

In the latest sign that ads on NBA jerseys are on the way and will inevitably be here soon, the owners of the Toronto Raptors have actually set a target price for potential advertisers on their jerseys.

According to TSN, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment have set their target price between $4 million and $5 million a year for a small patch on the Raptors’ jerseys. Here’s more from TSN:

MLSE executives are gauging the interest of corporate Canada after the National Basketball Association executives confirmed to team officials in February that the league may permit jersey ads during the 2017-18 season. NBA governors are expected to vote this month on the move. During their sales pitches, MLSE staff has discussed prospect ads of about two-and-a-half inches in diameter – the same size as the Kia Motors Corp. ad that appeared on the NBA All-Star Game jerseys this year in Toronto. It’s unclear how much Kia paid for the ad.

I’d have to imagine that the MLSE isn’t the only NBA ownership that’s busy gauging the market for potential suitors, so you can bet that other owners across the league are probably undergoing the same process as you read this. Additionally, this also seems to confirm that the Kia logo that appeared on the All-Star Game uniforms was pretty much a test run for when they eventually put ads on actual jerseys. Again, this isn’t a surprise, but now it’s very clear that the league is slowly but surely getting us ready for ads on jerseys. At this point, it’s only a matter of “when,” not “if.”

Now that this is basically confirmed to be happening, who do you think is going to get the most lucrative deal? Which ads would be fitting for which teams? This is depressing to speculate about, but it’s inevitable so we may as well talk about it, right?