Somehow there’s never a point of “enough” when it comes to advertising, greed and sight pollution in America, the NBA will be experimenting (translation: instituting) with sponsorships on the team jerseys. The more factual story is here. The artwork above is a pranks but The Onion has often proven that life imitates art. Despite the additional revenue the owners may receive and the bump in the price of the eyesores…I mean, products, don’t count on your cable bill or ticket prices to go down.
I also think it just cheapens the cleanliness American sports jerseys often have had. Sure there’s the Nike swooshstika or the more beloved CCM patch but those are the manufacturers. In hockey sometimes the brand determined the difference between an authentic jersey versus a replica. Now I don’t mind replicas, sometimes it’s all a vendor offers. I prefer the more expensive authentics because the logos and numbers are sewn on, not pressed via a heat transfer. To be clear, I look for the difference when browsing through the racks, I don’t judge the people wearing them to determine how dedicated their fandom is. I understand budgets all too well.
American sports teams aren’t holy nor “pure” but at least our jerseys didn’t resemble European billboards; I recently saw the Swedish Modo team and had to wonder if the patches held the jersey together. This Soccerization of our teams (who the hell is “Fly Emirates”?) is another ugly trend proving that Alduous Huxley and Neil Postman were the real prophets of the future, not George Orwell.