How soon will sponsorship logos appear on NFL jerseys?

The NFL has allowed sponsorship logos on practice jerseys. When will it appear on the field during the regular season?
(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

On Wednesday, the Houston Texans were reported to have been seeking companies to put their sponsorship logos on the team's practice uniforms. The 3.5 to 4.5-inch patches would not be the first case of the NFL allowing teams to have company logos on team practice uniforms.

The Tennessee Titans have already sported their "Baptist Sports Medicine" patches. And it looks like that this trend might continue on throughout the league.

It's been especially hard for the NFL to maintain a sponsorship-free league since many other sports are now allowing sponsors to put their name on uniforms.

Around the world, the look is very common-- especially in soccer. And let's not forget NASCAR, where the jumpsuits are filled with sponsorship logos. And recently, the WNBA has fallen victim to these hard times of the economy.

Obviously for soccer and NASCAR it makes sense since there are little to no commercial breaks during television broadcasts. Advertisers need some outlet to get their name out to the public.

But the four major sports (basketball, baseball, hockey and football) have done relatively well in avoiding sponsorship patches on team uniforms. In fact, the NBA has done the best job since the uniforms don't even feature the logo of the manufacturer. But I think it's pretty obvious what "three-stripes" company makes the NBA gear. Every non-jersey in the NBA has those three stripes.

So for the NFL, how close will it be before they end up putting sponsorship logos on the team uniforms? We've been fortunate to not have any of these sponsorships ruin some classic moments from the past and present. But it may be sooner than later that we might have some jerseys look really ridiculous.

At least for the fans that grew up watching sports in America, we've been pretty fortunate to have had our leagues avoid the sponsorship route that other teams in other countries have taken. But as the money market starts to become a bigger issue for many leagues, I'm afraid that the NFL might be the first of many other leagues to feature sponsorship logos on team jerseys. After all, we're not the first football league to do it.

Right now, it looks like the practice jerseys will be the only victims of this tragedy. But soon enough, it could very well be that every NFL jersey will have McDonald's, Chevron or Ford patch. It's going to look like a cheap stadium giveaway on every player on the field.

It looks terrible and I'm afraid that it will spread not only to football but eventually to all the other four major sports. But right now, it looks like there will only be a handful of teams that will do this for their practice uniforms and nothing else. Let's hope that that will be as far as it will ever go.