On Monday, the Philadelphia 76ers made history by becoming the first NBA team to have advertisements on their jerseys, as the team will feature a StubHub patch on their uniforms next season.
Unsurprisingly, the announcement was met with a chorus of reactions online ranging from praise of Philly’s smart business savvy, to complete meltdowns saying that the small patch has ruined basketball as we know it. The reality is, it was only a matter of time before we started seeing ads on jerseys pop up after NBA commissioner Adam Silver approved the idea last month.
Nevertheless, the internet had plenty to say once the announcement was made.
I understand that the NBA is already driven by corporate dollars. But there's something about ads on jerseys that cheapens the game to me.
— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) May 16, 2016
https://twitter.com/yuvy_tweets/status/732196860887220224
https://twitter.com/twolinepass/status/732197658132090880
Quit whoring our city and team out @ScottONeil @sixers this ad thing is an embarrassment. Sell the team and GTFO of Philly.
— Uncle Radko (@bsauce33) May 16, 2016
Sell outs https://t.co/sA92yjfJKw
— E (@A_State_of_E) May 16, 2016
Abominable. https://t.co/mQw3LqBWUm
— Phil Wahba (@philwahba) May 16, 2016
https://twitter.com/jackquerey/status/732194484742721536
https://twitter.com/geoff9786/status/732175055342407680
Others didn’t seem to mind it as much, and some even thought it was a smart idea for the franchise.
I don’t think the Sixers jersey ads are all that bad. They’re not an eyesore. Plus, for fans, they’re only on jerseys sold at home games.
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) May 16, 2016
I guess you could say the #sixers were the first to ably and efficiently separate an advertiser from their wallet for the patch.
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) May 16, 2016
2017 first sponsors on NBA jerseys with #sixers and #stubhub it's smart and profitable but we will see how long until it looks like #nascar
— JGIB (@iamjgib) May 16, 2016
https://twitter.com/martinrickman/status/732199538799185920
Then there were those who mocked the people who were upset by the whole thing when it’s really not that big of a deal.
https://twitter.com/Ethan_Booker/status/732188046632816640
https://twitter.com/BrianPickett/status/732176766895169541
https://twitter.com/BrianPickett/status/732183204346667009
— PFT Commenter (@PFTCommenter) May 16, 2016
And, of course, there were plenty of people who took the opportunity to make fun of the 76ers being one of the worst teams in the NBA for the last several years.
Hey look everyone, the Sixers are finally 1st at something! https://t.co/NjcvCruTh2
— Nick (@NickFromJersey) May 16, 2016
More fitting sponsor would've been Waste Management https://t.co/vhl79Abafy
— Austin Odom (@odomaustin2) May 16, 2016
The best thing about Sixers getting $5 million a year from StubHub is you can still buy tickets to most of their games for $5 on StubHub.
— Peter Botte (@PeterBotte) May 16, 2016
https://twitter.com/ProHoopsHistory/status/732176618949640192
Those who don’t like it better get used to the whole ads on jerseys thing, as it’s practically guaranteed that every team in the NBA will follow suit in the near future. Something tells me that’s not going to stop the Internet from making jokes, though.
