Shortly after the NBA Board of Governors approved advertising patches on player jerseys, MLB commissioner Bud Selig was asked if baseball players would become walking billboards in the near future. Ever the traditionalist, Selig said no. He told ESPN:
You learn never to say never, but you know, with us, uniforms are really important. They’re history. You can close your eyes, and that Cub uniform, my goodness gracious, I can remember (that from) when I was 10 years old, and that’s a long time ago. And there’s the Yankee pinstripes, and the Red Sox and so on and so forth, so I’ve been pretty consistent on that.
I usually disagree with Selig on many things (not increasing the use of instant replay, expanding the playoffs, etc.), but I’m totally with him here. The major American sports leagues — NFL, MLB, and NBA — shouldn’t put advertising on their jerseys. Yes, there are millions of dollars to be had, but it’s not like that money will be used to lower ticket prices or make small-market teams better. This is one area where I’m (unusually) a traditionalist. Props to Selig for saying no on uniform advertising. It would pain me to see a Yankee jersey with a hot dog ad.
What do you think of Bud Selig’s stance on uniform advertising?
Ichiro.
Good.
The NFL will do this soon. They already do the damn breast cancer colors. I hate the Komen foundation. Hard to respect a nonprofit for breast cancer research that sues over using anything related to pink awareness ribbons or when “for the cure” is used.
I’m surprised the NHL doesn’t already do this.