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Let’s Discuss the NFL’s Upcoming “Rivalries” Uniforms

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Good Thursday morning, Uni Watchers. I hope everyone had a pleasant Wednesday. I’m a bit under the weather myself (and considering the weather of late in the northeast, that’s not good) and unfortunately have been undertaking much of the odious parts of a parent’s passing, including having to go through decades of personal effects, and the eventual sale of the house in which I was born and raised. I haven’t lived there in well over 30 years, but it will always be home. So yeah, I’m dealing with a good amount of physical and mental fatigue, and battling occasional bouts of depression. But I digress…

We got some Steelers uni news last night, and I’ll have more on that shortly.

Anyhoo…a few weeks back, the NFL and Nike announced the “Rivalries” program, which was ably covered by Anthony. If you didn’t read that take, I recommend it.

I agreed with virtually everything Anthony wrote in that piece, and in the few weeks since, we’ve heard very little from the NFL or Nike about the program. This has, of course, led to wild speculation and conjecture about the uniforms. Anthony immediately likened this program to the City Connect/City Edition uniforms in MLB/NBA respectively, and it certainly sounds like designers will be given free rein to create uniforms which bear no resemblance to any uniform a team has ever worn, or one which requires a massive amount of storytelling to explain, or — like a few CCs and CEs — will at least hew close to a team’s current uniform, perhaps with only some retro tweaks.

I fear it won’t be the latter, but I hope to be pleasantly surprised. But let’s return to the announcement:

Each participating team will wear a unique Rivalries uniform rooted extensively in local community insights…

What does that mean? Seriously. By now, several graphic artists have begun to interpret that to propose some Rivalries uniforms.

Let’s take a look at a few.

This is interesting. What this designer has essentially done is to create a color swap of a couple different eras of Dolphins football. Yes, the Miami Vice thing is both obvious and clichéd, but it is a great color scheme and I have no doubt retail jerseys would sell extremely well. But is that “rooted extensively in locally community insights”?

The Graphic God is a prolific concepter, so naturally he’s already done an entire series of Rivalries concepts, so I’ll share a couple.

The thought process here is similar — while the colors are not official, the designer takes what is essentially a color swap of the current uniform, with some “local” flair: the turquoise on the collar, the sublimated Arizona flag on the shoulder, an old west-esque number font (unfortunately the “ARIZONA” wordmark remains…although if the Rivalries uniforms bear any kinship with the City Connect/Edition unis, then a giant wordmark may be a given). The tan is an obvious reference to the desert.

If you check out his Twitter account (linked above), you’ll see most of his Rivalries concepts are pretty far out there.

I sincrely hope that is not the direction Nike/NFL will be going with these. Although I found it interesting the “Miami Vice” seems to be a popular direction some designers are heading.

OK, enough of those. But will his concepts really be that far off?

Finally, here’s a third direction a designer thinks the Rivalries program might go. I am unsure of the provenance, but “@logan.fattig” is the watermark on the first image. This has a real City Connect feel to it, right down to the storytelling!

This one pretty much speaks for itself. And it’s another concept where the primary difference is a color swap (although this one goes a step further and puts “Emerald City” on the jersey), with the uniform design basically using their current throwback template.

Where do you folks think the NFL’s designs are headed? If we learned anything from the whole color rush debacle, you really can’t force a concept across an entire league. I’d argue that there were a very few good CR uniforms, although some of the individual elements, particularly the fauxback and throwback jerseys, were good. But making every team wear shoulder-to-toe color (or solid white from the neck down in some cases) was basically a disaster. I loved the red Buffalo jersey and the white Saints fauxback (with proper old gold!), and there were a couple other good jerseys — or pants, so it had some good points. If just a few teams could mix and match CR elements with primary ones, as they will be permitted to do this year, we may yet salvage some of the (very few) good things to come from the CR program.

I have a feeling no matter what the uniforms Nike/NFL come out with, we’ll be faced with the exact same situation we had with color rush, and also with the City Connect/City Edition programs. We’ll get one or two very good new uniforms, maybe a handful of “OK” uniforms that don’t look awful, and then a couple dozen uniforms that have no reason to exist, other than to move more merch.

There’s probably a reason not a single new uniform redesign happened this year (for the first time in more than a decade), and I’d venture it’s because Nike and the NFL told teams “yeah, you’re probably not gonna get new uniforms in 2025 because we’ve got something special.”

One thing we haven’t discussed yet. As you know, this year the NFL changed its uniform rules to let teams wear alternates up to four times per season, as well as permitting a third color helmet shell for all teams, and letting teams pair alternate helmets with primary jerseys. Was this done specifically with the (as yet unannounced) Rivalries program in mind? Will teams, especially those with only one color shell, be given a second shell specifically for the Rivalries uniform? And for the eight teams who will be wearing the Rivalries uniforms this fall (AFC East and NFC West teams), does that game count against the four alternates? Not that I necessarily want to encourage even more alternates, but if the Rivalries unis count as an alternate (which I assume it will?), those teams would be “shortchanged” relative to the other 3/4ths of the league for alternate uni usage.

Finally, are we getting any early clues as to what the Rivalries uniforms will possibly be from the teams themselves? I opined we might have gotten a clue about a possible 49ers uniform based on their “brand refresh”, and a promotional helmet for the Bills…

… got lots of attention, but it was later confirmed that helmet will not be part of the Rivalries series. I am sure you guys have seen other videos and photos as well.

Where do you think this program is headed? Do any of the concepts capture what you envisage for this? Like color rush, this will be an in-season announcement, but how long before one of these inevitably leaks?

Love to have your thoughts!

 

 
  
 

Guess the Game from the Scoreboard

Guess The Game…

…From The Scoreboard

Today’s scoreboard comes from Tommy Kruger.

The premise of the game (GTGFTS) is simple: I’ll post a scoreboard and you guys simply identify the game depicted. In the past, I don’t know if I’ve ever completely stumped you (some are easier than others).

Here’s the Scoreboard. In the comments below, try to identify the game (date and location, as well as final score). If anything noteworthy occurred during the game, please add that in (and if you were AT the game, well bonus points for you!):

Please continue sending these in! You’re welcome to send me any scoreboard photos (with answers please), and I’ll keep running them.

 

 

Guess the Game from the Uniform


Based on the suggestion of long-time reader/contributor Jimmy Corcoran, we’ve introduced a new “game” on Uni Watch, which is similar to the popular “Guess the Game from the Scoreboard” (GTGFTS), only this one asked readers to identify the game based on the uniforms worn by teams.

Like GTGFTS, readers will be asked to guess the date, location and final score of the game from the clues provided in the photo. Sometimes the game should be somewhat easy to ascertain, while in other instances, it might be quite difficult. There will usually be a visual clue (something odd or unique to one or both of the uniforms) that will make a positive identification of one and only one game possible. Other times, there may be something significant about the game in question, like the last time a particular uniform was ever worn (one of Jimmy’s original suggestions). It’s up to YOU to figure out the game and date.

Today’s GTGFTU comes from Jarvis Wonders.

Good luck and please post your guess/answer in the comments below.

 

 

And finally...

…that’s all for the early article. I will have several more today, as well as a new Collector’s Corner, so be sure to keep checking back today.

Also. I’ve spoken with a Red Sox rep via Zoom, and seen the presentation deck of the new full City Connect uni (the jersey has already leaked) — I can’t say any more about the leak or the full uni, as they are embargoed until tomorrow (Friday, May 16) at 3:30, at which time I’ll have a full rundown. I will say this — I think you’re going to like them!

The team will be doing its own teasers starting today, but the full unveil will be Friday afternoon and I’ll have it as soon as the embargo is lifted. According to the Red Sox rep, the team won’t even wear the new CC for warmups/BP — they’ll change into them just before they debut them tomorrow night. That might be the shortest lead time between an unveil and a debut in a long time (the Giants unveiled the same day theirs debuted, but their unveil was in the morning, not late afternoon!). I’m actually pretty pumped for this.

Everyone have a good Thursday, and I’ll catch you back here tomorrow!

Peace,

PH

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Comments (59)

    Honestly I’m not excited at all for this new program. Just another way that Nike will screw up the visual identity of the teams.

    Nike isn’t happy unless they’re re-inventing the wheel. In this case, uniforms. They have single-handedly made the NFL uniforms a crap-show. Shame on the teams that allowed Nike to redesign many classics into garbage.

    It’s not just the NFL unis, they’ve single-handedly enshittified every uni they’ve touched.

    Why does Nike continue to get blamed for this kind of thing? It is the leagues that allow it. They could easily put a stop to it, but they don’t. And let’s say they can’t do it “easily” for contractual reasons…then it’s their fault for entering into a contract that relinquishes control.

    ^This. People act like Nike has some overbearing creative vision that the NFL just can’t fight. Nike’s only concern is that you see swooshes all over the field when you watch an NFL game. That can happen whether the uniforms are throwbacks that everyone here would love or the kind of gimmicky nonsense we’re probably all expecting. Whatever this ends up looking like, it’s because the league wanted it.

    Gotta disagree here. Nike is essentially an ad agency. An agency is looking to provide value and make itself unique.

    The league might request a concept but Nike designs it. The go in with their designs and present them, read Paul’s Nike interviews. Because they are a partner and most owners don’t particularly care/trust their partner they give them what they want. Most of the team aides/marketing team might have issues but Nike is a big enough partner that unless they cheese off the owner, like the Jets, Nike is going to get their way. So Nike has a lot to do with it. They are an agency run amuck.

    You can see it when they work with teams that care about their brand; stuff is a lot more on point. Look at lot of the Celtics City editions. There’s a couple duds but nothing that’s beyond the pale. Same thing with the Knicks or the Cardinals in baseball. They make sense even if some of the features aren’t great.

    Now to their credit Nike has seemed to learn from this a bit and a lot of the 2nd round MLB ones are far better (with exceptions). But in general I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear horror stories about Nike making end runs to get their way.

    Well Patrick, you may think it’s a cop out, but I accounted for your response when I said it’s the leagues’ fault for getting into these arrangements in the first place. What did they think would happen?

    I’m replying up here since it’s broken here.

    I don’t disagree but I it’s a case more of one hand not talking to the other on the league. Nike has prestige and is offering the most money. The vast majority of the owners think money first and don’t consider the effects on branding. The marketing and Brand teams have to deal with the consequences of this when it goes bad.

    Thanks to Paul we have idea of how Nike pitches now. It’s clearly professional and well done. I don’t blame people for getting caught it especially since it’s not always wrong. But many times it seems as though they don’t test the looks or ideas to gauge reception. Nor do they always take the teams brand into account. This I believe is what leads to misfires. When given guardrails they can do good work.

    What we don’t know (and where you maybe right and I might be wrong) is how much Nike strong arms the marketing/brand teams that might pushback against them. I believe (and again could be wrong here) Nike tends to end run the marketing side (which has to implement) to go to higher ups who don’t always consider the consequences of a bad rebrand. Nike doesn’t really want to hear no. That leaves things up to higher ups who don’t always understand how these things look.

    For instance, As crazy as Woody comes off in Jets article you can see how he gets there. He clearly had one thing in mind, modernized Concorde era unis, and Nike went way off the rails in his eyes with weird yokes and such. And even when Woody freaked they didn’t pull fully back.

    It’s interesting that the current set clearly had a lot more oversight and was much better received. They also kept the BFBS which while I hate they tested and got a positive the fan response. I think we’ve seen a lot of pulling back by teams who got burned. But if this is the case how does Nike provide value? What stops another outfitter from blowing them out of the water $$$ wise next time the contracts up?

    That’s where the CCs/Rivalries come in. Teams are likely more liberal with limited time alternates and they get less oversight. Nike can go more weird and wild since they’re limited use. Branding is less likely to fight what are essentially one offs.

    What I’m interested to see is how off the rails they go. Nike pretty clearly used the C team on the City connects and got burned. The NFL is the A brand so we will see how they do.

    I always had a conspiracy theory about the NHL’s Reverse Retro program as a way of trademarking every possible logo and color scheme combination to limit unlicensed merchandise. The Miami mock ups especially renew this thought in me.

    Its not a crazy theory, but they could do that without wearing the reverse retros on the ice. They could just sell them, like New Era sells a hundred different colour combinations for every team’s hat.

    At this point, just go ahead and give every team 16 different uniform sets – to only be worn one time – antother set for each round of the playoffs, and a super bowl set. The NFL is becoming the Oregon Ducks anyway. Might as well crap all over the rest of it.

    Why are concepters so bad at using green? It always ends up looking like the Seattle one shown here, which in my opinion looks terrible.

    I tend to reply to a lot of announcements for CC and reverse retro with, “I’d be interested in seeing it on the field/ice,”…but I never tune in just for the unis. I will turn it off if I don’t like what I see. Nike media throwing their backs out trying to reach for connection with make me tune out.

    Why won’t Nike just give us more of what we want? Take your logo off or shrink it on products and I might buy more hats and shirts. (I haven’t bought a new hat or team shirt in six years) Keep designs simple or do throwback stuff and I’ll look it up and maybe buy it.

    I say all of that with the awareness I’m probably not the target audience for this stuff.

    Little terrified about what they are going to do with the Jets? I feel like we might get a Mets/Knicks Orange/Blue set….

    For the scoreboard game, I remember a big fire downtown in 2015. I was running a 5K in the flats and the smoke was drifting through. I’m thinking this pic is from that day. August 8th

    I think a simple change for each team would be the best one: If your uniforms have one-color numbers, make them two-colored. If two-color, change to one-color. Everyone will notice, and it will be very modest.

    By two-color numbers, I assume you mean one solid color with a contrasting color outline.

    I don’t think any NFL teams have jersey numbers that are two-color (or two tone) and I believe that’s by NFL rule.

    One-color means one layer of tackle twill: Giants, Packers, Jaguars. Two-color means two layers: Chiefs, Saints, Panthers. Three-color teams include the Patriots, Ravens, and Eagles.

    Yeah these could be cool or complete busts, but need to wait and see how they look for anyone gets all hot and bothered by the idea of it

    I would rather see the concentration on repairing primary uniforms that need fixing to look good. Rather than sets of disposable City Connect-style uniforms. I have this feeling I may be cringing when I see a lot of them.

    Someone commented on Anthony’s article about that white Seahawks jersey that Antonio Brown’s social media a year or two ago that Paul covered before he retired. It was a white jersey in the form of their original white uni from the 80’s but done in current colors and number font.

    I didn’t ask for, nor do I want, a rivalry uniform. There is room for specialty uniforms in MLB and NBA because they play 82+ games. With football, I don’t like wasting even one game on some uniform that never should have made it out of the conference room.

    More garbage from Nike.

    Rivalries ought to be played with traditional uniforms, not junk that NOBODY asked for. If they really must do something, do throwbacks.

    One year Ohio State wore black helmets for the Michigan game. It was deplorable and detracted from my enjoyment of the game. Save that crap for Northeast Southwest State.

    Ohio State decides what Ohio State wears. The blaming of Nike for all things uni is old and inaccurate. The leagues all had alternate uniforms and programs with Reebok, Adidas, etc. I’d argue very strongly that most on here did/would’ve detested the powder blues and pullovers of the 70’s-80’s MLB and wild sublimated NBA jerseys of the 90’s that we now look back at fondly.

    I’m looking forward to the program. I’m interested in some of the storytelling.

    Hey, Phil. I, too, am feeling the effects of the allergy explosion this past weekend, so you have my understanding and utmost condolences.

    I also had to go through the loss of my mom a few years ago myself. Thank you for sharing how you’re experiencing the process; it’s important to grieve, understand why, and keep going! (And hopefully you have some more positive memories in your folks’ home than I did in mine…)

    Not eagerly anticipating this program. All the leagues are into selling more and more merch as their main reason to exist, the games themselves are a secondary source of income and a secondary concern to the owners. Gotta move lots of merch, people! Nike, as any supplier would do, will go along with this request. I hope for a feeling of overkill with fans and as a result tons of merch gathering dust worldwide. Waste of materials and labor, I know, but keeping wallets closed is the only way to stop this.
    Three uniforms per team per season max. Home, away and something special (throwback, CC, CE, Rivalry, Cup competition uniform, whatever) for every league and every sport, please. There will still be plenty for us to discuss with a 3 set maximum.

    I’m excited for this. I love design and reinvention and experimentation. And hey, these are all sets we’ll only have to see a couple times on field so if they’re not your cup of tea they won’t stick around at least.

    I’m over it.
    It’s a merch dump at a time where people are increasingly concerned about the economy on both the national level and within their households. So the leagues are doubling down with more items of lesser quality and increased cost when discretionary income is giving way to basic needs.
    Beyond that, it is diluting a team’s visual identity. And they’re running out of ideas. For every decent concept, they foist 4 or 5 terrible ideas on the public which fail basic principles of uniform design.
    Just stop.

    Oh look, another team from South Florida potentially donning the “Miami Vice” color scheme! How original! SMDH. Call this what it is: city connect type jerseys for a merchandise money grab. If the NFL was really interested in “rivalries” jerseys for each team have BOTH teams wear classic throwbacks in these games.

    What throwbacks would newer teams like the Panthers and wear? Or older teams that have hardly changed their look, like the Chiefs and Raiders?

    “What throwbacks would newer teams like the Panthers and wear? Or older teams that have hardly changed their look, like the Chiefs and Raiders?”

    That’s also the problem with doing a leaguewide uniform program. There are teams who won’t fit “neatly” into even a throwback category. We saw how the Chiefs and Raiders (both in 1994 and 2009) handled the throwbacks. In 1994, the Chiefs basically only removed the sleeve stripes (which is pretty much what they wore in their first few seasons in KC) and in 2009, they wore the original AFL Texans throwbacks. The Raiders, because they’re still owned by the Davis family, stuck with black and silver, only bringing back the silver numbers outlined in black as a true “throwback”. At least the option exists for da Raidahs to wear their original 1960 black and gold, but as long as the Davis family owns the team, they seem to ignore that part of their history.

    Newer teams, like the Ravens, Panthers and Texans would also have a somewhat difficult time with throwbacks. Sure the Ravens could break out their original (and “banned”) helmet — if tradmark/copyright issues are resolved.

    Even teams like the Steelers and Packers, who have barely altered their uniforms in over 60 years, but still have a rich uni history, have a somewhat hard time with throwbacks, since they inevitably enter into eras which don’t necessarily reproduce well with today’s current uniform templates.

    Phil…exactly! I think that’s why it’s safer to stick with broader themes like City Connect or City Edition. With the City Connects you have some teams going for what is essentially a throwback (Atlanta) as opposed to the more experimental approach we see from most of the other teams.

    Scoreboard was from August 8, 2015. Rock N Blast is the team’s biggest fireworks show and my daughter and I have gone just about every year, so we were at that game too!

    None of those or anything really says “Rivalries.” There was a reason they didn’t use another “City Something” name. Maybe I am giving them too much credit though. I would think based on the name it would be uniforms for a specific matchup – like Eagle/Dallas. Or maybe it could be cities that hate each other… how that ties into the uniforms though, is complicated. I could see the Red Sox supposed Green Monster uni falling into that category. Something very local but impacting visiting teams. Just sharing a different direction of thought.

    As a Raiders fan, I’m intrigued as to how our new uniforms could look. Our uniform set is pretty much perfect (although I prefer the throwback whites over the current ones), but I welcome the chance of having something a little different for a change. If anything, I hope they don’t play it safe and just go for something whacky!

    As a Seahawks fan I’m excited to see a new concept for the team, I’m not huge on the newest uniforms, the throwbacks are nice, but the old logo is way too basic. I’m hoping it’s the throwback unis, with the updated colorway. Ideally, the current logo, and colors, on the throwback template.

    My guess is it includes Sonic’s colors. Maybe mariners colors?

    I’ll piggyback with you, Ian. I have never even been to Washington, but the aura of Mount Rainier and the Space Needle has always piqued my interest in the Seattle teams.
    My initial thought, when “Rivalries” was introduced, was if the Seahawks somehow incorporate the Sonics’ cityscape, or maybe even sublimate the Space Needle through their back numbers, but that we’ll still recognize them as the Seahawks. We shall see, right?

    Hoping the Chiefs and Raiders continue their pushback against this, much like their refusal to have alternate jerseys (not throwbacks) and helmets, and did the bare minimum with the Color Rush program.

    On reflection, I’m not so bothered about this.
    Lets face it, sport is a business, and jerseys sell in bucketloads.
    The NFL really misses out with so many teams having classic looks.
    Route 1 is new jerseys every year or 2, but they have their 5 year period in place.
    And even then, teams stick to their look, or may just tweak (‘9ers 2 shoulder stripes to 3. Eagles wordmark)
    Route 2 to monetise unis is ad patches, so it should be acknowledged they have stuck to their commitment not to do this.
    Route 3 is alts that stand out. Yes, it dilutes the brand, but wearing them 3 times in over 50 games over 3 seasons? Its not really any different from the 49ers’ black jersey that disappeared as fast as it appeared.
    So, on reflection, I’m happy the NFL is choosing this route when you consider the options, and it will give boring teams a chance for a fresh look, and we might actually get a good uni or 2 out of it!

    NCAA football is probably the most successful of all major American sports in terms of novelty alts, so it’s totally possible to make a good theme uni for football. The question is can Nike do it? For as many unis as Oregon wears every year they usually only hit on a really worthwhile one a couple of times. Usually one newfangled one and anything that at least vaguely resembles a throwback.

    I eagerly anticipate each of these unis, but my expectations are set low because… Nike.

    My goodness. Step back and take care of yourself, please, Phil.

    Miami Vice was a marginal show that lasted a few seasons 40 years ago. Nip/Tuck, also set in Miami, was on the air almost as long. If Nike really insists on basing uniform “stories” and colors on 80s TV shows based in Miami, why not change it up and go with gold and grey in honor of The Golden Girls. Because seriously, isn’t there anything better Miami can say about itself aside from its reputation for cocaine cartels and fast Italian sports cars?

    If we’re going to criticize, can we at least be sincere?

    Miami Vice was not “marginal” by any means. I was born a full five years after it ended, and I still hear about it all the time, despite having never watched it. Five seasons is nothing to scoff at, and in any case, who refers to five as a “a few”? Lastly, marginal shows don’t usually have lengthy “Impact on popular culture” sections on Wikipedia, nor do they get two film adaptations, with the second being written by Dan Gilroy (brother of Andor creator Tony).

    This will be the “Oregon Duckification” of the NFL. At first, I liked 2 helmets and 3 or 4 jerseys and multiple pants. Home, road, alternate, and throwback/fauxback was good mostly. Now a city, regional, area, or whatever they should be called, good grief. There are enough of current wardrobes that need work (Cardinals, Texans, Rams to name a few). Those should keep designers busy for quite a while.

    If the Commanders get a red, white, blue uniform, I wouldn’t mind it so much as it aligns with the rest of other local teams’ colour’s, but, that said, not necessary at all

    Who knows, but we’ve had a lot of rumors about new throwback unis. And zero rumors about “city connect” type stuff. My guess is “rivalries” will be a throwback vs throwback game. And if so, most here will like it.

    Those are some of the worst concepts that I have ever seen.

    Btw. Miami Vice was not a marginal show. Not at all.

    With MLB, the NHL, and the NBA at least there are a lot of games, so you don’t have to be subjected to these ugly uniforms as much by percentages. With the NFL you only have 17 games. Just like you said, there will be 5 cool ones, 10 that are just slight variations on the team’s current uniforms, and the rest will be dumb. It’s all unnecessary. Just sell them at the merch outlets instead of subjecting us to these.

    Does anybody remember those leaks by “CTESPN”? There was this odd Seahawks jersey that didn’t fit in and wasn’t released in 2024 like the Broncos. That’s it! That’s Seattle’s “Rivalries” jersey.

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