We hope you’re sitting down, because we have a bit of shocking news: those hideous sleeved jerseys the NBA has been shoving down our throats on Christmas Day (and various other games) over the last two seasons aren’t selling well. At least, that’s according to a buyer “for a well-known chain of sporting goods stores”. Paul Lukas, of Uni Watch, took part in a panel discussion at an NYU sports business class, and reports that the buyer mentioned the controversial sleeved jerseys “are not selling well”.
We don’t know who the unidentified buyer is, but it’s a good bet he works for an American sporting goods store, which means his customer base probably isn’t the intended target of the sleeved jerseys anyway. There’s a notion among critics that the sleeved jerseys (which resemble soccer jerseys) are specifically meant to appeal to foreign audiences, some of which are so NBA-mad that they’ll plop down a wad of cash on anything branded with The Logo. That’s all fine and well for the league, which is making a concerted effort to make inroads in massive, previously untapped markets (specifically, China and India). And nobody should fault them for trying to make a buck. But the jerseys aren’t aesthetically pleasing to the league’s core audience, and the lack of sales — at least for one retailer — proves that.
The good news is that Adam Silver is open to discontinuing the sleeved jerseys if there’s enough player resistance:
“Ultimately, if the players don’t like them, we’ll move on to something else,” Silver told Bleacher Report. “I don’t regret doing it for this season. But it’s intended to be something fun for the fans and the players. And if it becomes a serious issue, as to whether players should be wearing sleeves, we’ll likely move onto other things.”
The complaints over the jerseys spans players (including the very influential LeBron James), media and fans, so there’s a chance the sleeved jerseys may soon be a thing of the past.
In related news, the buyer also said he hopes the NBA doesn’t put advertising on jerseys because it’s “just asking for trouble”. He already has to worry about players getting injured, traded or arrested, all factors that impact sales enough already.
[BDL]
