- The NHL Washington Capitals have announced that Caesars Entertainment will be their first ever jersey patch partner.
- NHL teams will be allowed to display an advertising patch on jerseys starting with the 2022-2023 season. The Caps are the first team to announce their advertising partner.
- The Capitals’ jerseys will display a Caesars Sportsbook logo in the upper right chest area of their home jerseys and third jerseys worn for games at the Capital One Arena.
Just over a month ago we reported that the National Hockey League (NHL) would allow logo advertising on player jerseys beginning with the 2022-2023 seasons. Teams will be able to display a small sponsor logo patch on the left or right upper chest or the left or right shoulder. At the time of the announcement, the NHL affirmed that teams located in jurisdictions with legal sports betting would be allowed to promote sportsbooks on their jerseys.
When we initially reported on the NHL jersey patch ad scheme we looked at the league team roster and surmised that within a year or so only a few teams will be in states *without* legal sports betting. Nevertheless, the league included a cumbersome stipulation in the sportsbook advertising rules that only allows their promotion when a team is playing in a state with legal betting. That means if the Capitals were playing at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights they could wear the ‘Caesars Sportsbook’ patch. On the other hand, if they were playing at the American Airlines Center in Dallas they would not be permitted to display the patch lest they offend the sensibilities of the fundamentalist religious nuts that run the state. Now it looks like most teams will sign up dedicated home and away sponsors.
Even though the launch of the jersey patch ads are over a year away we’ve already had one team announce their partnership plans. Even better–it’s with a sportsbook. The Washington Capitals have announced that Caesars Entertainment will be their first ever ‘jersey patch partner’. The multi-year deal with have a Caesars Sportsbook logo in the form of a 3 x 3.5 inch patch positioned on the upper right chest area of the jersey. It’s a perfect fit since there is a Caesars Sportsbook retail location in the Capital One Arena. It originally opened as a William Hill branded sportsbook but Caesars made the decision to rebrand under their own name following the completion of their purchase of the UK bookmaking giant. The William Hill/Caesars Sportsbook location at the Capital One Arena is significant for being the first ever sportsbook located in a US professional sports facility. The name change was officially announced on August 2:
As part of the deal, Monumental Sports & Entertainment (owners of the Caps and the arena) will provide Caesars with more branding rights including VIP seating and a hospitality space at capital One. SE president of business operations and chief commercial officer Jim Van Stone is happy to extend his company’s relationships with Caesars:
“Following the successful launch of Caesars Sportsbook adjacent to Capital One Arena last spring, we are thrilled to introduce Caesars Sportsbook as the Capitals’ inaugural home jersey advertising partner in a first-of-its-kind announced partnership in the NHL. Together as two industry leaders, we’ve built a robust partnership in the gaming and casino space, and our overall relationship reflects our shared commitment to providing sports fans with world-class, unique experiences. MSE, the Capitals and Caesars share a commitment and passion toward innovation in the sports and entertainment space, and the opportunity to incorporate Caesars onto Capitals home jerseys is a wonderful development and exciting new fan engagement opportunity for both organizations in the nation’s capital.”
Chris Holdren, Co-President of Caesars Digital, talked about the ‘shared legacy’ of his company and the Capitals:
“Being woven into the Washington Capitals jersey is an exciting chapter in our collective story. Like Monumental Sports & Entertainment, we love blazing trails and we are always looking for innovative opportunities that drive engagement and storytelling for fans. We are proud to extend our historic partnership with such a storied franchise after launching the sportsbook at Capital One Arena.”
You’ll be seeing any number of NHL teams announcing sportsbooks as their jersey patch partner. If you want to see a cool video announcing the Caesars + Caps partnership–I think they call it a ‘sizzle reel’ in the biz–you can do so at the link below:
WASHINGTON CAPITALS/CAESARS SPORTSBOOK JERSEY PATCH ANNOUNCEMENT
