Please no-please no: Ads on NHL jerseys and the last straw
by Dominik on Jul 29, 2009 1:01 PM EDT
in This, That & What-Not
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PrintWe hope the lure of ad revenue won't one day win out over maintaining the sanctity of the uniform. But we're not exactly optimistic about NHL jerseys remaining ad-free in the coming years.
>>Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy
This evergreen topic actually scares me quite a bit more than it should. The practical fan argues that changing jerseys does not affect the on-ice "game" in any way. But the romantic -- and realist -- in me knows that I watch this game for entertainment, and I am fully aware that the aesthetics of the game are a significant part of that entertainment. This swift-flowing game is less beautiful when cluttered like a European rink.
My closet is filled with jerseys, too many to admit. During domestic budget negotiations, that closet is the single-most-cited justification for the proliferation in my house of new high heels/pumps/whatever to serve the constituency of the finer sex. Due to personal tastes, far more of these jerseys are from before the 1990s cartoon/diagonal/third-jersey era than from after. My attachment to this game -- heck, this league -- is inescapably interwoven with nostalgia and appreciation for its history, which includes the aesthetic of things like the North Stars sporting the green, the Maple Leafs actually having a traditional hem stripe instead of a stripeless pajama top, the Flyers being primarily orange instead of black and tunic-like, the Blues having a stately blue-and-gold without red, and of course the Islanders rocking the simple, royal blue-and-orange look of their founding.
Given the expected lifespan of the average hockey obsessive, I know it's likely that sometime in my life NHL jerseys will display more than the RBK (vowels not included) uni maker's ad. They'll probably do it gradually so as to ease the pain, the way they've taken over the ice and everything else with an inch of white space. (But the sacred jersey is still different from the ice, let me tell you.).
And I know that the practical cynic, fully numb to the commercialization of everything but their own genealogy -- and perhaps better prepared for modern life -- won't care a bit. (Somehow, I watch soccer and don't mind the jersey ads, although the uniform "kit" history in that sport is quite different. Still: I, hypocrite.) And I know I couldn't scare them off if I were Mike Bossy himself, because they'll be marketing to a different generation whose virginity was sold on eBay.
But I know for myself, who is always re-evaluating what place spectator sporting folly plays in my own consciousness, that rubicon crossing will change things. I truly will enjoy the game less. I'll cut this sometimes backward league less slack, for it will have taken something dear away from me. I'll donate less "hockey-related revenue" for products that no longer promote only the game, but instead serve as another vehicle for ads for a car or magic sports drink. And while I doubt this (or hope against it?), it's possible at that time the game will simply pass me by.
'Cause this curmudgeon prefers things the way they are, or were. And he's quite aware there are millions of options for one's leisure time when an old hobby no longer holds the same appeal.
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No Love Without the...Ad?
Considering that I never post on my own site anymore (I promise I have a few things waiting to go up. I just have to transcribe an interview), I figured I’d start this conversation off with some eye candy:
Is there any way I can just say, “Yes, please?!” (drool :-P)
Ok. On a more serious note. Is this really what we want NHL team jersey’s to look like?
I can barely see the guy’s jersey number. The only way that I would accept ad placement on hockey jersey’s (an eventuality with the state of the cap in the next several years) is that the colors match the jersey they are put on and each team supports one or two major sponsers and then however many local businesses.
Frankly, there is no need for all the stuff down the sleeve. It’s clutter. Keep that stuff at the botom of the hem or the shoulders and that’s it.
Just my .02
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Those. Are. Amazing.
The only way that I would accept ad placement on hockey jerseys (an eventuality with the state of the cap in the next several years) is that the colors match the jersey they are put on and each team supports one or two major sponsors
Yeah, if/when it happens, you’d hope they’d keep it to one major one like soccer. I don’t get how the Euros do it, where all those contrasting ads disappear into illegible mush. Man, I dread this.
Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.
Pardon my French...
That’s fucking terrible.
Putting crap on practice jerseys doesn’t matter since no one sees that junk anyhow and only suckers buy them from NHL shops.
If they go the Euro/minor league way… Forget it. Then again, the league doesn’t care anyhow. They boned the fans over with the new RBK/Edge jerseys (they cost way more) and the affordable options of those are even cheaper quality than the previous iteration of them under CCM.
Dread indeed.
I love how the RBK “enhancement” was grounds to jack up the price of all jerseys and, like you mention, even make the lower version of worse quality. That was a special “thank you.”
Progress as promised!
Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.
Anyway to find out what her name is?
SHOOOOOOOT IT!!!! Anon
by burpchelischili on Aug 8, 2009 5:31 AM EDT up reply actions
My Bettman VooDoo Doll is running out of space…
btw, he’s been on XM Radio doing a show once a week for 2 years and has never once gotten a negative call in…
Ha! Really?! I’ve heard excerpts now and then, and talk of him being more down to earth there. It’s a good idea anyway, but the thought of no negative calls is absurd. I wonder if the screeners coach callers to basically ask a neutral question or not get through at all.
Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.
Yeah, I tried to call to ask why the league was charging 504 dollars for the Awards Show and 19.99 a night for Gamecenter and got the kiss-off.
I wonder how much the Isles would charge to put D.P.‘s arthroscopic surgeon’s ad on the sweater?
by FireGarthSnow on Jul 30, 2009 10:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Man, really? That’s good to know. Those are two great questions.
As a die-hard, I’m resigned to the occasional “only die-hards will be interested in this anyway, so we might as well price the hell out of it” rationale, but those two are figures that are beyond that — they’re insulting.
I may have to try to call into the show and collect more experiences like that.
Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.
Well, you don’t need the shotgun to get this kid off your lawn, because I’ll probably be up there on the porch with you, bitching about how life is now and how much better it was in the good old days. The day they get jersey ads is the day I cash out as an NHL fan. My jersey collection numbers ten (three Canadiens, three Jets, two Oilers, one Canada, one Hitmen), and other than the manufacturer logo — which I’ve always considered fair game on all equipment — there’s not an ad to be seen on it, and that’s the way it should be. We didn’t come to watch billboards, we came to watch players for a hockey team. If I’m going to root for laundry, I’m at least going to root for laundry that stands on its own, that isn’t for sale to the highest bidder.
SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there)
by Doogie2K on Jul 31, 2009 6:05 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Well, you don’t need the shotgun to get this kid off your lawn, because I’ll probably be up there on the porch with you, bitching about how life is now and how much better it was in the good old days.
LOL. This may be my favorite comment in the life of this site. And another thing, I swear it’s all to do with the dag-dern rock music the young folk are listening to these days…
Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.
I refuse to buy a cheep knock off jersey, if you believe in the player/team, prove it. I have always bought the “authentic” jerseys, and will never buy the “Chinese cheepo’s” I know that my hundred dollars is not going to save the league from bankruptcy, but I believe in supporting my teams.
I currently own two baseball jerseys, a Hank Aaron Braves, and a Nolen Ryan Astros. (I know, why does a Cubbie have those two jerseys. Easy, because they were two of the best. Ever.)
In Football, I own a Bosworth from Oklahoma, a Bears Ditka, a Bears Singletary, and a Bears Peyton. I will probably add a Urlacher when he retires, and I have thoughts of adding a Manning, but it would be hard for me to wear a Colts jersey.
I used to have Soccer jerseys, I had two Pele jerseys, and every jersey I wore, from the T-shirts in pee-wee, up to the Tulsa Roughnecks. I gave the soccer jerseys away when I gave up mens soccer (Otherwise known as professional diving). The only soccer related jersey I own now, is Mia Hamm’s. She is a Goddess among mortals.
Having gone through all that, let me say that I currently own four Blackhawks jerseys, a White Espisito, a White Orr, and both a red and a black Chelios. I have looked at buying a Tavares this year, especially if I can get to the Isles/blues game. I am just pissed enough that I will retire all of them if Hockey starts running ads on the Jerseys. It is bad enough that they have put the “Green Screen” ads on the boards, they do NOT need to mess with the jerseys as well. Make the boards ads cost more. They could look at new ideas for ads, like having the United Rubber Workers put an ad on the magical bouncing boards behind the red wings goals.
SHOOOOOOOT IT!!!! Anon
This
Mia Hamm’s. She is a Goddess among mortals.
She is and was something else. In many ways.
Most cherished pieces for me: BOSSY 22, SUTTER 11 (Brian), STASTNY 26 (Quebec)
Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.
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