Not an Inch to Spare

A while back I wrote about sponsorships across different sports. I made the claim that NASCAR is probably the most excessive when it comes to selling signage and ad space for sponsors. Well I now stand corrected. I ran across the Czech Extraliga hockey team, HC Slavia Praha. While NASCAR gets hits with criticism for selling space on everything from car hoods to the infield grass, HC Slavia has taken the sponsorship model to a whole new level.


Not only have they sold space on the ice itself, they’ve also begun opening up signage on the ring-side glass to sponsors. The team has over 75 official sponsors and there is not an inch of wasted space anywhere. Sure it’s cluttered, sure it’s ridiculous. Hopefully it won’t get to that point here anytime soon, but the idea of selling glass space is an idea not yet seen in the United States. It’s a new inventory space that could be taken up by the NHL or even other sports (logos on a backboard or on the field goal netting perhaps). My only concern is that such signage on the glass is somewhat obtrusive to spectators and might be even more so on a television broadcast.