HOOVER

Most people don't understand quite how difficult it is to make accurate projections and source & manufacture product needed to hit both projections and "hot market" needs. It's one reason why Nike is now in bed with Fanatics & Gildan. They don't just call the warehouse out back and say, "hey, we need 20,000 more units. They can be done by Friday? GREAT!" It's 2023 and we have the greatest technology mankind has ever created and it's still a crapshoot sometimes. You just don't know how much you'll need and there are things that exist called "budgets" so you can't just order an infinite supply of product to sit around collecting dust in warehouses, and there are still challenges worldwide in certain manufacturing industries, apparel being one of them, with sourcing fabrics and getting construction done in pre-COVID timelines.

Very lackluster announcement. The Arlington, DC, Orlando, San Antonio, and St Louis secondaries are better than their primaries. You can see these logos on new apparel here: https://shop.xfl.com/collections/t-shirts-1 I'm not sure what Vegas is doing with that secondary. Seattle's is stupid, too. Again, just a giant overall fail with this rebrand. As soon as we knew they were not keeping Arlington's primary, I knew this would be an overall failure.

What are these clowns doing? Secondary logos?

Bro.

Wait. Are you actually advocating for this type of gradient striping on an NFL uniform? To each their own, but…c’mon man. You’ve got better taste than that!

Wait. Are you actually advocating for this type of gradient striping on an NFL uniform? To each their own, but…c’mon man. You’ve got better taste than that!

YEAH, you friggin’ SOCKJACKERS!

I know Lenny was cool, but I don’t think it was considered “Icy White” in 1967: This was also Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt’s favorite uniform combination. Ol’ Lamar thought they were “fire”, I guess.

Are Red pants for the Chiefs official? Would much rather they wear White over White.

Not a fan of the Red helmet and believe they should still have a Navy primary. I’m also a Red pants hater. Would love to see you mock up this template with a Navy jersey and White helmet.

I’d like the Throwbacks, but with the current Aqua. The old Aqua looks too green & dingy to me. As for Houston and Luv Ya Blue, I don’t believe you can trademark a color (I could be wrong) but that shouldn’t be a reason they can’t use it. I’d assume the Titans wouldn’t be happy about it though and could potentially challenge them in court, saying it’s too close to their IP. My fear with the Houston rebrand is that it’s going to be super street/urban, based off of the H logo that looks like it could be from a gang or biker tattoo. Let’s hope they choose classy over what they might perceive as “cool”.

Worth noting that all of the tweets/interviews at that link state that new branding & uniforms will not debut until April 2024.

The Navy/White hat is also interesting. Could they be moving to a simplified Yankees-style look, with just very slight touches of Red? That would be like Jacksonville all over again. Powder Blue/Red is great, but only if the Titans sell the identity to Houston outright. Can't have two teams wearing those colors, even if Tennessee was the only one that retained Navy. This should not be difficult: Red/White/Navy and you are the Texans, with a solid enough logo. Just put together a balanced, iconic uniform that will stand the test of time, and throw in a Powder/Red alternate to satisfy fans a few times per year.

Really look forward to seeing mock-ups with Red incorporated. I think they could keep all 4 colors and do a modest update to their existing set, but elevated by an update to fonts, helmet finish/striping, and subtle addition of Red. As @FiddySicks mentioned, TCU has done some of this (sometimes well, sometimes not). These examples don't nail it, but start to give you an idea of how a little Red can mix well with Purple & Black. The trick is keeping Gold in there and after looking up these images, I think you have to:

Gotta go pack for a cross-country flight, so last thoughts here for a bit on font: Something like this could be a start for a clean, bold font that works in athletics while still having some gothic character: https://www.dafont.com/waruna.font?fpp=200&text=1234567890 And while this font is wildly overdesigned, a cleaner version could be a nice base to start with to design a more stylized number font that has that inside color element referenced in my Grizzlies post above: https://www.dafont.com/rackles.font?fpp=200&text=1234567890 For quick visualization, if this were on a White jersey, imagine the inside striping elements being Gold, and the little dots on those elements being Red, like the eye of the Raven. Add a Purple outline and you've got all 4 colors. On a Purple jersey, you use the same exact setup, although legibility (Black on Purple with no outline) comes into play. On a Black jersey...ah, screw it...in this rebrand, they wouldn't have a Black jersey. But I guess it could be made to work if it did. Have to tone down all those points, but the more I look at this font, the more I like something like it for the Ravens. All in all, I don't know that we're getting new Ravens unis any time soon, but it's a fun brand to speculate on.

Random thought: could use a font similar to the Grizzlies, but more stylized with a gothic touch for the Ravens. Adding a thin outline could help get you to 4 colors: On PURPLE: Black fill, Gold outline, Red inside accent On BLACK: Purple fill, Red outline, Gold inside accent On WHITE: Purple fill, Gold outline, Red inside accent Completely spitballing here and have barely even visualized these in my head, but it present a possible solution just add a very subtle bit of Red. I never thought of it before seeing that media guide cover yesterday...but a touch of Red really makes this brand come alive, and it's been sitting there all this time, in the eye of their Raven logo.

Agreed on the font, would not use that - but I understand why it was chosen for the concept.

Definitely hard to do, and hard to do well without overdoing it. Maybe just a subtle, not quite pinstripe, but thin stripe on the sleeve between the Black & Gold, and maybe similar subtle, almost shading/shadowing with a thin Red accent on the numbers. Tough nut to crack but if actually considered, hopefully the professionals could figure it out.

Sorry, that was a typo. Should've said "not" instead of "now". Editing.

Definitely harder to work with, which is exactly why Tennessee ended up using Red on the Swoosh. Have to start shoehorning colors in and that's what happens. I don't dislike the idea of eliminating Black for the Ravens but I think the issue there is that you'd end up with a Purple helmet very similar to the Vikings. The Vikings helmet actually would've been a good Ravens helmet. But ultimately I think the Ravens helmet, as-is, is something to not get too far away from. A Satin/Anodized finish, like the Vikings use with Purple, would be tremendous in Black for the Ravens, and it would separate their helmet from the dozen or so other gloss Black helmets in the league. This would then require some Black to still be used in the uniforms. Here's a Satin Black mini-helmet from Riddell with some gold for reference: More than most teams, the Ravens SHOULD be a team that uses Black, considering that their namesake is actually a black bird. Still, I'd entertain a Purple helmet as their Purple pants now are terrific.

This uniform would be an upgrade and it's a great example of how adding subtle Red detailing really adds a nice pop. I know the Nike haters will not agree with how it's implemented here and I understand that, but that's not how it has to be done. Good stuff.

The striping on the White pant matches the helmet striping perfectly. The Blue pant introduces a THIRD striping pattern. Two are acceptable (Browns, Bears, 49ers, Cowboys). Three is not. Just another reason why this is the wrong look.

Agree. But I can live with alternate solid sock trends if we can eliminate awful unbalanced uniform combinations, like this:

This is what the Bills should wear, period: This rule WORKS for every team with White helmets. There can be exceptions, and they are almost always when a pant color that is not White is light, like Yellow, Silver/Grey, or even Powder Blue. When you wear a dark color pant with White or Silver helmets, it doesn't look as good. Patriots are another example. Everything is better when they wear Grey or White pants. Ditto for the Lions and Panthers. Imagine the Raiders wearing Black pants.

This: Does not look better than this: