Major League Soccer will allow gaming and liquor companies to be jersey sponsors for the league’s 24 teams as well as allowed in stadium naming rights sponsorships.
MLS is still the only pro sports league in the U.S. that allows for jersey sponsorships. The new rules soften a prohibition against liquor sponsors, though beer and wine company sponsorships have always been permitted.
“We want to be viewed as a progressive league, and provide our clubs with an appropriate level of flexibility,” Carter Ladd, the league’s senior vice president of business development, told Fortune Magazine. “We don’t want to be restrictive. We want to enable them in a positive way, and that’s why we’re taking this action… We strongly believe this is going to help drive new revenues.”
The league is formulating rules to ensure all advertising by such sponsors is directed toward an “age-appropriate audience.” Youth-sized replica jerseys will be barred from having the sponsorships as will jerseys worn by clubs’ academy and youth players.
The league will also restrict players under the age of 21 from appearing in any alcohol-related advertising or digital content, and no players are allowed to appear in sports betting-related marketing,” Fortune reported.
Ladd said the league feels it is “uniquely positioned in the North American sports landscape” to benefit from changing attitudes—particularly toward sports gambling, which he noted has long “been embraced as part of the fabric of the game” in other countries.
In March, the league announced a multi-year deal with MGM Resorts that made MGM its first official gaming partner, and the new rules will allow teams to strike similar deals.
The league’s clubs may also establish in-stadium sports-betting facilities in connection with licensed gambling operators in jurisdictions that permit such establishments.
The MLS team D.C. United recently opened its new Audi Field in Washington, which is moving on legislation to allow sportsbooks in stadiums.
“Right now, we want to take advantage of the widespread legalization of sports betting in the U.S.,” Ladd told Fortune, saying the league will “pursue best practices to protect the integrity of the game.”
