Goodbye 2010s -- What was your favorite and least favorite sports brand/uniform trend of the last 10 years?

[AgentColon2]

I will only list my grievances in accordance with Festivus.

The absence of shiny gold football pants and a return to matte mustard.

[oldschoolvikings]

Don't have a list right at this point, but since there have been so many short sighted people on here wrongly disparaging the One Helmet Rule, I'm just dropping in to mention again that it is brilliant, and basically the single thing currently holding the NFL together, asthetically.

[Froob]

One helmet rule and template SB logos suck. 
 

Really have enjoyed all the new alts in the NBA and different jerseys on a night to night basis becoming the norm. Also have liked looser alternate rules and color rush in the NFL.

[Lights Out]

Most Favorite:
 

Custom number fonts are nothing new, but for the most part, teams seem to have gotten them down to a science this decade.

 

With the City Editions, NBA teams are more open to experimenting with their identities similarly to what hockey teams do with their third jerseys.

 

After decades of blandness, the MLB is finally coming to their senses and bringing back things like powder blues and the Padres' brown and gold color scheme.

 

Least Favorite:
 

The NBA ushered in the era of ad patches on uniforms in major American sports, and sadly, it's only a matter of time before the other leagues follow suit.

 

The NBA sleeved jerseys were an absolute eyesore that Adidas spent years refusing to move on from.

 

After spending the first half of the decade trying to be Oregon, college football programs overcorrected and started trying too hard to dress like Alabama instead, leading to a bunch of bland underdesigned uniforms.

 

Similarly, newer NHL franchises started trying too hard to look like old-school teams with rich histories. The Wild, Hurricanes, Lightning, and Panthers all look dreadfully boring compared to how they should look.

 

Big sporting events like the Super Bowl and NBA All-Star Weekend abandoned all visual uniqueness in favor of generic template logos.

[AstroCree]

Favorite:

Teams going back to their retro look. This was a huge plus especially in the NHL. 
 

Minor but Majestic’s improvements to the MLB replicas. While they still miss the details like the sleeve patches and front number (for teams that feature them), they’re much more comfortable to wear and look far better than the previous set before Cool Base. 
 

Least Favorite:

Fanatics takeover. 

 

The people who approved the Browns, Jets, Titans and Bucs. Throwing away long history for a short trend and a few extra bucks. 

Nike’s terrible flywire collars that ruined a lot of jerseys. 

 

Nike’s “we can’t make that color” excuse leading to some terribly muddy and bland looking colors.

 

Nike’s NFL replicas. They’re super hard to move in and uncomfortable to wear. 

 

The inclusion of ads on NBA jerseys. 

 

NBA’s city and statement jerseys. While nice as a fashion jersey, it’s terrible to the brand of the teams. Many just don’t fit and have often lead to teams suffering an identity crisis. Are they the Miami Heat or Miami Vice?

 

NBA throwing away traditional home vs away jerseys. 

[OnWis97]

4 hours ago, oldschoolvikings said:

Don't have a list right at this point, but since there have been so many short sighted people on here wrongly disparaging the One Helmet Rule, I'm just dropping in to mention again that it is brilliant, and basically the single thing currently holding the NFL together, asthetically.

I would not quite go that far but given the importance of helmets to team identities, I absolutely agree that the rule is good.  I wish college football would adopt it.

 

There are enough teams with multiple color schemes in other leagues.  I like the consistency this provides.  (Only down side=no creamsicle throwback.)

[VikWings]

Favorite:

 

• Some teams going back to retro/modern retro looks.
• return of powder blue to the MLB

 

Least favorite:

 

• Ads on jerseys in the NBA (and this will be coming to more sports in the 20s, it's inevitable)
• One Helmet rule
• The rise in monochrome and yoga pants look in football
• NBA's stupid naming convention/revolving city jerseys
• Gimmicks/custom fonts in uniforms with some marketing speak as to how it pertains to the nickname/city.
• Jags two-tone helmets
• Sleeved NBA jerseys
• Loss of shiny NFL pants.
• Templated event logos.
• Fanatics takeover

 

Weird can't think of many things I hated in the MLB/NHL.

[Shumway]

Favorite:

- Returns to retro/retro inspired looks (Oilers, Sabres, Blue Jays etc.)

- Unique Minor League baseball identities

- Certain throwbacks finally made a return (Whalers! Expos!)

 

Least Favorite:

- So. Many. Alternates.

- MLB Special Occasion Uniforms

- Stance's MLB socks (some of the normal stripey ones are ok, but overall, they look awful)

- NFL Color Rush

- Sponsors and sleeves on NBA uniforms

- Stupid Minor League baseball names

 

 

[SFGiants58]

Favorites:

 

The tide is turning against Native American-themed identities.

 

Least Favorite:

 

We still have a long way to go in eliminating them. 

[WideRight]

Favorites:  Return of classic looks and minimalism.

                  Minor league BB teams with new identities for Hispanic Heritage

                  

 

Least Favorite: NCAA teams with 7 different helmets.

                         Logo on 1 side of helmet and # on the other. (AAF & NCAA)

                         Chrome helmets

                         Matte helmets

                         Helmets with logos that are nearly the same color, so they are impossible to see from any distance.

                         NCAA teams wearing colors that are not their team colors.  (NIKE Oregon crap = #1 fail)

                         

And my longstanding hated trend (pre-2010's) is athletic socks that are not white.  Sorry, but all color socks don't work, and all black socks only works for accountants. 

                         

[crosfam]

Good:  Return to classic looks for many, teams going away from underarm panels and ugly striping. Seeing Cowboys in blue more often. Nice mix and match football sets. More teams white at home now and again. 

Bad: Teams that still have underarm striping, especially the Bengals. Custom fonts, chrome helmets. Browns abandoning orange. Dark at home in NHL. Seahawks wearing blue pants instead of grey for almost every game. Washington abandoning yellow pants. A whole decade with no Seattle Supersonics. Seattle Storms yellow unis. 

[MattMill]

Great list everyone. I agree with mostly everything

 

A big NO for me is the all chrome everything look. It started with helmets. Now it's logos, face masks, and numbers. It's tacky but teams 6-8 years removed from the start of the trend still think they're cool (UNLV, MEMPHIS, And BOISE). 

 

Within the past 2-3 years, word marks and number size on basketball and football jerseys has decreased in size. Not a great look. 

 

Is BFBS a decade thing? Why is Iowa State wearing black helmets today in a bowl game? The rest of their uniform is red and yellow. Black shoes and accessories help but these neutral colors are invading team identifies. 

[Morgan33]

I only really follow hockey so here are my picks from the NHL...

Favorite Rebrand: Dallas Stars 2013

Went from a drab, depressing uniform, with a collegiate script in place of a logo, to arguably a modern classic.  Green defines the Stars identity and splitting the difference between their original kelly and their cup-winning forest was a brilliant move.  The new logo looks great too.


Least Favorite Rebrand: Carolina Hurricanes 2013 and 2019

In a cruel twist of irony, the one team that managed to escape the RBK Edge implementation unharmed ended up eliminating everything great about their identity to play Original Six dress-up.  They've since corrected the problem at home but inexplicably managed to repeat the same mistake with their new roads.


Favorite Design Trend: The complete elimination of chest-piping.
Buffalo, Colorado, Nashville and St Louis held on for a quite while but thankfully by 2017, chest piping was no more.


Least Favorite Design Trend: Stealth Jerseys
Some say they're influenced by the NFL's Colour Rush.  These uniforms give little consideration to contrast, pairing dark stripes with dark backgrounds.  They feel rushed, lazy and don't look very good on the ice.

Honorable Mention: Colorado Avalanche
Props for bringing back their distinctive mountain-range-striping in an era where conservatism dominates.


Dishonorable Mention: Tampa Bay Lightning Alternate
They forgot to design a jersey under all the fussy little "embellishments."

[sky1324]

10 hours ago, oldschoolvikings said:

Don't have a list right at this point, but since there have been so many short sighted people on here wrongly disparaging the One Helmet Rule, I'm just dropping in to mention again that it is brilliant, and basically the single thing currently holding the NFL together, asthetically.

What if teams were allowed two helmets, with that second helmet being allowed for throwbacks only? I agree that letting teams have at it would be awful and make the league start to look like the NBA's mess, but if it means the return of kelly green Eagles, creamsicle Bucs, and the old "horse D" Broncos, I think it's worth letting up slightly.

[-Akronite-]

11 hours ago, oldschoolvikings said:

Don't have a list right at this point, but since there have been so many short sighted people on here wrongly disparaging the One Helmet Rule, I'm just dropping in to mention again that it is brilliant, and basically the single thing currently holding the NFL together, asthetically.

 

They should create exceptions for throwbacks, but that's literally it.

 

The helmet is the core identity of a football team's image and I think it's a great rule for preventing ridiculous alternates. The fact that so many are listing it as their least favorite trend is baffling.

[Eastport76]

Favourite:

-Return of retro and retro-modern looks(Blue Jays, Sabres, Maple Leafs, Bills, Penguins, Astros, Brewers etc.) 

- NHL and MLB’s unique and beautiful All-Star logos 

- the complete elimination of the unnecessary piping in NHL

-Tampa Bay Rays’ original gradient uniform finally made a return (I loved these uniforms!)

- Throwbacks are finally returned (Whalers,Flames,Expos)

-Beautiful Winter and Heritage Classic jerseys

-Most of NHL and MLB alternate jerseys are pretty unique (Avalanche, Blue Jackets, Coyotes, Capitals, etc)
-Utah Jazz’s beautiful city uniform 

-Miami Vice(Heat,Marlins) 

-The return of powder blue in MLB

 

and finally last, but not least:

THE RETURN OF WINNIPEG JETS

 

Least Favourite:

-Unnecessary Ad patches in NBA and CFL

-Islanders’ out-of-place black uniforms 

-Oilers abandons their beautiful royal blue uniforms and replace with orange eyesores

-NBA’s stupid sleeved uniforms and too much black(Cavaliers, Clippers, etc)

-Chrome Helmets

-Nike takeover in NFL and NBA 

-NFL’s one helmet rule

-loss of shiny pants and “yoga” pants in NFL
-Fanatics takeover

-Stupid Minor baseball team names

-White at Home in NFL and NHL

-Nonsensical alternates like Lightning’s storm black alternates

-MLB’s check-board Player Weekend uniforms

-NFL and NBA’s boring templated event logos

[oldschoolvikings]

I've posted this same post many times, but if the same points keep coming up, I don't really have a choice, I guess.

 

The "alternate helmets for throwbacks only" bit would never happen.  Or more specifically, would never last. Remember when teams were only allowed one alternate jersey? History. Remember when that single alternate jersey could only be at home? History. Remember when that single alternate jersey could only be worn twice.  History. Remember when the ugly Color Rush uniforms were added but only for Thursday night?  History. Remember when the Color Rush monstrosities were only worn as a set? History.  The truth is, the One Helmet Rule (Praise be it's name) only works because of the NFL's dubious stance* that they're doing it for the players own good.  Once that cover story is gone "for throwbacks only", it's gone.  And multiple helmets for all would be coming. There would be zero doubt.

 

*And just to head off the whole stupid debate about how "players change helmets all the time" and "what about the college players" and whatever tired arguments we've already had... it isn't about whether or not it's dangerous for a player to wear more than one helmet. It's about whether or not a league that's facing a future of multiple lawsuits wants to try to explain why they required players to wear helmets not of their choice for the purpose of "cool alternates"

 

 

tldr:  The One Helmet Rule is awesome, multiple helmets suck.

 

[jn8]

3 minutes ago, oldschoolvikings said:

I've posted this same post many times, but if the same points keep coming up, I don't really have a choice, I guess.

 

The "alternate helmets for throwbacks only" bit would never happen.  Or more specifically, would never last. Remember when teams were only allowed one alternate jersey? History. Remember when that single alternate jersey could only be at home? History. Remember when that single alternate jersey could only be worn twice.  History. Remember when the ugly Color Rush uniforms were added but only for Thursday night?  History. Remember when the Color Rush monstrosities were only worn as a set? History.  The truth is, the One Helmet Rule (Praise be it's name) only works because of the NFL's dubious stance* that they're doing it for the players own good.  Once that cover story is gone "for throwbacks only", it's gone.  And multiple helmets for all would be coming. There would be zero doubt.

 

*And just to head off the whole stupid debate about how "players change helmets all the time" and "what about the college players" and whatever tired arguments we've already had... it isn't about whether or not it's dangerous for a player to wear more than one helmet. It's about whether or not a league that's facing a future of multiple lawsuits wants to try to explain why they required players to wear helmets not of their choice for the purpose of "cool alternates"

 

 

tldr:  The One Helmet Rule is awesome, multiple helmets suck.

 

This. All this. 

 

Allowing a second helmet for throwbacks is good in theory, but how long until all hell breaks loose? Recently, switching out facemasks to create alternate looks has been allowed (Jets white masks) and quite a few teams have swapped decals for color rush games, so it wouldn’t be a major stretch to say a team would try to call a decal swap fair game. What if the Bucs (for example) decide they want to change things up and pair the throwback helmets (using modern decals) with the current set to create a whiteout look? It’s technically their throwback helmet and it’s just a decal swap, so it’s not that big of a stretch. 

 

I tend to enjoy mix-and-match uniforms more than most around here, but multiple helmets is a thing that needs to stay in the college levels.

[McGlinchey23]

I think people will look back at this decade in sports uniforms the same way people look back on 70s fashion. It was godawful. In the past couple years its calmed down a lot but this was the decade of uniform experimentation.

 

 

Remember those pit stains!!! God what a ghastly decade of sports aesthetics, but we’ll hopefully look back at it and laugh, the same way we laugh at huge afros and collars that went down to the elbow.

 

[BadSeed84]

23 hours ago, insert name said:

Favorite:

 

Minor but Majestic’s improvements to the MLB replicas. While they still miss the details like the sleeve patches and front number (for teams that feature them), they’re much more comfortable to wear and look far better than the previous set before Cool Base. 
 

 

Agreed by far. They used to be such thick polyester jerseys, last time I got one was probably 2013. Got a gray phillies and it is thinner and nicer and seems more breathable.

 

Also I will add for favorite:

Even though I complained about simplifying too much, it is good we moved from the excessive piping and side panels. A good example is the Minnesota Vikings (one team where the no outlines on numbers works and is fine with me).