The Sixers Become The First Major North American Sports Team To Put Ads On Their Jerseys

A month after it was announced that ads were coming to NBA jerseys, we finally have at least one team adding a brand to its uniform — the Philadelphia 76ers and StubHub announced the league’s first jersey ad deal on Monday.

What does it mean? Well, the Sixers become the first team in the four major North American sports leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL) to put corporate ads on their uniforms full-time. They will have a small jersey patch featuring StubHub’s logo on each of their jerseys starting in 2017-18, with the patch located on the front upper left corner of the jersey.

The patches will also be featured on all jerseys sold in the team’s arena pro shop in Philadelphia, but not on jerseys sold elsewhere. If you’re a big StubHub supporter located outside of the Philly area, fear not — you can always have the team’s Betsy Ross mascot sew one of those patches on for you.

Now that the Sixers have become the first team to dive into jersey ads, there’s a good chance we’ll see several more teams announce partnerships in the near future. Ads on jerseys have been a controversial discussion in recent years. Some fans don’t want their team turning uniforms into billboards, especially those with a storied history.

But it’s time to face it — it’s happening, and there will probably be ads on most jerseys league-wide in a few years. Teams are businesses, and businesses love money. Just look at how happy the extra money has made Betsy Ross.