The Chicago Bulls published a photo of its new warm-up jackets last week, and the sponsored Plus500 logo on the chest appears larger than the Bulls' own mark. The team shared the image on its official X account. Within days, X users were criticizing the imbalance.

The NBA opens its season on Oct. 20. Teams are timing merchandise drops and reveals to build fan hype before tip-off. The Bulls' jacket was part of that push. Instead, the drop drew complaints about sponsor dominance on team apparel.

Why the logo size matters

The dispute is visual and specific. On the front of the jacket, the Plus500 branding occupies more space than the Chicago Bulls logo. Plus500 is a trading platform acting as the team's commercial sponsor. Fans on X flagged the imbalance immediately after the post went live.

The episode shows how sponsor placement decisions now face public review the moment a team publishes product imagery. A single photo post triggered the backlash. No broadcast campaign or retail launch preceded it.

What the parties have said

So far, nothing. The NBA, the Chicago Bulls and Plus500 have not responded to a request for comment. That silence leaves the central questions open: whether the sizing was intentional, and whether the jacket design will change before the merchandise reaches fans.

What this means for sports marketing

Sponsor visibility on team apparel is a standard commercial arrangement in the NBA. The friction arises when a sponsor mark visually outranks the team identity fans identify with. The Bulls case gives sponsorship teams a concrete example of how a merch reveal can invert that hierarchy in the public eye.

The timing compounds the risk. The NBA season starts Oct. 20, and every team is competing for fan attention and merchandise revenue in the same window. A jacket designed to hype the season now carries a different conversation. Whether the Bulls, the NBA or Plus500 address the design before tip-off will determine if this stays a social media flare-up or becomes a broader sponsorship-standards debate.