Jersey Advertisements on the Horizon?

http://thesportspoint.blogspot.com/2008/01/advertisements-on-jerseys-on-horizon.html

The Red Sox announced recently that they would be wearing an EMC Corp. logo on the sleeve of its jersey during the team's opening series with the A's in Japan. According to the Sports Business Daily, the deal will likely cost EMC a six-figure fee.

Unfortunately, we believe it's only a matter of time before professional American sports teams adopt the strategy of European teams and brand their uniforms with the logo of a high-paying company. As long as the culture of sports continues to center around the dollar and less around the game, this will become all too common.

We'd like to think there is a purity that remains in the fabric of the sports played in this country. The level of competition and athleticism it takes to succeed in any of the major professional organizations is unlike anywhere else in the world, but it seems like that is becoming more and more tarnished every year. Surely teams like the Red Sox profit enough from the vast support it receives, or that maybe - gasp - the team could corral its spending so that it won't have to turn to this style of advertising.