That logo patch on the Utah Jazz jerseys says ‘5 For The Fight’ — and the fight it’s talking about is the fight against cancer. The idea behind the charitable operation ‘5 For The Fight’ is to try to get everyone to give $5 to aid research in the cancer battle. Behind the patch is a giant company called Qualtrics, which foots the bill to put the patch on the Jazz jerseys, but doesn’t promote itself with the branding. Qualtrics is a $2.5 billion global company that has one stated goal — “closing the experience gap” — and more than 8,500 clients, including some of the world’s largest companies. Closing the experience gap means increasing widespread understanding between people, organizations, communities and governments. Qualtrics says that by “understanding human emotions, beliefs, sentiments and values, we will close some of the world’s biggest gaps: political misunderstandings, human rights issues, health care disparities, gender equality, education, and income.”
So why don’t the Jazz patches say Qualtrics? Well the company has a deep link to cancer and cancer research. Qualtrics was founded by current CEO Ryan Smith with his father in 2002 after his father was diagnosed with throat cancer. (His father recovered.) Qualtrics is trying to humanize the cancer fight by featuring the researchers who actually get the money that ‘5 For The Fight’ raises — and who dedicate their lives to trying to find a cure. As part of the ‘5 For The Fight’ sponsorship, Qualtrics plans to show short videos of these researchers during Jazz games so people can see just how their donations work. This is the first season for the NBA‘s branded logo patch program, where teams can sell a 2.5-by-2.5 inch space on their game jerseys.
