Sports Biz

Published: Wednesday, 3 Jun 2009 | 9:36 AM ET

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CNBC.com

Earlier this year, the NFL allowed teams to sell sponsorship patches on their practice jerseys. No one has forged a deal yet, but we're hearing a couple teams are close.

How much these patches are worth is hard to figure out. They can't be larger than 3 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches and certainly have a limited audience since preseason games aren't counted as practice.

The biggest benefit likely will come from local television stations that don't have rights to game footage and therefore have to roll practice video over and over again on their newscasts when talking about the team.

Texans president Jamey Rootes told the AP yesterday that a company that signs up for a patch deal would likely have a larger relationship with the team.

Teams can sell postseason practice jersey rights to a different sponsor than the regular season practice sponsor. However, teams are prohibited from selling patches to alcohol brands, including the beer and distilled spirits category.

Earlier this week, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury signed a deal that will put the LifeLock logo on their jerseys throughout the regular season. The LifeLock logo is larger than the team logo.

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