WNBA球衣商业化首次尝试

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What's going on? Fans of the Internet, thanks for being here again with The Score on cnnMoney.com. So here’s the deal. I want everyone to take a look at this jersey, because I promise it's something that you have never seen so far in the United States. We're used to teams having their team name on the jersey. This is the first time you're gonna see in the WNBA, a corporate logo, corporate name in place of the team's actual name. Here to break that down for us is Jay Parry, President and COO of the Phoenix Mercury. Thanks for being here.

Absolutely, thank you, Ian.

When you look at this, it's definitely different. We don't see much of this in the United States. We do see it overseas. When you look at this from a team's perspective, at any point do you feel like as a team you've sold out at all?

Not at all, in fact, the opportunity to bring in a corporate partner and work with them on, in this case a three-year commitment, and really promote their brand along with ours, we think it's gonna increase the brand awareness of both. And in talking with our players who are gonna be wearing the jerseys, they are excited about it. They are ready to embrace it and run with it.

It's interesting. I say sell out, and I say it has a negative condescension to it. And that stigma is all across United States when we see corporate logos. That's not the case over in Europe. Why do you think there's such disparity between European soccer teams, football teams playing their games wearing AIG, for example, and we don't see that sort of acceptance here in the United States?

I think our league is a young league, I mean we are going into our 13th season. So for us, it's almost a natural evolution, and as you know, we are also part of the NBA, and we make a good incubator, if you will, for the NBA. And so our players who play overseas say it's common practice over there. But we are excited to be the first ones to bring it here, to the United States.

Talk to me about the deal, what went through this. You've teamed up with the LifeLock here. Did you shop around to other potential sponsors? This is a three-year deal. How did you make that decision to say LifeLock is the team that we want to be a part of?

Right, well, In Phoenix, we really did want to work with a hometown company. And so, we actually talk to one other prospect, and then we went to LifeLock who is headquartered right there in Tempe. And they are the No.1 company in identity theft protection. And we want to be with a name brand, because if we're gonna, you know, collaborate with them, we wanted it to be two big names, and again, increasing brand awareness for both.

When you look at the WNBA as a whole, the recession has clearly hit the league. We've seen teams unfortunately fall. We've seen many teams cut their rosters from 13 players to 11. Will this deal keep fans and players safe over the next three years and not put your team in jeopardy of facing a potential collapse.

Well, our team definitely is not in jeopardy, and the league is absolutely not in jeopardy. I mean we have incredible fans support (right) and incredible NBA support and incredible owner support. So what this does is, it really gives our fans an opportunity to see some new services in terms of with LifeLock. They're gonna be offering them a free, I should say, complimentary annual membership of LifeLock services.

Nothing is ever free.

Exactly. Um, complimentary membership worth 110 dollars. So our fans, we think, are gonna get excited about it and it's something again that's never been done before, it's a first. And that's gonna be for every WNBA season-ticket holder in the league. So I think that's a breakthrough.

So far, we've only really seen something like this in team sports, in a few MLS soccer teams. Do you think this is a model that's developing for all American team sports or do you think this will stay primarily in the WNBA and the MLS.

Right, we definitely see it as a model and other WNBA teams are looking at it right now and talking with partners. And we think that we could be copied absolutely. And we are excited about being first, because it really is something new and unique, and it helps build the, build legitimacy and credibility and awareness of the WNBA.

All right. Jay Parry, President and COO of Phoenix Mercury, we appreciate your time. They are the Phoenix Mercury, but for the next season and the next two seasons after that, there is a LifeLock on the jersey. Thanks for being here with The Score.

Vocabulary:

1.       jersey: a shirt made of soft material, worn by players of sports

2.       COO: 首席运营官Chief Operating Officer

3.       condescend to: to do something in a way that shows you think it is below your social or professional position - used to show disapproval

4.       stigma: a strong feeling in society that being in a particular situation or having a particular illness is something to be ashamed of

5.       incubator: A place or situation that permits or encourages the formation and development, as of new ideas

6.       if you will: if you wish to call it that

7.       prospect: 有希望的候选人

8.       MLS: 美国足球大联盟Major League Soccer