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?

The Ron Artest of the Chinese Basketball League

By Craig Kwasniewski

Tell me if this sounds familiar... according to Agence France-Presse, "An American player is under the spotlight after he jumped into the stands to chase a fan..."

Did this happen in Detroit or New York? Nope, this happened in the northeastern China's Jilin province and the player's name is Mack Tuck.

Evidently, Tuck, who plays for the Shandong Huangjin of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA, the one that Isiah Thomas did NOT ruin), simply lost it after getting hit by a plastic water bottle and jumped into the stands.

Here's the report:

An American player is under the spotlight after he jumped into the stands to chase a fan in the latest incident of violence to mar China's professional basketball league this season, state press said yesterday.

In a Sunday game in northeastern China's Jilin province, rowdy fan behavior led to American forward Mack Tuck of Shandong Huangjin charging into the stands at the end of the game, China Central Television said.

Hit by plastic object

Tuck had been hit by a plastic water bottle when fans rained objects down on the Shandong team as they departed the court after an 87-84 road win.

Tuck had a monster game, scoring 29 points, snaring 15 rebounds and doling out 11 assists.

The China Basketball Association is reviewing tapes of the incident and is awaiting a report from Jilin officials on whether to fine the American, who once starred for U.S. college team Central Oklahoma, the report said.

I honestly have never heard of Mack Tuck before, but after google-ing his name, I found out that he once played at the University of Colorado from 93-94 to 95-96 before transferring to Central Oklahoma for his senior season. Tuck did play one season (1995-96) with Chauncey Billups who... was at the "malice at the Palace" started when Ron Artest dove into the stands after getting hit with a plastic container. That, my friends, is what we call closure.