Chicagoist
July 22nd, 2009, 12:11 PM
http://chicagoist.com/attachments/chicago_benjy/Chicago_Bears_nshc_logo.gif Is it only a matter of time before American pro athletes begin to look like NASCAR drivers, enveloped in countless sponsor logos? As the crap economy takes a bite out of team revenues, more and more are looking into alternate revenue streams. For the Chicago Bears, that means a new deal that will add sponsorship patches to the players' practice jerseys (http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/1678586,CST-SPT-bsep22.article) for Training Camp and the regular season.
When the Bears open camp next week in Bourbonnais, each player will sport a 3.5-by-4.5-inch patch advertising NorthShore University HealthSystem (http://www.northshore.org/) on the left side of their chest. This will be the first time that Bears players themselves have worn any advertising on their body -- although the Bears aren't the first team to sell ad spots on their practice duds. The Tennessee Titans started the trend last year, and they got the league's official blessing this spring.
Can ads on game day uniforms be far away now? That's where the huge number of impressions are, between the crowds in the stadium and the countless viewers on TV, wire service photos in newspapers and online, etc. And since the stadium themselves are about maxed out with ad placements and sponsorship tie-ins, the players are just about the only virgin ad space left. Athletes in much of the world wear corporate brands across their uniforms... how long before the NFL sells out, too?
http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/digg.gif (http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:b844d314264055b97e66 ace0a2d25ba4:GKJq2Ecu3WvyF41VA7yKh7UCN1iBwBxRALHXV E9HchGGIRJShGpVaBG9ibMCBiw9S6Yq7%2F1K7Qrv) http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/emailthisHF.gif (http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:e400786bc80b59fc306e e55135b40902:otHB%2FlIwp1EYqMshejZFcaphpdhp%2BvMsL jaglRBfmGz4%2F9CfUsl8gglVcvcnNcIDcE0atBIVRggFoA%3D %3D) http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/facebook.gif (http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:66ea3ef66022300dd4c6 04ee801fd669:r4xpcUXpNCXsg4njyIWz%2FqntMDYX9h5hk38 f1WX4QPjvVY8WAiRGdbxZIk9EZrNAXA81f%2FS%2FX7s0hg%3D %3D) http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/google.png (http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:1d9473b8846a5ce2002d 59b04c2d4998:acLiGcSnxtQpBHA6%2BXuESowMzpvMS1qVhED mwvEwpC1NPj%2BoasJ5CaeVpAzNF%2BrM%2Bi52b3Lotlqe)
http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 (http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?p=1)
More... (http://feeds.gothamistllc.com/click.phdo?i=76c0d4c03522293616caff2ad295606f)
When the Bears open camp next week in Bourbonnais, each player will sport a 3.5-by-4.5-inch patch advertising NorthShore University HealthSystem (http://www.northshore.org/) on the left side of their chest. This will be the first time that Bears players themselves have worn any advertising on their body -- although the Bears aren't the first team to sell ad spots on their practice duds. The Tennessee Titans started the trend last year, and they got the league's official blessing this spring.
Can ads on game day uniforms be far away now? That's where the huge number of impressions are, between the crowds in the stadium and the countless viewers on TV, wire service photos in newspapers and online, etc. And since the stadium themselves are about maxed out with ad placements and sponsorship tie-ins, the players are just about the only virgin ad space left. Athletes in much of the world wear corporate brands across their uniforms... how long before the NFL sells out, too?
http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/digg.gif (http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:b844d314264055b97e66 ace0a2d25ba4:GKJq2Ecu3WvyF41VA7yKh7UCN1iBwBxRALHXV E9HchGGIRJShGpVaBG9ibMCBiw9S6Yq7%2F1K7Qrv) http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/emailthisHF.gif (http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:e400786bc80b59fc306e e55135b40902:otHB%2FlIwp1EYqMshejZFcaphpdhp%2BvMsL jaglRBfmGz4%2F9CfUsl8gglVcvcnNcIDcE0atBIVRggFoA%3D %3D) http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/facebook.gif (http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:66ea3ef66022300dd4c6 04ee801fd669:r4xpcUXpNCXsg4njyIWz%2FqntMDYX9h5hk38 f1WX4QPjvVY8WAiRGdbxZIk9EZrNAXA81f%2FS%2FX7s0hg%3D %3D) http://images.pheedo.com/images/mm/google.png (http://www.pheedcontent.com/hostedMorselClick.php?hfmm=v3:1d9473b8846a5ce2002d 59b04c2d4998:acLiGcSnxtQpBHA6%2BXuESowMzpvMS1qVhED mwvEwpC1NPj%2BoasJ5CaeVpAzNF%2BrM%2Bi52b3Lotlqe)
http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 (http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?p=1)
More... (http://feeds.gothamistllc.com/click.phdo?i=76c0d4c03522293616caff2ad295606f)