Advertising in Sports

The other day while watching my favorite hometown team, the LA Dodgers, I realized how extremely integrated advertisements are with sports of all levels.

Advertisements are everywhere at all sporting events. There is the general detritus of advertisements that circle the stadium throughout the game. They are on flashy signs with moving images to grab your attention during the game. But also sometimes the name of the stadium is an advertisement. The Minnesota Twins stadium is called Target Field. If that isn't the most blatant advertising then I don't know what is. Target pays the Twins millions of dollars to have their name and the target symbol on the stadium. This automatically to any dedicated baseball fan connects Target with the Twins. But Target Field is really new to the Twins. Back in 2010, the Twins changed the name of their stadium from the Hubert H. Humphrey Metro dome to Target Field. They did this for the consumer, everyone knows what Target is. However raise your hand if you know who Hubert H. Humphrey is...none of you...exactly my point. (FYI he was a long time senator for Minnesota.) The Twins benefited from this switch because Target pays them more for their name to get advertised on their stadium.

Not only is it on their stadium's an advertisement but it is also on their uniforms. This issue is more potent in the European soccer leagues. It has gotten to the point where for someone to recognize what team is playing the have to know the company that is advertised on their jerseys. On their jerseys a large advertisement across the front of their chest is always present along with a little tiny patch above their heart advertising what team it actually is. Shouldn't it be the opposite way around? The advertisement should be the little patch in the corner while the name of the team should be front and center. It makes no sense except for in our media crazed society companies will have to find any way to get the message to us about their products.

Not only is this crazy advertising on uniforms in the professional leagues but it is also in little league. As a little girl, I played on my neighborhood east sac little league softball team. They would give us the uniform at the beginning of the season with our appointed team name on it. On these jerseys they have your number on the back but written above your number is the name of a local company. These companies have probably provided money to the little league program and in return they get free advertising on the backs of little nine year old's. When I was little I accepted this because I didn't think there was anything wrong. It was the way it had always been. Looking back now I think this is just slightly messed up. All they want to do is have fun and play baseball/softball and then some companies wants to turn you into an advertisement, not cool bro.

Things aren't going to change any time soon advertising in sports has become so intertwined that their is just no way around it. Every sport has its unique way of showing advertisements. We accept these because we have grown up in a society where constant advertising is part of the relative "normal."