NBA NEEDS MONEY “Confirmed”

UPDATE

MDC mentioned about this four months ago about becoming a reality. Now,we watch a pregame show sponsored by Kia Motors, and the NBA champion Miami Heat plays at an arena that has the words “American Airlines” plastered all over the place. The Giants no longer play in Giants Stadium — it’s MetLife Stadium now, folks — and the historic Garden in Boston is now the TD Garden.

So maybe the NBA’s upcoming fashion faux pas won’t bother us one bit. But it will annoy.

Late last week, the NBA announced that, come 2013, jerseys will include advertising patches. No, they won’t be of NASCAR proportions (yet), but a 2.5-inch-by-2.5-inch square patch will be placed on every team’s jersey. Teams will go find their own sponsors, and the league could earn as much as $100 million from the entire arrangement.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

MDC says the NBA will eventually move to additional advertising revenue similar to Nascar and the international soccer leagues.

Owners, desperately looking to boost revenues, are expected to consider the idea when they meet April 12 in New York for the first time since ending the lockout.

But what could really surprise fans is just how much money teams could pull in by making the change.

Commissioner David Stern bellyached during the work stoppage that his organization has been losing more than $300 million each year, with 73 percent of teams losing money (22 of 30).

The NBA has already tested out advertising on uniforms in the little watched WNBA and D-League.

So how much value does sports laundry have?

European soccer’s legendary Manchester United earn over $30 million a year from AIG; uniform revenue, according to Bloomberg.

Ad space on the chest of the iconic purple and gold Lakers jersey is worth $4.1 million dollars in annual TV exposure, while the Minnesota Timberwolves jersey space is worth only $300,000 if you believe the results of a study done last year by Horizon Media.

As the saying goes, things are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them.