Express-News style master Michael Quintanilla and I
panned the Spurs new alternative uniforms. In hindsight, that might have been a mistake.
Not that the criticism is unfounded. Its just that
how they look, with no identification and the off-set logo sitting on top of an ocean of gray, might not be nearly as important as how they function.
So asserts the
Houston Chronicles Jonathan Feigen, who put to print or pixel, as it were what many were thinking when they recognized that a piece of advertising be easily inserted without a team or city name cluttering things up. Indeed, from his standpoint its not a matter of if but when the NBA takes the step that professional leagues around the world
made decades ago:
It is coming. Book it.
As shocking as corporate logos on an NBA jersey might seem, its even more shocking that North American professional leagues, who have absolutely no peer when it comes to maximizing profits, havent done so already.
Manchester United
recently signed a seven-year deal with Chevrolet that will pay 25 million pounds per. Granted, the Red Devils are an international brand, arguably the most popular professional team in the world. But its an indication of what kind of money American pro teams are leaving money on the table.
But if Feigen is correct, and these new togs truly are a taste of things to come, that cash wont be left unclaimed for very much longer.
Spurs Nation