As of today, the Miami Dolphins have now joined 17 other NFL teams in sporting sponsor patches on their practice jerseys.

NFL owners approved putting sponsor patches on practice jerseys earlier this year, but until today – the first day of regular season practice – the Dolphins hadn’t had worn a patch. Today they’re wearing an AT&T logo on their jerseys.

“It’s a league-wide initiative that does now allow for sponsorships on practice jerseys during the regular season,” Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene said. “We took advantage to provide additional values to one of our largest corporate sponsors.”

Greene would not disclose financial details of the deal, but AT&T is already a team sponsor. Regular season practices are closed to the public and only open to the media for short periods on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and on Mondays when a full practice is scheduled. That means there is some potential media exposure for the corporate logos.

Under NFL rules, teams had until Sept. 1 to finalize deals with one corporate sponsor for a patch on practice jerseys. Separate deals can be made for the playoffs, an NFL spokesman said.

Other NFL teams with practice jersey sponsors include the Buffalo Bills with Sanyo, Chicago Bears with Northshore University Healthsystem, Cincinnati Bengals with Spongetech, Dallas Cowboys with the University of Phoenix, Indianapolis Colts with Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, and the New England Patriots with Gillette.

Leagues have been softening their stance on corporate logos on jerseys this year. The NBA is now allowing sponsor patches on practice jerseys. The New Jersey Nets announced Tuesday they have become the first NBA team to strike a practice jersey sponsorship deal. The team will wear the logo for PNY Technologies Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of computing and digital imaging products. PNY will also own the naming rights to the team’s practice facility in East Rutherford.

The WNBA this season allowed sponsor logos on its regular season uniforms and two teams took advantage: the Phoenix Mercury struck a deal with LifeLock and the Los Angeles Sparks forged a partnership with Farmer’s Insurance. MLS players also wear sponsor logos on their jerseys during the season.

How long before sponsor logos appear on jerseys during the big four sports’ regular seasons?

> Discuss this entry

That didn’t take long. The Los Angeles Sparks and Farmers Insurance Group of Companies announced a multi-year partnership Friday that will put the insurance group’s name on the WNBA team’s jerseys.

The partnership comes just in time for the Sparks home opener against the Detroit Shock on Saturday. It also marks the second such announcement this week. The Phoenix Mercury announced Monday that it will be wearing identity theft protection company, LifeLock Inc., on its uniforms for three years under a deal said to be worth at least $1 million a year.

The Sparks’ deal with Farmers Insurance also includes signage in the Staples Center, and visibility with other Sparks’ events in the community.

The idea is apparently sweeping the WNBA. The Indiana Fever and Seattle Storm are also considering partnering with jersey sponsors.

> Discuss this entry

The Phoenix Mercury will become the first WNBA team to wear a corporate sponsor’s logo prominently on its jerseys this season. In a deal being announced today, identity-theft protection company LifeLock Inc., will sponsor the team for three years in a deal said to be worth at least $1 million a year.

The Arizona-based company, which also sponsors NASCAR, will be the team’s presenting sponsor and get its name on the team’s warm-up jerseys and its arena. It is also to offer complimentary membership to WNBA season ticket holders.

The WNBA did a deal prior to last season with McDonald’s in which the fast food giant sponsored Tip-Off for the league’s 12th season. Players wore the Golden Arches on a Tip-Off logo on their jerseys during the home openers, but the logos weren’t as prominently displayed as LifeLock’s will be on Mercury jerseys.

The Mercury will still wear its team logo, but Mercury will be a much smaller badge-style logo on the upper left – similar to the way the L.A. Galaxy’s logo appears on the MLS team’s jerseys since Herbalife began sponsoring that team in 2007.

So, while we’re used to seeing corporate logos on jerseys overseas, they are beginning to seep into U.S. sports more frequently than they have in the past. The Boston Red Sox and Oakland A’s wore sponsor logos on their jerseys and helmets during the two games that opened the 2008 MLB season in Japan. The Puerto Rican team wore Best Buy logos on their jerseys during the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Since we used to seeing logos just about everywhere these days, does this bother you? Do you think the uniforms for NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams are still sacred?

Also, I’ve just joined the masses on Twitter. Follow me there: @sarahtalalay

> Discuss this entry

We’re used to ads on soccer jerseys, but are we ready for them in our other sports? The WNBA and McDonald’s announced a partnership today that has the fast food giant sponsoring Tip-Off of the league’s 12th season, which starts Saturday, including having its logo appear on the front of player jerseys.

This marks the first time corporate logos - other than uniform manufacturers - will appear on WNBA, NBA or D-League uniforms during the regular season.

The Golden Arches logo will appear on player uniforms during each of the 14 teams' home openers. McDonald’s is using the partnership to promote its new Southern Style Chicken Biscuit and Sandwich.

Here’s how WNBA President Donna Orender describes the partnership in a league statement:
“In using WNBA jerseys as a unique marketing tool to support McDonald’s product launch, the WNBA and its players will display, en force, the dynamic integration capabilities we bring to a partnership.”

Regardless of whether partnering with the women’s basketball league will help spur sales of the new chicken sandwich, corporate logos on uniforms seem inevitable. The Boston Red Sox and Oakland A’s wore sponsor logos on their jerseys and helmets during the two games that opened the 2008 MLB season in Japan. And NBA Commissioner David Stern didn’t rule out NBA players wearing sponsor logos during exhibition games in Europe this fall.

Does the idea of corporate logos on uniforms bother you?

> Discuss this entry