Oilers announce first-ever jersey sponsorship for next season
The Edmonton Oilers will be hitting the ice next season with a slight change to their iconic home jersey.
After resisting a growing trend across the NHL for the past few seasons, the Oilers are finally going to have a sponsor featured on the upper chest of their royal blue home jerseys, and it’s a familiar company.
The logo for PlayAlberta, the province’s only regulated playbook, will be added to the upper left of the jersey, just above the Oilers logo. The PlayAlberta logo was previously a helmet sponsor for the Oilers.
“We are proud to call PlayAlberta the official sportsbook of the Edmonton Oilers,” said Stew MacDonald, the president & chief revenue officer of OEG Sports & Entertainment.
“With the revenue generated by PlayAlberta going to valued services and programs that help enrich the lives of Albertans, donning the PlayAlberta logo on our iconic home jersey is a testament to our long-term commitment to communities across Oil Country.”
Introducing @PlayAlbertaCA, the official #Oilers home jersey partner! pic.twitter.com/zptZXuqFeD
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) September 9, 2024
This will become the first jersey sponsor for the Oilers in their 45-year history. There has not been any indication whether or not the PlayAlberta logo will also appear on the team’s away jersey for this upcoming season or if that space will be reserved for another sponsor.
On top of this, the Oilers have also announced that GameSense will be advertised on the team’s home helmets, replacing the spot where PlayAlberta used to advertise.
“PlayAlberta is proud to continue its partnership with the Edmonton Oilers over the next several seasons,” said Kandice Machado, the CEO of Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC). “We value our patrons and the fans of the Oilers and are thrilled to see PlayAlberta.ca, Alberta’s trusted gambling platform, along with the best-in-class responsible gambling program, GameSense, as prominent fixtures on the Oilers uniforms.”
The way the announcement was worded makes it sound like this specific sponsorship will be exclusive to the team’s home jersey for now. The team has previously partnered up with food-delivery service SkipTheDishes as a helmet sponsor for their away uniforms.
Edmonton becomes the sixth Canadian NHL team to adopt a jersey ad, with their rival Calgary Flames becoming the last to avoid the trend.
Before this announcement, the Vancouver Canucks were the latest team to announce something related to jersey advertisements, switching from TD Bank to Clio.
This has become quite a controversial topic among NHL fans, many of whom believe the addition of advertisements to jerseys intrudes on the sanctity of a hockey jersey. Though it may be a new trend at the NHL level, this type of jersey design is benign compared to how European leagues operate with their jerseys, which are often covered head-to-toe in ads.
If the Oilers manage to put together another successful season on the ice, it’s likely fans won’t mind having a sponsor occupy a spot on the jersey.