Follow @james_tanner123 There can be no middle ground here: putting ads on jerseys is offensive on every level. Shame on the NHL for even floating the idea and shame on anyone who talks about it and doesn't take the NHL to task for a level of greed that is, frankly, sickening.
There should never be ads on the Jerseys.
Jerseys should be sacred.
Consider this: everyone involved in the NHL is already rich. The owners are rich, the players are rich and all team executives are rich. No one "needs" this money and its offensive to even suggest asking for it.
I will never buy a jersey with an ad on it. I will consider quitting watching the NHL if this comes to pass. It's just greed at its absolute lowest point.
The NHL is a big business and there are tons of ways to create revenue without offending fans and desecrating the game.
I don't care if UK soccer does it, soccer sucks.
The NHL should stand up for its fans, its players and its reputation and say that ads on jerseys are a non-starter and will never happen.
Fans should let the NHL know its unacceptable.
And any fan that doesn't care should look at the boards and the ice and the names of buildings and ask if we need more of that?
Jerseys with ads on them will look like crap and they'll debase the NHL. It's whorish. There's no need to be selling out so fervently. Its ugly, it makes the league look cheap and ads are already an overwhelming presence in our society and anyone who goes about creating an ad-free or limited ad environment will benefit because people just like things better without ads.
Ads on the internet, ads on TV, hidden in TV shows, movies, product placement everywhere, adds at the bank machine the frigging urinal, on the ice, on the boards all over the broadcast of every game.
Enough is enough.
The powerplay is brought to me by a sponsor, the shootout is brought to me by a sponsor, the play of the game, the turning point, the player of the game, the best check of the game, etc. etc. etc.
The NHL needs to ignore this one potential revenue stream in order to be a respectable league and business enterprise.
They also need to consider that with all that ad money on the table, their opportunity cost is going to be huge and needs to be measured against that.
Finally, if there is a smart company out there, someone like Coca-Cola or McDonalds, they'll pay the NHL to keep jerseys ad free and take an unbelievable amount of customer good will and good publicity.
Thanks for reading