Advertisements on sports jerseys are becoming 'a creeping trend'

The Rangers are the latest New York sports team to put advertisements on their jerseys, a trend that allows teams to generate new revenue streams but one that has drawn criticism from those who feel the ads are intrusive.

The team partnered with GAME 7, a multi-platform sports and entertainment brand co-founded by franchise legend Mark Messier, for the first jersey sponsor patch in franchise history. The white logo is atop the right shoulder on each Rangers jersey.

The Islanders, who had a patch for the first time last season, have a new partnership. Vanda Pharmaceuticals, a Washington, D.C.-based global biopharmaceutical company, now occupies a spot on the right side of the chest on the Islanders jersey, replacing Solo Stove. It is the first time an NHL team partnered with a pharmaceutical company.

Sponsorships on uniforms have been prevalent on European soccer uniforms for decades, but the development has taken off within the last decade in the United States.

Locally, the Islanders and Rangers join the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Nets and Liberty as pro teams sporting patches. The NBA was the first league to add jersey sponsor patches in the 2017-18 season, and MLB followed suit in 2023. The NFL is holding out wearing patches on regular-season uniforms, though sponsors are on practice jerseys. The NCAA is moving toward a rule change to permit sponsor patches.

“They’re sort of a creeping trend into the United States,” said Robert Boland, a sports law professor at Seton Hall Law School who has practiced and worked in the valuation of sponsorship. “I think the big opposition to it in the United States is that we've created logos for our sports teams in terms of intellectual property that carry a real value."

Boland warned that teams run the risk of devaluing iconic logos that are recognized world-wide. 

"My point would be the Yankees 'NY' and the Dallas [Cowboys'] star and the Green Bay 'G' or the Eagles wings are really recognizable and powerful," Boland said. "I don't think those things particularly exist outside the United States in terms of intellectual property value, and they're so intrinsic to the teams that we tend to dilute them by kind of putting on this jersey patch idea.”

The risk is worth the reward, at least so far. The amount of money generated by the patch sponsor varies by team, Boland said, but there is a fixed-cost aspect that is contractually guaranteed. The average NHL jersey patch deal last season was $4.4 million, according to SponsorUnited.

Mark Conrad, a professor of law and ethics at Fordham University and the director of its sports business initiative, said that – depending on the league – teams can make as much as $20 million on a patch deal per season, but “it’s usually less than that.”

INDIFFERENT REACTION

American fans seem to be accepting the reality that ads on uniforms are part of the sports landscape, as long as things don't get out of hand.

"I'm looking at it like NASCAR," said Islanders fan Jamie Cebula, 30, a Holbrook resident, "which has the logos all over their cars and on their uniforms and everything. It's pretty much the same thing."

The problem, she said, is if it gets "too crowded with logos.”

“I think some fans are indifferent to it,” Boland said. “I think there are some younger fans who have been influenced by European soccer who actually think it's a part of the recognition process, right. Kind of no different than car racing and sponsorship. So I think there's a division.”

Conrad has not heard any real pushback from fans on the patches, though he noted there could be if a company is controversial.

“I think it's fine,” said Rangers fan Jesse Lindell, 25, originally from Plainview. “Mark Messier, it’s his company, and Mark Messier's a top-five, top-three Ranger ever. So in that regard, I'm fine with it. I actually kind of like it, especially with the centennial season for the Rangers. It's kind of a nice branding thing.

“I don't like it when teams will have a bank or a restaurant or a store or some random sponsor that's all over. . . . I want to keep those off the jerseys as much as possible.”

FIND THE RIGHT FIT

The challenge for teams, Conrad said, is to find a partnership that makes sense.

“I think how well the team and sponsor work together [is important],” Conrad said. “If it's an effective design and it can relate to the public, that can help as well. Research is usually done to find the right fit.”

Terms of the GAME 7 deal were not disclosed, though the Rangers — who are celebrating their 100-year anniversary this season — called it a “multi-year marketing partnership.”

The Rangers declined an interview request for this story. 

For GAME 7 CEO Mat Vlasic, who was a 10th grader in Manhattan when the Rangers won the 1994 Stanley Cup, the opportunity is surreal.

“To some extent it feels like we’re etching a little mark in history here, when you think about the 100 years and it being celebrated,” Vlasic said. “That ice has seen a lot of blood, sweat and tears. It's the stage where greatness is born, just as Game 7 is. So we had so much sort of lined up and in sync together, and it's pretty awesome.”

In the long run, Vlasic said metrics that measure things such as brand awareness will determine whether the partnership is a success. But he said the early reads are that the patch has been well-received, and GAME 7 feels like a natural fit with the Rangers.

“It looks like it's been on that jersey,” he said.

Islanders senior vice president of corporate partnerships Adam Cross told Newsday that the team had a short window to replace last year's sponsor, and that Vanda Pharmaceuticals was an appealing partner that has been getting involved in both the NHL and MLB recently.

“They wanted to support the team and at the same time reach our fan base in such a big way," Cross said. "It’s really what's exciting about it for us . . . It's a jewel asset."

Vanda’s patch consists of a logo that is partially green but otherwise blends in with both the home and away Islanders jersey. It is a five-year partnership, according to Cross.

“Without question, the New York area is of tremendous interest,” said Dr. Mihael H. Polymeropoulos, Vanda’s CEO. “A lot of good people were interested to make sure they become aware of Vanda. The Islanders themselves are a historic organization with a very broad fan base, not only in New York, but around the country.”

Vanda will have a presence on UBS Arena’s ice and dasher board signage. The partnership includes fan-centric initiatives, such as an annual tentpole sweepstakes, content collaboration and a community program that culminates in a ceremonial puck drop each season.

“All of them relate to visibility and activation of fans,” Polymeropoulos said. “I understand the first game will have sweepstakes with jerseys to be won. But it will be this integration of the Vanda brand to the New York Islanders brand, so we can become part of the Islanders history.”