The Association

Phoenix Mercury's Jersey Sponsorship... The Future of the NBA?

By Craig Kwasniewski

Trying to make ends meet in tough economic times the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA is putting a sponsor on the front of their jerseys. My first reaction?  Well this is the WNBA, do I care?  No really, do I care????  Of course they need to make money because in this economy the NBA is no longer subsidizing the WNBA and this looks like a last ditch effort to make ends meet in the fledgling women's league.  I get it.

But then I thought about it a little more... every major professional sports league has jersey sponsors except for the big three and a half (hockey of course) in the US.  Times are tough and the league is facing the first salary cap reduction ever and many of the non-playoff teams saw huge drops in attendance.  Television money is maxed out so a good way t make extra revenue is to sell jersey sponsorship.  Major League Soccer was able to pull it off with very little backlash so why not the other sports?  The timing is perfect especially with all the new exposure in places like China and Europe.  The NBA sold literally millions of jerseys in China the past  3 seasons, just imagine the exposure if the jerseys are sponsored.

So really this Mercury thing looks more and more like a test run from the NBA front office.  Let's see what kind of exposure and revenue this generates.  Will the very few WNBA fans fork out the dough and pick up the new jerseys?  Will the Phoenix Mercury be able to survive this season with the extra money?  It's all a test.

The way I see it, this will be a MAJOR bargaining chip in the upcoming CBA.  Will the NBA do revenue sharing or is this a team by team basis?  If so, will this create financial imbalance the likes of the English Premier League?  How much will this be shared with the players?  Will they continue to raise the salary cap?  And most importantly, how will fans react when they see traditional jerseys like the Celtics, Bulls, Knicks and Lakers with say AT&T slapped on the front instead of the team name? 

It works with european soccer leagues but will it sell here with fickle and tradition-happy fans?  Below is Josh Childress's Olympiacos jersey... the future of the NBA?  What do you think?

Holocaust Survivors Might be Offended by the Christmas Day Logos

by Craig Kwasniewski

Where Holocaust Survivors are offended happens...

The NBA needs to strongly reconsider those Christmas Day logos worn by the players yesterday. I'll let the photos speak for themselves but you might want to mix in an extra point on those NBA snowflakes because they look exactly like those Star of David badges worn my Jews in 1940's Europe.

All-Star Jerseys

by Craig Kwasniewski

Okay, time for the NBA fashion police to intervene. I wanted to buy a Kobe All-Star jersey to feel involved for All-Star weekend. But damn... just what the hell is the NBA thinking? These may be the ugliest jerseys since the Heat Hardwood Classics.

I took a second look and the jerseys have a 1970's sci-fi feel to them. I suddenly wanted to watch old episodes of Space 1999.

Then I remember, the NBA is shooting for that NASA/Rockets/Houston tie-in. Verrrry creative guys!

Since we are going with that theme, does that mean that Bey-ass-eh Knowles will sport a spaceman suit when she sings? Is David Stern going to start saying things like, "Yao Ming, your footwork is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." (BTW - Pretend that Stern suddenly has Al Davis's voice and it gets funnier).

During introductions will the players come out of some cheap rocketship with David Bowie's Space Oddity playing in the background? (I'm hoping for that one, just to see the "what the fcuk?" look on the player's faces.)

Since we're going with the whole space theme, if All-Star weekend sucks can we throw in Challenger/Columbia references to describe the events?

What's with the Man Purse?

by Craig Kwasniewski

So the big controversy in the NBA was the whole dress code thing. Some spoke of the whole thing being racist while others commended David Stern for making the NBA a hot topic during MLB playoffs and October football. Whatever... to promote it and give it a positive spin, NBA.com is featuring a weekly Best Dressed winner. I had to check it out for the potential unintentional comedy. Where else can you get such a wide range of colors, button usage and... the varying uses of the man purse.

Yes, the most disturbing trend in NBA basketball for the 2005-06 season is the whole man purse thing. Look I live in LA and consider myself very aware of the fashion trends but I didn't really consider the whole man purse thing at all. So NBA players need to accessorize? Don't they have one or two members of their posse carry their shit around? And what do they need to carry anyway? Let's see... Ipod, travel paternity test kit, cell phone, spare cell phone, blackberry, Ipod w/ Video, cell phone charger, DV Camera...

All right, I guess they need the purses. Anyway, if you want to see some great NBA fashion highlights here are the previous winners:

Best Dressed - Jan. 10 - Jan. 16
Best Dressed - Jan. 3 - Jan. 9
Best Dressed - Dec. 27 - Jan. 2
Best Dressed - Dec. 13 - Dec. 19
Best Dressed - Dec. 6 - Dec. 12
Best Dressed - Nov. 29 - Dec. 5
Best Dressed - Nov. 22-28
Best Dressed - Nov. 15-21
Best Dressed - Nov. 8-14
Best Dressed - Premiere Week