Detroit Pistons to announce Flagstar Bank as jersey ad sponsor

Jersey ads are coming to the NBA and the Detroit Pistons are set to announce Flagstar bank as their jersey ad sponsor.

Whether we like it or not, corporate logos are coming to professional sports uniforms in the United States. Jersey ads have been the norm in much of the rest of the world for quite some time but they are just now breaking into major American sports, starting with the NBA.

NBA rules now allow for a small corporate logo on the front of a jersey as a new revenue stream. Slowly but surely, teams have been announcing ad sponsors for the upcoming season and the Detroit Pistons appear poised to be the next.

According to ESPN’s Darren Rovell, Pistons jerseys next season will feature Flagstar Bank as their jersey ad sponsor. Rovell includes a look at how the add will appear on the Pistons blue and white jerseys.

Putting aside the debate about ads on jerseys, this is not the worst. Flagstar, headquartered in Troy, is a local business and their logo color matches well with the Pistons’ team colors. That’s not always the case.

Rovell followed up his Pistons tweet with another showing some of the other already announced jersey ad sponsorships, including the Boston Celtics who will wear a GE logo in green instead of the company’s usual blue.

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The Pistons ad does come across as blocky, particularly with the red box contrasting with the blue and white primary jersey color, but it won’t impact the fan experience of watching a normal game, particularly in person. Sure, we’ll get an up close look at the logo on the jersey every time a player steps to the free throw line, but I don’t think it will be noticed much beyond that.