NBA's Crazy New Christmas Day Jerseys Hint At The Future Of Uniform Advertising

The image at right, which was originally posted at SNYNets.com, shows the jerseys that will be worn by the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day. The images originally appeared on an eBay listing that has since been deleted. The uniforms were confirmed to be authentic by Paul Lukas of ESPN.com, who had been made aware of the jerseys previously (additional jerseys can be seen below).

This sleeved design is probably a sign of where the NBA is headed with uniform advertising.

Advertising on NBA uniforms has been discussed, but is currently on hold. However, it is interesting to note that these jerseys appear to have been designed with advertising in mind.

In all, ten teams will play on Christmas Day, and according to Lukas, all ten will wear jerseys with this same template. That is, the jerseys will have sleeves with numbers. The front of the jerseys will have logos instead of the team's name or city, and no numbers. Interestingly, the logos are all either grey or white.

In addition to the increase in surface area on the front compared to a traditional jersey, the design includes fewer contrasting colors and less area being covered by graphics, lettering, and numbers. It would seem that this is exactly what you would want to change if you were going to eventually add an advertisement patch to the front of the uniforms.

While the NBA hasn't formerly announced that advertisements are coming to the uniforms, these jerseys seem to suggest it could be inevitable and that it could happen soon.

Uni Watch Exclusive! NBA Xmas uniforms CONFIRMED: http://t.co/rRVTvhyZ2y pic.twitter.com/GKXuanfn4g

- Paul Lukas (@UniWatch) November 7, 2013