March 28, 2024
The Phillies are still in talks for a corporate sponsor patch on the sleeves of their jerseys and are hoping to have one locked in by the All-Star Game in July, per John George of the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Ahead of last season, the Phillies removed the player numbers from the left sleeves of their home and road uniforms in anticipation of finding a sponsor – a.k.a jersey ad – but the space ended up going blank for the entire year.
This offseason, however, the organization didn't seem intent on leaving it that way for much longer.
The Phillies started working with a marketing agency, Excel Sports Management, in October to seek a deal, according to George, and have fielded multiple offers to which many have been turned down by owner John Middleton already.
But Jason Miller, Excel Sports Management's head of properties, told George that a suitor is expected to be found by this season's All-Star break while hinting, based on the brief history of jersey ads across Major League Baseball so far, that it will probably be a local brand.
"There just hasn't been the right deal. … We're going to be patient," Miller told the Business Journal. "This is a team that's hot. There's a myriad of new partners this season. Revenue is up, ticket sales are up, [broadcast] ratings are up. The demand is there. We're just waiting for the right partner — somebody the organization and the fan base can be proud of."
Thing is, ask any jersey purist or even casual fan, and they'll hardly be proud of losing the sleeve numbers for an advertisement.
Sponsor patches/jersey ads have been a contentious subject across North American sports for a while now, but have been gradually becoming a mainstay, and were one of the concessions made between MLB and the MLB Players Association coming out of the negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement and the resulting lockout from a couple of years ago.
A handful of clubs moved to get a sponsor on their jerseys right away, with results ranging from a minor distraction at best to an obnoxious blight that clashes with the rest of the look at its very worst. The number of teams has increased since, and the Phillies are looking to be one of the very next in line.
However, it's coming at the expense of a uniform touch in the sleeve numbers that used to be wholly unique to the Phils for what's really the sake of a few extra bucks and during a year where the MLB uniforms, manufactured on a new template from Nike and Fanatics, are already under heavy scrutiny from fans and players alike for their instantly perceived dip in quality.
But so long as the jersey ads bring another revenue stream to the table, they won't be going away any time soon.
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