Prediction — it won’t be long before the logo of some massive corporate entity replaces the beloved Oil Drop crest on the front of the Edmonton Oilers uniform. I give it 20 years at most. A smaller Oilers crest will still be there, maybe stitched over the heart of each player, but the large logo front and centre on each jersey will be a paid advertisement from a corporate sponsor.

The Oilers took another step in this direction this week. The team announced that a small corporate logo for Play Alberta, the provincial gambling corporation, will be stitched onto the upper left breast area of Oilers uniforms this season.

The Oilers are following the trend of the vast majority of NHL teams, a change in jerseys that the league’s head office first permitted for the 2022-’23 season. Fans of early-adopting teams reacted with outrage, wondering if NHL players would soon look like NASCAR drivers or European hockey players, their uniforms plastered with ads.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly attempted to assure fans, telling ESPN that “there’s been no discussion or consideration about expanding the patch program.”

But I can’t see this trend reversing, not so long as money and profit are the organizing principle in a world of scarcity. Why would pro sports........

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