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Indianapolis Colts to allow sponsors on practice uniforms
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The Indianapolis Colts' uniforms soon will be more than a way to identify players.
Their practice uniforms will be, anyway.
The Colts will be taking advantage of a league rule allowing teams to feature a sponsor's logo on practice jerseys, and likely will secure a practice-jersey sponsor by the end of the month, Colts Senior Executive Vice President Pete Ward told the Indianapolis Star this week.
"Things evolve and you're always looking for ways to maximize revenue without compromising the integrity of the game," Ward told the Star. "We've had a lot of interest, but there is nothing in place, yet."
Ward told the Star the sponsor almost certainly will be in place in time for training camp, for which the Colts are scheduled to report on August 2.
The Star reported that just one sponsor is allowed per team, and the patch is to be no larger than 3.5 inches high by 4.5 inches wide. The patch also must be affixed to the upper left portion of the practice jersey. The Star reported teams are "not allowed to enter into sponsorship contracts with certain businesses, including those dealing with firearms and ammunition, gambling, distilled spirits, gentlemen's clubs, Internet sites of other sports leagues or tobacco."
Sponsorship patches are not yet allowed on game uniforms, but considering the struggling economy, it's reasonable to see this move as a step toward that. The WNBA's Phoenix franchise recently gave over its uniform design to a corporate sponsor, and the more teams in so-called minor professional sports leagues follow that lead, the more acceptable and palpable the idea will become to the general fan.
And you know what? So what? Fans are no more passionate about American sports than European fans are about soccer, a sport that has featured sponsored uniforms for years.
A sponsored NFL uniform would cause a stir, and lead to an extended news/talk radio cycle devoted to the topic, then like so many other things, it would become the norm and few would notice and fewer would care.
And while that's still a ways off, for now, Colts fans should become accustomed to a slightly different-looking practice jersey than they have seen before.
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