Sleeved jerseys a sweeping trend in NBA

LeBron James (R) and Dwyane Wade

The NBA, like any other big time sports league is always on the look out for ways they can maximize profits by enticing the fans to adopt a particular trend.

This year, the Golden State Warriors have brought in a new tactic in apparel merchandising- alternate jerseys with sleeves which is a variety from decades of wearing tank tops to the games. In order to promote the trend, the Warriors wore it extensively last season but they haven’t received as much appreciation as they had anticipated. The new fashion statement has invoked jokes and complaints from their fans, and one star guard from their roster- Stephen Curry, who openly admitted that the tops were ugly.

Even though the trend did not catch on, it still did not stop Adidas and the NBA from offering the short-sleeve option to every team for the 2013-14 season.

Darren Rovell of ESPN.com said that many teams will adopt the style to push along the sales.

Sal LaRocca, the league’s executive vice president of global merchandising, has admitted that the introduction of this jersey was to provide more than one option at retail.

“The life cycle of our jersey continues to be really strong,” LaRocca said. “Over the last few years, sales of our traditional tank-top basketball jersey has been growing worldwide. But we know that more men are comfortable wearing T-shirts than tank tops, so the idea that part of our consumer base would be interested in wearing a jersey with sleeves makes sense.”

According to LaRocca, five teams will wear the jersey for 12 games each or in total but any way you look at it we will have to brace ourselves for more sleeves during the 2013-14 NBA.

Source: Yahoo sports