Tired of seeing annoying ads (like this one!) on Uni Watch? There’s a simple solution: Join Uni Watch Plus. You’ll get an ad-free site experience, plus exclusive access to our UW+ discussion forums, push notifications whenever a new blog post has been published, a special UW+ badge accompanying all your comments on the blog, and a 20% discount on our Teespring merchandise.
The Lions are scheduled to unveil their new uniform set tomorrow night, but they primed the pump yesterday evening by releasing the teaser video shown above. Although it’s only 13 seconds long, there are several things we can learn from it. Here’s a rundown:
1. There will be a blue jersey and a white jersey
Okay, so this isn’t exactly a surprise, but the video gives glimpses of the collars for a blue jersey and a white jersey.
2. There will be blue pants
Again, not a shocker. But it’s worth remembering that the Lions went without blue pants for most of their history, and as recently as 2016. But the blue britches will definitely be part of the new set.
3. There will be a new nameplate font
This is probably the teaser video’s biggest revelation — not only for what it shows, but also for what it might portend. If the nameplate font is switching from rounded to something more traditionally block-ish, does that mean the uni numbers will be undergoing a similar transformation? Hope so.
4. There will be a silver helmet with Bubbles
Another non-surprise, but it’s good to know that Bubbles (that’s the Lions’ logo’s nickname) will apparently not be changing.
5. It looks like the helmet striping will include white
Ignore the neck bumper slogan and look at the stripes. Based on the teeny sliver of striping that’s visible in the “New” screen shot, it appears that they’re adding a white layer to the pattern.
———
And there you have it. Did anyone pick up on any other details?
My understanding is that the unveiling will take place at 7pm Eastern tomorrow.
Mariners Miller Mystery Manifesto
Yesterday I wrote about how Mariners pitcher Bryce Miller didn’t like the fit of his City Connect pants when suiting up for Friday night’s start, so he wore the bat boy’s pants instead. I’ve now heard back from a Mariners official, who gave me this explanation:
The story is a bit confusing, but here’s what was shared with me. Bryce thought his pants were an inch off all spring. Our clubbie searched all the pants that we had to see if we had a pair with the specs that Bryce wanted. The pair that was the closest to Bryce’s preferred specs were the bat boy’s. Bat boy is only 5′10″, though [while Miller is 6′2″]. We are told new pants orders will arrive in mid/late May. Musical pants will continue for another month.
Product Endorsement
I sometimes get offered free apparel or tech items with the implicit understanding that if I accept the freebie, I’ll be expected to write a positive review of it. I routinely decline such offers, but I recently made an exception when a publicist for the cycling apparel brand Ornot offered me the jersey you see me wearing in the photo above. As many of you know, I’m a near-daily cyclist, and I don’t often see cycling gear in green, so I accepted the jersey but made it clear to the publicist that I was making no promises about what I’d write.
Having now received and worn the jersey, I’m happy to report that it’s a keeper. Very comfortable, neither too hot nor too cool, and it has a some internal ribbing that I like, which you can see in these next photos:
If you’re interested, the jersey is available here. I’m not receiving a royalty or affiliate payment on any sales, so I have no stake in any of this. Just letting you know that I think this is a good product and being transparent about how I acquired it.
I don’t like the blue pants, but can live with them, all other glimpses in the video are a positive. I had no clue the logo’s name was Bubbles, love it. Completely going against the grain, rather than something fierce and all that nonsense, just name the roaring lion Bubbles. Made my morning.
I hope having a pantsless bat boy doesn’t become a trend.
At the 2 second mark, it looks like the sliver pants are gonna have a white stripe on them. And it appears a that’s a side view of the blue pants are they are plain with no striping
Urgh. Unless it’s the 30s-50s throwback, all of the pants should have stripes. (And I’ve said it before, I think that it’s time that particular throwback should be retired, even if I like the clean look of it.)
Looks like no black, which is a positive as a Lions fan
You said it.
Mind you, I like the alternate logo as used on the blue helmet. It should eventually replace the WCF marking on the sleeve.
Allegedly the WCF mark is being transferred from the sleeve to the back of the helmet.
Bubbles refers to the Lions Logo of the 90’s, where the Lion had no face, it was just a bubble looking Lion
The biggest nugget I took from Rod Wood’s press conference was “modern twist” to the old time look
I have no idea what that means, but if the away white unis are any indincation, this uni set could become timeless, if done right
Although true about the faceless logo from the 90s, it was actually Art Regner (Detroit radio personality) who coin phrased “bubbles” because he said the lion leaping looked like it was “batting at bubbles”. He also called the old 90s font “circus letters” and many fans still want that back in the end zones like they used to have at the Silverdome.
The return of white striping is a huge step in the right direction. Still terrified of a ridiculous Nike font for the numbers.
Is it just me misremembering but are your stone/slate porch stairs new?
Nope.
Whenever teams tweak their logo (Vikings, Bucanneers, Jaguars, etc), I almost always prefer the original. Same with Bubbles. I prefer the original plain Lion silhouette to the updated more detailed Lion. Wish they’d go back to it. Love that white is returning to the helmet stripe.
Don’t be shocked if the original Bubbles is the team’s 3rd helmet
Would be nice.
It looks to me like the blue pants will have a white or silver stripe down the side. Old uniforms had the same strip pattern as the helmet but silver. Looks like just the chunky middle stripe moving forward.
I’m REALLY hoping that shot at the :02 mark is the traditional blue/white/blue striping on their silver pants.
Looking back at the video I am really hoping that is the case!
Safe to assume the blue pants have no stripes and will be paired with the blue jersey…creating the monotard look we all love.
“Musical pants” is quite the turn of phrase.
I’m surprised by how potentially good the new Lions unit might possibly be. Nike….don’t mess this up as you have so many other teams, not to mention what you did to MLB.
Paul, as a fellow cyclist, I’m kinda surprised at how little coverage cycling kit gets in Uni-Watch. With your impending departure I’m guessing there won’t be substantially more, but there’s such a rich history there and constant changes to kit at the pro level. Is this just because cycling is not a popular sport in the US any longer (thanks Lance Armstrong for f***ing it up for everyone)?
I seem to recall that someone used to do a rundown of the pro kits at the start of each season. I don’t know if I’ve seen it in a while.
I used to love AG2R but they haven’t looked good in a while. I’ve got a friend with one of the minor teams now so I’m cheering form them (kit-wise) now.
The kits seem to change every year now for every World Tour team. Plus all the special editions that happen for the Tour or other big races. AG2R’s double kit makeover in the last 6 months alone is newsworthy (although neither change makes them look better…the brown bibs were unique).
I apologize in advance.
“Sure, I’ll write about your cycling jersey. Ornot!”
I get it!
This gets my vote for Comment of the Day.
It’s Nike. We will be let down
Sad but true.
My bet is it’ll be a remake of the early Barry Sanders era jersey they’ve worn recently as a throwback, but with a “modern,” font which will probably ruin it.
I know it’s probably the lighting in the video but the two different shades of blue is throwing me off. Still hoping for a red throwback.
If you enlarge the picture woth the striping, it appears it’s going to be blue-white-blue
The helmet striping seems to look just like the sleeve striping on the white jersey from the 1998-2002. May be an indication of the pant stripes as well???????
So far, so good.
Hope the name font points to a block number font.
Love the return of white in the striping.
And keeping the fierce modern lion over Bubbles is fine with me.
Hoping I am seeing into what we will be seeing- a return to Barry Sanders era unis with the modern Lion logo.
Also, perhaps the capitalized DETROIT on the helmet neck line points to a removal of the lower case N in the team “LIOnS” script? That lower case n always looked soft to me.
Regarding blue pants- they wore them in ‘94, and Barry looked great in them.
The Lions only wore them in 1998 during Barry Sanders’s career, his last season.
Thanks for the correction. I was guessing on the year. I think I was confusing with ‘94 the throwback 75th anniversary season.
Still like the blue pants from ‘98. Only for road white jersey though. No monolulu blue.
Agree on the Monolulu Blue completely but I think it’s a lost cause. They’ll be back. If the blue pants had silver stripes along grey socks, it wouldn’t be as bad but that’ll never happen either.
I hope they keep their alternate helmet. Such a wonderful logo!
This looks more promising than what to expect from the Texans and the Broncos. But it could all go so wrong with weird number font, weird placement of WCF, stripeless blue pants or a huge LIONS or DETROIT above very small front numbers. We will see tomorrow.
If Anheuser-Busch asks, the subtle Budweiser product placement totally worked on at least one reader.
I’m thirsty.
The helmet color looks to be more of a metallic silver. You can even see it in the stripe comparison photos.
First of all, thanks for doing these because I like the photos but I HATE watching hype videos.
I liked the striping that they Lions have using (or avoiding, in the case of their all-whites and all-greys). It’s simple but also identifiable. Adding white to the inside-stripes might not be a bad move, though.
Whatever ugly surprises are in store, they’re not tipping their hand quite yet.
Based on the shot of the new helmet and the position of the stripe, it looks like they are keeping the current 3 stripe pattern and adding white in between.
Kind of thinking it’s going to be very Cowboys like from far away… not exactly a bad thing for non-Detroit fans…
And that helmet logo pic shows the sticker peeling off the edge of the vent-hole.
Not good for a promotional video, but I suppose they may have been in a hurry to assemble those things…overall, a good look so far
Hopefully, they will resemble the Barry Sanders-era unis and they don’t add anything goofy.
Hoping the WCF stuff will just be one of those deals where they put it on the inside of the collar or something.
After watching the video again, could it be showing a wide white stripe on the blue pants? Something similar to the Saints stripe on their gold pants? Guess we will find out tonight!
I had that thought too. I hope it isn’t so! But that would probably be better than plain blue pants with no stripe. I would love only silver pants for home and away.
I don’t like the blue pants, but can live with them, all other glimpses in the video are a positive. I had no clue the logo’s name was Bubbles, love it. Completely going against the grain, rather than something fierce and all that nonsense, just name the roaring lion Bubbles. Made my morning.
I hope having a pantsless bat boy doesn’t become a trend.
At the 2 second mark, it looks like the sliver pants are gonna have a white stripe on them. And it appears a that’s a side view of the blue pants are they are plain with no striping
Urgh. Unless it’s the 30s-50s throwback, all of the pants should have stripes. (And I’ve said it before, I think that it’s time that particular throwback should be retired, even if I like the clean look of it.)
Looks like no black, which is a positive as a Lions fan
You said it.
Mind you, I like the alternate logo as used on the blue helmet. It should eventually replace the WCF marking on the sleeve.
Allegedly the WCF mark is being transferred from the sleeve to the back of the helmet.
Bubbles refers to the Lions Logo of the 90’s, where the Lion had no face, it was just a bubble looking Lion
The biggest nugget I took from Rod Wood’s press conference was “modern twist” to the old time look
I have no idea what that means, but if the away white unis are any indincation, this uni set could become timeless, if done right
Although true about the faceless logo from the 90s, it was actually Art Regner (Detroit radio personality) who coin phrased “bubbles” because he said the lion leaping looked like it was “batting at bubbles”. He also called the old 90s font “circus letters” and many fans still want that back in the end zones like they used to have at the Silverdome.
The return of white striping is a huge step in the right direction. Still terrified of a ridiculous Nike font for the numbers.
Is it just me misremembering but are your stone/slate porch stairs new?
Nope.
Whenever teams tweak their logo (Vikings, Bucanneers, Jaguars, etc), I almost always prefer the original. Same with Bubbles. I prefer the original plain Lion silhouette to the updated more detailed Lion. Wish they’d go back to it. Love that white is returning to the helmet stripe.
Don’t be shocked if the original Bubbles is the team’s 3rd helmet
Would be nice.
It looks to me like the blue pants will have a white or silver stripe down the side. Old uniforms had the same strip pattern as the helmet but silver. Looks like just the chunky middle stripe moving forward.
I’m REALLY hoping that shot at the :02 mark is the traditional blue/white/blue striping on their silver pants.
Looking back at the video I am really hoping that is the case!
Safe to assume the blue pants have no stripes and will be paired with the blue jersey…creating the monotard look we all love.
“Musical pants” is quite the turn of phrase.
I’m surprised by how potentially good the new Lions unit might possibly be. Nike….don’t mess this up as you have so many other teams, not to mention what you did to MLB.
Paul, as a fellow cyclist, I’m kinda surprised at how little coverage cycling kit gets in Uni-Watch. With your impending departure I’m guessing there won’t be substantially more, but there’s such a rich history there and constant changes to kit at the pro level. Is this just because cycling is not a popular sport in the US any longer (thanks Lance Armstrong for f***ing it up for everyone)?
I seem to recall that someone used to do a rundown of the pro kits at the start of each season. I don’t know if I’ve seen it in a while.
I used to love AG2R but they haven’t looked good in a while. I’ve got a friend with one of the minor teams now so I’m cheering form them (kit-wise) now.
The kits seem to change every year now for every World Tour team. Plus all the special editions that happen for the Tour or other big races. AG2R’s double kit makeover in the last 6 months alone is newsworthy (although neither change makes them look better…the brown bibs were unique).
I apologize in advance.
“Sure, I’ll write about your cycling jersey. Ornot!”
I get it!
This gets my vote for Comment of the Day.
It’s Nike. We will be let down
Sad but true.
My bet is it’ll be a remake of the early Barry Sanders era jersey they’ve worn recently as a throwback, but with a “modern,” font which will probably ruin it.
I know it’s probably the lighting in the video but the two different shades of blue is throwing me off. Still hoping for a red throwback.
If you enlarge the picture woth the striping, it appears it’s going to be blue-white-blue
The helmet striping seems to look just like the sleeve striping on the white jersey from the 1998-2002. May be an indication of the pant stripes as well???????
So far, so good.
Hope the name font points to a block number font.
Love the return of white in the striping.
And keeping the fierce modern lion over Bubbles is fine with me.
Hoping I am seeing into what we will be seeing- a return to Barry Sanders era unis with the modern Lion logo.
Also, perhaps the capitalized DETROIT on the helmet neck line points to a removal of the lower case N in the team “LIOnS” script? That lower case n always looked soft to me.
Regarding blue pants- they wore them in ‘94, and Barry looked great in them.
link
The Lions only wore them in 1998 during Barry Sanders’s career, his last season.
Thanks for the correction. I was guessing on the year. I think I was confusing with ‘94 the throwback 75th anniversary season.
Still like the blue pants from ‘98. Only for road white jersey though. No monolulu blue.
Agree on the Monolulu Blue completely but I think it’s a lost cause. They’ll be back. If the blue pants had silver stripes along grey socks, it wouldn’t be as bad but that’ll never happen either.
I hope they keep their alternate helmet. Such a wonderful logo!
This looks more promising than what to expect from the Texans and the Broncos. But it could all go so wrong with weird number font, weird placement of WCF, stripeless blue pants or a huge LIONS or DETROIT above very small front numbers. We will see tomorrow.
If Anheuser-Busch asks, the subtle Budweiser product placement totally worked on at least one reader.
I’m thirsty.
The helmet color looks to be more of a metallic silver. You can even see it in the stripe comparison photos.
First of all, thanks for doing these because I like the photos but I HATE watching hype videos.
I liked the striping that they Lions have using (or avoiding, in the case of their all-whites and all-greys). It’s simple but also identifiable. Adding white to the inside-stripes might not be a bad move, though.
Whatever ugly surprises are in store, they’re not tipping their hand quite yet.
Based on the shot of the new helmet and the position of the stripe, it looks like they are keeping the current 3 stripe pattern and adding white in between.
Kind of thinking it’s going to be very Cowboys like from far away… not exactly a bad thing for non-Detroit fans…
And that helmet logo pic shows the sticker peeling off the edge of the vent-hole.
Not good for a promotional video, but I suppose they may have been in a hurry to assemble those things…overall, a good look so far
Hopefully, they will resemble the Barry Sanders-era unis and they don’t add anything goofy.
Hoping the WCF stuff will just be one of those deals where they put it on the inside of the collar or something.
After watching the video again, could it be showing a wide white stripe on the blue pants? Something similar to the Saints stripe on their gold pants? Guess we will find out tonight!
I had that thought too. I hope it isn’t so! But that would probably be better than plain blue pants with no stripe. I would love only silver pants for home and away.