Entertainment

How long can NFL resist $230M from ads on jerseys?

(
)

In as little as three years, experts predict the NFL will come down with a case of NASCAR-itis and finally turn players into bill boards.

More than $230 million in advertising money is up for grabs if teams let sponsors buy space on NFL jerseys, according to a recent study by media analysts Horizon Media.

“Within a three-to five-year period, I would be very surprised if one of the leagues wasn’t sampling [logos on jerseys] on a large-scale effort,” says Horizon managing partner Michael A. Neuman.

The lure of that kind of money is especially strong now — as the Players’ Union is expected to demand a bigger share of league revenues when negotiations over a new labor agreement begin this spring.

The prospect of allowing NFL jerseys to be used for advertising has been kicking around for a number of years. Ads on uniforms have been standard in the European soccer leagues for years.

But to sell space on major, league sport uniforms would be a first in the US and league execs recognize that the howl from fans, at least at first, would likely be substantial.

“We are often approached by companies that want to put their logo on NFL jerseys — the most valuable real estate in sports,” an NFL spokesperson says, “but we have no plans to do so.”

Nevertheless, the sanctity of uniforms seems now to extend only to game day.

Over the last three years, several NFL teams have sported patch logos — for companies including AT&T, Gillette, Sanyo and the University of Phoenix — on practice uniforms.

The big issue will be for broadcasters, who may not take kindly to promising advertisers brand exclusivity during a game only to find out that a competitor’s brand is getting repeated — and free — airtime because it’s been stitched across the quarterback’s chest.

And, says Neuman, “in-game action is completely TiVo or DVR-proof, but commercials are not.”

CBS and Fox — which carry the NFL games — declined yesterday to make anyone available to talk about ads on jerseys.

Only Fox offered a statement. “We have not had any discussions whatsoever with the NFL regarding this matter,” said a spokesman.

Famous for hosting a hodgepodge of competitive corporate sponsors, NASCAR says its never encountered this problem.

Companies don’t seem to have any problems with the free-for-all ad culture of NASCAR, which is why a FedEx-sponsored car racing against a UPS car and a Budweiser car trading paint with a Miller Lite car is not an unusual sight.

“Goodyear is our official tire, but if [the networks] want to run a Firestone ad, they’re welcome to,” says Andrew Giangola, NASCAR’s director of business communications. “It’s capitalism at its finest.”