The NFL and NBA have both made moves in the advertising department this week.
Sports Business Journal reported on Monday that NBA owners have voted to ease a seventeen-year ban on courtside advertising for hard liquor. Previously, NBA teams had been “prohibited from selling courtside/TV visible hard liquor signage,” although teams were apparently free to sign deals with “hard-liquor sponsors ranging from in-arena club sponsors to simple concourse signage.”
The league’s reversal in policy is the result of “an effort to drive revenue during the economic downturn“, and follows similar decisions by other sports like NASCAR, which allowed hard liquor ads on its cars in 2004.
Meanwhile, the Sports Business Journal also reported on Monday that the NFL is planning to announce a five-year sponsorship deal with advertising giant Procter & Gamble.
The potential deal with P&G, the world’s largest advertiser, would be a “a three-tiered arrangement, with some brands getting national play and some even able to market with individual team marks.” One of the national brands would be Oral-B, which could become “the first ‘official electric toothbrush’ of the NFL.”
P&G subsidiary Gillette is “expected to use NFL rights to launch a licensed razor program similar to what it has done with collegiate rights.” The “size of a P&G NFL deal brings … Gillette?s 70-year relationship with MLB into question, as it is up for renewal.”
In unrelated NFL ad news, Coke plans to air a remake of its classic Mean Joe Greene ad on Super Bowl Sunday. The ad would feature the Steelers’ Troy Polamalu in Greene’s role. The original 1979 ad famously featured Greene “[tossing] his jersey to a young fan who gave him a Coke.”
