For something that takes up only 6.25 square inches of uniform space, the advertising patches now worn by all 30 NBA teams have had a sizable impact on their bottom lines. Depending on the team, the 2.5-inch-by-2.5-inch patches bring in between $5 million and $20 million annually, and one estimate has that yearly haul rising 20% to 30% when the next round of deals are banged out starting in a few years.
Major League Baseball officials appear to have noticed this windfall because, according to a story by Sports Business Journal’s Terry Lefton, similar advertising likely will be a uniform feature in the near future.