Extra Money advertising

[JaxRolo]

If you could make extra money advertising. Would you???

[Thunderheads]

Two things ........

1) it looks awful!

2) if you HAD to wear it, ....and you were getting paid to wear it, ....then, why not?

 

Sidebar

I'm not going to comment on the appearance issues

[johnnyg08]

In a way our MLB guys do the same thing...it's a tad more subtle.  :-)

[noumpere]

You have the question backwards.  It's "Would the design / logos on the shirt negatively influence your decision to become an umpire."

 

I can almost guarantee that it wouldn't for any of us.  If we wanted to be a pro umpire, we'd do it no matter what they wore.  If we didn't want to be a pro umpire, we wouldn't, no matter what they wore.

[Recontra]

The more patches you have, the more you look like you must know what you're doing. I'd want to add a name patch that says, "Irv" and maybe even get a crew together for an evening bowling league. We'd be the envy of the alley.

[Recontra]

I thought flag etiquette has the hand over the heart, not the cap. Did that change?

[Thunderheads]

I thought flag etiquette has the hand over the heart, not the cap. Did that change?

that's not here ...............

[Recontra]

Ok.

[Recontra]

So to stay on topic, if I were a minor league umpire barely making minimum wage, and trying to keep food on the table back home, and make student loan payments, I sure as hell would accept money to wear extra league approved patches on my uniform, however tacky it might look.

[noumpere]

So to stay on topic, if I were a minor league umpire barely making minimum wage, and trying to keep food on the table back home, and make student loan payments, I sure as hell would accept money to wear extra league approved patches on my uniform, however tacky it might look.

I think you're both assuming that the sponsorship money goes to the umpires.  I don't know, but I doubt it.

[Recontra]

You're probably right, but there might be some small increment that flows to them via the PBUC, and even if it could be done for youth, travel, and adult games after high school and college ended, why not? For guys like me, umpiring is pure joy, athletic challenge, self-improvement, camaraderie, and a hobby I discovered fairly late in life--If I weren't paid at all for any games, I'd still do it (and still do for LL). But there are lots of amateur umpires who (with equal love of umpiring), truly depend upon supplemental officiating income to keep food on the table year round. For them, I'd be unequivocally in favor of corporate sponsorship of crews and associations.

[MadMax]

This looks like, what... South American? Mexican? Caribbean Island in origin? I would be safe to guess Latino (predominantly Spanish-speaking)?

 

The amount of advertising they gaudily and obtusely place on just about every square inch of viewing landscape is obscene in these Latino markets. If we look at just within the sports arena, without hearing a word from a play-by-play commentator, or knowing the two teams playing, you can tell where you are and who you're watching within 5 seconds, just by looking at the uniforms alone. All the American / Canadian sports have minimal sponsor advertising on the team uniforms, and varying amounts on the walls. Typically, an exclusive sponsor will pay to have their branding put on the playing surface, but this is heavily regulated. Officials, as representatives of their respective governing leagues, have no advertising on them, because for "some reason", the American / Canadian viewing public may be led to speculate the officials are having their puppet strings pulled by the corporate sponsor.

 

In Europe, there is an increased amount of sponsorship advertising on the team uniforms. Typically, each team has a predominant corporate sponsor that takes over exclusive branding on those uniforms. The stadium they play in showcases this branding rather sophisticatedly and cleanly. It is very pervasive, but each stadium gives off its own distinct vibe, created by a synchronized, well-executed branding and marketing scheme. Officials, as representatives of their respective governing league, have little-to-no advertising on them, but do sport deliberately modernized and constantly updated uniforms, such that this is a form of marketing. (Have you seen what the officials wear in the Italian Serié A? Wow. You need to wear shades.) European audiences usually don't associate bad calls with a corporate sponsor's influence, because they know all the corporations have to answer to the league's governing body and/or the EU. So, if they gripe, they gripe right to the EU.

 

In the Latino world, though, it's like the Wild West. Completely ungoverned. The league administrators are more than happy to take any and all corporate sponsorships, and in contrast to American markets, who hold stadium advertising real estate hostage and sell it to the highest competitive bidder, the Latinos sell it, unilaterally, to anybody. There is a cacophony and glut of advertising and marketing on nearly everything. This applies to the field, the walls, the team uniforms, the officials' uniforms – you name it, and there's somebody's logo slapped on it. I think I witnessed once wherein a team, at halftime, changed into an entirely different uniform set, complete with a myriad of corporate logos emblazoned upon them. The Latino audiences have no problem with advertising being placed on the officials, because down there, they know the corporate sponsors are pulling all the strings!

 

Then again, they have been known to assault officials who make controversial calls, but that's a whole other topic.

[VAUmp]

Yes!  I definitely would!  And I would incorporate some of those advertisements into my mechanics!

The Pepsi Punch-out

 

The Safeway Safe Call

 

The Flying J Foul Call

 

What league is this picture from?

[johnnyg08]

So to stay on topic, if I were a minor league umpire barely making minimum wage, and trying to keep food on the table back home, and make student loan payments, I sure as hell would accept money to wear extra league approved patches on my uniform, however tacky it might look.

 

 

I'm almost 100% positive that an umpire can't solicit ads on his own behalf.  That ad revenue likely goes to the teams, league, owner, and whatever is furthest from the officials.

[JaxRolo]

So to stay on topic, if I were a minor league umpire barely making minimum wage, and trying to keep food on the table back home, and make student loan payments, I sure as hell would accept money to wear extra league approved patches on my uniform, however tacky it might look.

I'm almost 100% positive that an umpire can't solicit ads on his own behalf. That ad revenue likely goes to the teams, league, owner, and whatever is furthest from the officials.

im sure you're right but for the op example I want to pretend some money goes to umpires

[Tksjewelry]

I wouldn't take the money for sponsorship. Seeing those shirts reminds me of a horribly written book I read once where everything was sponsored and people's last names were the names of the corps they worked for. *shivers* no thanks

[Old Skool]

That is likely Venezuelan Winter League.

[ricka56]

Yes!  I definitely would!  And I would incorporate some of those advertisements into my mechanics!

The Pepsi Punch-out

 

The Safeway Safe Call

 

The Flying J Foul Call

 

What league is this picture from?

 

What would the out mechanic look like if you had to wear a Pfizer blue pill emblem ?    

[conbo61]

Yes!  I definitely would!  And I would incorporate some of those advertisements into my mechanics!

The Pepsi Punch-out

 

The Safeway Safe Call

 

The Flying J Foul Call

 

What league is this picture from?

 

The "Oscar Meyer Out" (Its a bunch of baloney)

 

I would have to be in dire straits to put sponsor patches on.  The sponsor patches send a message that is not consistent with the basic premise that an umpire is supposed to be impartial.

 

In "As They See 'Em", some umpires complained that various leagues look upon them as necessary "equipment", no different than the bases.  Now this relegates an umpire to being equivalent to a billboard.

 

There was a fellow in our summer association that had about 5 or 6 patches on his shirt; HS State patch, Summer ball association patch, two summer league patches and his summer number.  It looked very unprofessional and more like a NASCAR driver than an umpire.

[boyinr]

_{@JaxRolo if you rented out your backside/billboard you could give back all your game fees}  

[midtnump]

If  I wanted to look like a NASCAR driver or crew member,  I would go to North Carolina and apply to NASCAR.

[Rich Ives]

In youth ball where the teams have things like  "Bill's Auto Repair" or "Sally's Diner" emblazoned across their jerseys would you be adverse to having league-supplied shirts with something like "River Street Sporting Goods" on them?

[MadMax]

On a team? The more (diverse) the merrier, @Rich Ives. On an/the umpire? Not so much. @conbo61 and I both mention "implied impartiality"... What would (or could) be said about a game call made for/against the team whose son the owner/manager of River Street Sporting Goods is on?

Small town teams _live_ for gossip like that. What happens when RSSG screws over a parent, or lays off a parent, or an older brother or sister gets fired? In the grand scheme of things, pretty (actually, quite) minor. In a small-town, local setting? A lot is said in that 20-30 feet between home plate and the backstop*.

* = At one of our local complexes, that distance is no greater than six feet, if at all. Talk about in your ear.

[Rich Ives]

On a team? The more (diverse) the merrier, @Rich Ives. On an/the umpire? Not so much. @conbo61 and I both mention "implied impartiality"... What would (or could) be said about a game call made for/against the team whose son the owner/manager of River Street Sporting Goods is on?

Small town teams _live_ for gossip like that. What happens when RSSG screws over a parent, or lays off a parent, or an older brother or sister gets fired? In the grand scheme of things, pretty (actually, quite) minor. In a small-town, local setting? A lot is said in that 20-30 feet between home plate and the backstop*.

* = At one of our local complexes, that distance is no greater than six feet, if at all. Talk about in your ear.

 

There wouldn't be duplicate sponsors so that issue wouldn't be there.

 

And having a sponsor on your shirt doesn't mean you work there. Same with a team sponsor. They'll hate the owner, not you.

 

It would more likely be something like  "You cheated us because your son and my son hate each other so you're against my son's team"

 

We do a kids vote all for all-stars method. One year a mom started ranting about the coaches leaving her son off the player-selected  team. Pres finally handed her the ballots and said "count them yourself".

[lawump]

As to the OP:

 

"Don't just watch the game, Direct the game...be an umpire."