Valley of the Suns
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Bravo to Robert Sarver for not adding an ad patch (yet)

By Adam Maynes

Phoenix Suns Robert Sarver (Photo by Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE via Getty Images)
Phoenix Suns Robert Sarver (Photo by Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Thank you to Robert Sarver (so far)

TARRYTOWN, NY – AUGUST 11: Josh Jackson #20 and Davon Reed #32 of the Phoenix Suns poses for a photo during the 2017 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot at MSG training center on August 11, 2017 in Tarrytown, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Brian Babineau/Getty Images)
TARRYTOWN, NY – AUGUST 11: Josh Jackson #20 and Davon Reed #32 of the Phoenix Suns poses for a photo during the 2017 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot at MSG training center on August 11, 2017 in Tarrytown, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Brian Babineau/Getty Images) /

The fact that the Suns have yet to announce a patch-worthy corporate sponsor is why I must (at the moment) thank Phoenix Suns Owner Robert Sarver from the bottom of my heart.

While I have little doubt in my cynical soul that the Suns will eventually add a patch to their uniforms like so many others already have – 12 teams by the timing of this story, not to ignore that NIKE is the first of any uniform producer to purchase prime advertising space on a jersey, which, needless to say, means that teams will actually will have two  corporate sponsors on their uniforms from now on), I am very happy that so far the Suns do not.

Maybe Sarver hasn’t been approached with the right dollar amount yet. Maybe he was waiting until after the release of the new uniforms to announce that a sponsor has been found. At the moment though, outside of the NIKE swoosh, the jerseys still remain clean and otherwise sponsorship free.

The franchise too is now worth approximately $1.1B (according to Forbes), nearly three times what it was originally purchased for. Like most other teams who have rocketed up in value over the past decade and a half (as referenced in that same article – and as further exampled by the Los Angeles Clippers who were sold for approximately $2.1B, well over the Forbes estimated value of earlier that year set at only $575M), even for a team who hasn’t made the playoffs since 2010, finding money to spend on players has not been difficult – only finding the right  players to spend the money on is what has made life difficult for Sarver and the fans.

My hope is that the Suns never  add a sponsorship patch and that Robert Sarver has embraced that so many fans despise the use of a jersey as a supplementary billboard in an already sponsorship-inundated sports world.

In fact, maybe that space on the uniform can actually be used for a 50th Anniversary patch instead of a corporate one. By my understanding the Suns have never had an anniversary patch before, although teams around the league regularly do, including the Chicago Bulls who added a 50th anniversary patch of their own two seasons ago.

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If Robert Sarver can hold off, and with enough owners by his side, give a simple, little gift back to the fans by saving us from having to stare at (and purchase on apparel) yet another corporate logo, maybe after the three-year trial period the patches actually will  go away, and the uniforms as a whole will remain pristine.

If this happens, it will be a new day in corporate sponsorships of professional sports. It is not likely, but I for one hope that Robert Sarver might actually be the one to set the league-wide example, and show his competing owners the way.

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