Join us Dec. 1-3 in Nashville for the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit
StubHub is the first brand to advertise on NBA jerseys.
The Philadelphia 76ers announced today it will be the first team to take advantage of the NBA’s new rules that allow teams to sell advertisements on player jerseys. A 2.5-by-2.5 inch StubHub logo will appear on players’ left shoulders beginning in the 2017 – 2018 season.
The deal between the 76ers and StubHub is reported to last for three years at $5 million each season, with an option to extend if the pilot program proves successful, ESPN reports. The NBA announced the program last month.
Here’s what the jerseys will look like:
We’re excited to partner with the @Sixers and be the first jersey patch sponsor in the #NBA! https://t.co/PyIxu2hOp5 pic.twitter.com/GnEYPE9LvH
— StubHub (@StubHub) May 16, 2016
“Our partnership with StubHub continues to generate progressive and forward-thinking platforms created to improve the fan experience and advance our industry,” said Philadelphia 76ers CEO Scott O’Neil in a prepared statement. “The essence of our relationship with StubHub is our shared culture and ambition to innovate, which drives us to reimagine traditional partnership activation and continually ask, ‘what if’?”
Sure, but the partnership’s irony wasn’t lost on fans: The 76ers are currently dead last in the Eastern Conference with only 10 wins. As such, the team unlikely to need a ticket reseller website’s help in filling seats at games no one wants to watch. Twitter reacted accordingly:
The 76ers have become the first NBA team to put an ad on their jersey using a Stubhub logo…which is ironic cuz no one goes to 76ers games.
— The Fake ESPN (@TheFakeESPN) May 16, 2016
You don’t need StubHub to find tickets to a 76ers game…
— Dan Primack (@danprimack) May 16, 2016
Next year’s 76ers jerseys will feature a Stubhub logo. Analysts think a Goodwill logo would be more appropriate.
— Fake SportsCenter (@FakeSportsCentr) May 16, 2016
As if I couldn’t hate StubHub as much as I already do, I now have to stare at their logo for 82 games a year. pic.twitter.com/FCREJsbeZY
— Sean Donnelly (@_SeanDonnelly) May 16, 2016
More in Marketing
Post World Cup, fashion brands are tapping soccer stars like Bellingham and Yamal for partnerships
Three months after the World Cup ended in a Spanish victory, the partnerships with marquee players keep coming.
How Lush quit social media ads and still drove growth
Quitting Meta, TikTok and X seemed like a gamble, but Lush was returning to its marketing roots. The results reshaped their entire approach.
In Graphic Detail: What Apple’s identity block means for the ad money
How Apple’s identity block hits publishers’ wallets, and why Apple can afford it.