Are we seriously surprised by this, I am a Graduate from a Sports Business Major, and my only question is, are we surprised that this didn't happen sooner.
When players are traded we often hear the term "the NBA is a business" so why shouldn't we look at the NBA as a business in this case.
When the NBA signs a multi million dollar deal with ESPN or ABC, why are we not outraged by that, the league filters some of those monies to the teams but keeps a vast percentage for itself.
So why should we be outraged in this case when a team gets to keep these revenues?
Its been happening for over 30 years in Europe with Soccer and Rugby. FIFA has banned ads on international teams but IRB the governing body doesn't allow shirt branding on International Rugby teams.
Its an interesting topic but believe me, the NBA is far behind the curve with the European soccer leagues with Shirt branding. Bear in mind that the top teams in Europes change their shirt design every year and fans happily pay over 60 bucks for the new shirt.
This is a case where the more marketable team gets more money and the small market teams get less money for the same ad space. Is Sprite going to pay the same amount of money on a Grizzlies jersey than a Lakers jersey? Of course not. Yeah teams will get revenues but this is a far cry from the "fair" model that distributes money evenly to all teams.
Again, soccer/rugby have no commercials. So ads on jerseys, while that sucks, makes more sense than putting ads on NBA jerseys where we are already inundated with ads (commercials, floor, billboards, arenas).
The NBA is a business and they have every right to make a profit. Just because they can do this doesn't mean they should.
The central issue here is competitive balance, I get what you are saying about the ads being more valuable to certain teams, but as an owner thats the risk you take buying a small market team.
I come from a European background where Manchester United and Real Madrid and Barcelona have ruled European football leagues for over 60 years fans in there thousands still support teams from the lower leagues and attend their games regularly.
The problem in U.S sports and particularly the NBA is that if you don't put a winner on the floor, your going to struggle financially.
OKC is a small market team but I bet you their jersey sponsorship will be worth as much or close to the Knicks or Lakers. So it has less do to with the market and far more to do with actual performance on the floor.
Another point is that State farm sponsors many NBA backboards, I never saw an outrage over that, that to me is far more valuable than a jersey sponsorship as you constantly see it during the game.
I get the 'purists' points, but leagues should try and generate as much money as possible, they have to run like business' and tap into as may revenue streams as possible. Thats what sports marketing is all about.