First look at which NHL teams will feature ads on their jerseys next season

Despite commissioner Gary Bettman saying for years that the NHL would never compromise the integrity of its uniforms by selling ad space on jerseys, that's exactly what will happen in 2023-24. Turns out Bettman's word doesn't mean jack... go figure, eh?

A number of NHL teams have either announced or, in some cases, revealed their "jersey patch partners" for next season and it's safe to say that fans are not happy with the news. 

The Washington Capitals were the first team to announce and reveal their jersey ads, partnering with Caesars Sportsbook to have the sport betting company's logo added to their uniforms. Just what we need, right? More sports betting ads during an NHL broadcast...

The Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins have both followed suit with the Blue Jackets partnering with glass repair company Safelite and the Penguins partnering with health care company Highmark.

Check out these new look jerseys for all three teams:

Cool... every kid dreams of wearing the Highmark logo on their chest one day, right?

In all seriousness, and at the expense of coming off like some pearl clutching Karen, I think this is absolutely disgraceful. How much money do these teams need to be satisfied? We as fans are charged an absolute fortune to follow this sport and it's never good enough. Mark my words, within a decade these tiny patches will look more like what we see in European soccer.

Or worse yet, how about European hockey jerseys?

These guys look like junk mail newspaper fliers...

The Minnesota Wild announced their jersey ad sponsorship earlier today and revealed new jerseys featuring the TRIA orthopedics logo. The deal will reportedly net the Wild $5.6 million per season.

Personally, I will NEVER buy an NHL jersey with a logo on it. I realize that I sound like an angry old man when I say this, but it's a line that I'm simply not willing to cross. We're already advertised to death when we watch an NHL game, is it too much to ask for the players themselves to be free of advertising? 

Frankly, I think there's a real opportunity to remove physical branding from arenas and the playing surface thanks to technological advancements. We already see super-imposed ads on broadcasts, why not just extend those to the ice and the boards surrounding the rink? Make these surfaces blank so that those who pay good money to sit in-arena aren't subjected to Tim Hortons, ESSO, TD Bank and Telus ads all evening long. Thoughts?