The NBA’s jersey advertisement patch program, which was launched in 2017 and became permanent in 2019, will be more important than ever as a revenue stream for teams at a time when most of the league’s clubs aren’t selling tickets to games, writes Bill Shea of The Athletic. A number of teams that originally agreed to three-year deals with sponsors in ’17 are either re-upping those contracts or reaching deals with new sponsors in 2020.
“What’s held up the best (in the pandemic) are assets where the value is heavily driven by broadcast and digital media,” said Matt Wolf, a senior VP in the NBA’s team marketing and business operations department. “Things like the jersey patches have held up really well.”
Finding steady sources of revenue to rely on will be a greater challenge than usual in 2020/21, prompting the NBA to give its teams a stimulus of $30MM apiece in order to protect against liquidity issues, according to John Lombardo of Sports Business Journal (hat tip to ESPN). That $900MM was raised from notes issued by the NBA in the private placement market, according to the Sports Business Journal report, which indicates that those notes will eventually be paid back with interest.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Former NBA guard Josh Magette has signed with Turkish club Darussafaka, the team announced in a press release. Magette, who appeared in 26 games for Atlanta and Orlando between 2017 and 2020, was waived by the Magic in January.
- Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link) provides some additional details on the Al Horford/Danny Green trade, reporting that the $2MM sent from the Sixers to the Thunder in the deal will actually convey in 2027, and only if Philadelphia’s first-round pick has been protected in 2025, 2026, and 2027. That money still counts toward the 76ers’ traded cash limit for this season, however.
- In an Insider-only story for ESPN.com, Mike Schmitz identifies the six 2020 rookies he believes have the best chance of cracking ESPN’s list of top 100 players a year from now. Schmitz’s picks include top-five draftees Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, and Isaac Okoro, along with later lottery picks Obi Toppin, Deni Avdija, and Tyrese Haliburton.
James Wiseman isn’t expected to make the top 100 list in 2021? Shocking.
The way things are going; he’ll probably get more minutes than Harden.
He’ll get more playoff minutes, never has there been a more obvious 1 and done in the playoffs than the rockets this year, if they even make it, what a dumpster fire
Partx Is a computer generated bot. It can’t handle my original question. Why would you want James Harden on your team if you are trying to win NBA Championship.
Sillyman have you seen the list. espn doesn’t tell me what to believe. They are Driven more by hype and analytics. Not real functional human talent.
Not a Ball guy at all. I’ve called him a bust as top pick. But he was measured at 6’8” no shoes. When he fills out into a man body. Like Lonzo has. He could make a descent SF. PG type, needs a shot. But he came up a scorer. So you would think he can work to that. I never saw him as a true PG.
Wiseman will be best talent in this draft. At worst a top 3. Looking forward to see how he’s used with Warriors.
Meant to say playmaker type SF. He’s 6’9” in sneakers. Needs to fill out. I said it would take 3-4 yrs for his true value.
I agree on Ball being a bust. All the best to him and the Hornets, but I don’t know how you pick him that high considering his lack of experience (and therefore, almost no way to evaluate him) and how over-hyped his brother turned out to be. Lonzo is a servicable player, but #2 overall is laughable. In the limited amount we’ve seen, Lamelo hasn’t shown he can shoot, which is his brother’s problem as well.
All fair criticism but how is someone an NBA bust before they play an NBA minute? There is also something to be said for a small market drafting a media lightning rod (for better or for worse), selling some jerseys, and grabbing some national attention (and hopefully dollars) in the process. There is a business side to the game after all.
The list was drawn up by how many minutes a player gets this season, not by talent. Big men usually take a little longer to get established.
Of course patches generate steady income. That’s why the uniforms of lesser sports are covered with them. The NBA is supposed to be better than that. Franchises sell for billions. Logos are already now crowded on the uniforms. Does having the Nike swoop everywhere pay anything? They should go if more room must be made somehow.