What have we learned so far from the NBA uniform ads?

As you've probably heard, NBA uniforms will be undergoing lots of changes next season. Nike will be taking over from Adidas as the league's uniform outfitter, the Nike logo will be added to jerseys and shorts, sleeves may be on the way out, and -- most notably -- teams will be permitted to wear corporate advertising patches on the upper-left region of their jerseys.

The jersey advertising rollout has gone slowly, with only five teams having gone public so far: the 76ers (whose ad patch is from StubHub), Kings (Blue Diamond Almonds), Celtics (GE), Nets (Infor), and Jazz (Qualtrics). In addition, the Cavaliers will reportedly be going with Goodyear, although the team hasn't unveiled the patch yet.

That adds up to six teams, or 20 percent of the league -- enough for us to draw some preliminary conclusions about the jersey advertising program. Here are the five biggest takeaways so far:

1. Shape and color matter. Generally speaking, uniform ads look awful. But awfulness, like everything else, is a relative concept, and some of the ads definitely look less awful than others. A circular patch, for example, fits better into the jersey's upper-chest than a square patch. And if the advertiser is willing to have its logo appear in the team's colors, instead of the advertiser's usual corporate colors, the ad is less obtrusive.

The Celtics have done the best in this regard. Their GE patch is round and appears in the team's standard green-white color scheme.

At the other end of the spectrum are the Nets, whose square, red Infor patch sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb. That's not such a bad thing from Infor's standpoint, but it's a downer for anyone who cares about uniform aesthetics and team branding integrity.

2. There's a tech bubble. When the NBA announced the jersey ad patch program, many observers assumed that the most of the advertisers (please, don't call them sponsors) would be lifestyle brands. That hasn't turned out to be the case, at least so far. Instead, three of the initial advertisers -- GE, Infor and Qualtrics -- are tech companies, and they've all said that they'll be providing data-analytics services to their respective NBA team partners. So the uni ad program may have the inadvertent side effect of ushering in a new era of NBA performance metrics and data crunching -- something nobody could have foreseen when the program was announced.

3. You can do good while doing well. The Jazz had originally planned to wear a standard Qualtrics ad patch. But Qualtrics had recently launched a charity initiative called Five for the Fight, which raises funds to find a cure for cancer, so the Qualtrics folks suggested that the Jazz wear the charity's logo instead. The Jazz agreed, and the result is that the Jazz will be wearing a patch that supports a good cause instead of a corporate enterprise. Good for them.

This move by the Jazz instantly makes all of the standard ad patches seem craven and greed-driven by comparison. Will any other teams opt to go this route? Stay tuned.

4. It's a slippery slope. Advertising on uniforms might be just the start. Earlier this month came the news that the NBA Development League will soon be known as the Gatorade League. Even its nickname is changing, from the D-League to the G-League. That sounds like a joke, but it's all too real.

Granted, it's only the D-League (er, G-League). Would a top-level league like the NBA really be willing to sell out its own identity to an advertiser? Granted, that's hard to imagine, but think about English soccer, where the rise of jersey ads eventually led to the Premier League taking on a series of advertised names. You say that can't happen here? Maybe -- but until recently, ads on uniforms were unthinkable here, too.

5. Other leagues are watching closely. The rollout of the NBA ad program has led to increased speculation regarding the other big pro leagues. In an interview earlier this month, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he was "open-minded" about the prospect of bringing uniform advertising to the baseball diamond. Manfred appears to have a very laissez-faire attitude regarding uniforms (his one-year tenure has already included the addition of the New Era logo on game caps, the addition of the Stance logo on game socks, the addition of the MLB logo on game pants and the news that the Under Armour logo will begin appearing on jersey chests in 2020), so his comments didn't come as much of a surprise.

And Manfred isn't the only one who's on the hot seat. In January, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was asked about uniform ads during a news conference. He said he has no immediate plans to go that route, but he, like Manfred, is keeping his options open.

Interestingly, the one league that doesn't appear to be considering uniform advertising is the NFL. Commissioner Roger Goodell stated categorically in 2012 that the league had no interest in jersey ad patches, and he's had little to say on the subject since then. Of course, 2012 is practically ancient history in terms of sports branding, so Goodell and the league's owners may be feeling differently about the subject these days. For now, it's safe to say that Goodell, Manfred and Bettman will all be keeping a close eye on how the NBA program develops, and how fans react to it.

Paul Lukas is still hoping against hope that uniform ads never come to the other major pro leagues. If you like this column, you'll probably like his Uni Watch Blog, plus you can follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Want to learn about his Uni Watch Membership Program, be added to his mailing list so you'll always know when a new column has been posted or just ask him a question? Contact him here.