worn one every game, even though the stitches are now gone, with a variety of different inscriptions on them, ranging from his own name to the American flag. The NBA, as expected, banned Wade’s practice due to their unfailingly sour view of player self-promotion. You know, the same way they banned full-length tights several years ago or Michael Jordan’s multi-color debut kicks over two decades ago. The league has a strong history of deterring any advertising but their own on the product the produce.
Now don’t get me wrong, NBA arenas are fantastically embroidered with advertising of all kinds inside and out. But, essentially the only place to advertise on the actual players, the complete and utter focus of any game, is their shoes. This leaves an extremely limited amount of space that only includes a select number of companies (i.e. Nike, Adidas, Converse and Reebok) that could ever even consider this an option. This is an awful lot of money being missed out on by the sport, players, etc. that, quite frankly, they can’t afford to be missing out on. The NBA is not immune to the effects of a global recession and due to decreasing attendance, team debt and the looming threat of losing players to more lucrative offers from european teams they are beginning to feel the consequences sooner than expected.
Why not advertise on the players themselves? If you think about it, an overwhelming majority of NBA players already have their bodies covered with tattoos. Even though, some may argue it unethical at first, for the right price I’m sure they wouldn’t have a problem with a little extra ink (the non-permanent kind, of course). The NBA doesn’t allow self-promotion through accessories but they certainly don’t have any restrictions on body art. If you’ve ever seen Allen Iverson or Chris Anderson you can attest to that.
Think about the impact this could have for top caliber players who get substantially more face time than most players. How much could Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade or Chris Paul charge to put your logo on their body? How much would you pay? Think about NASCAR. You’d be hard pressed to find one square-inch free of advertising on either the car, crew or driver. Why couldn’t basketball imply this practice?
Filed under: advertising, advertising
