The NFL has alternate uniforms figured out

[WSU151]

Americans will watch the World Cup because it's a world event. Nobody gives a crap about a match between LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake.

[deliver2david]

Americans will watch the World Cup because it's a world event. Nobody gives a crap about a match between LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake.

I beg to differ. Lots of people care. And that's just for MLS, a product that is generally considered inferior to its counterpart international soccer leagues. There are many more millions of people throughout America who follow the top international leagues just as passionately as you follow American football.

[TheOldRoman]

I wish the NFL (and other leagues) would follow the soccer model and just have a regular uniform and a clash uniform.

I wish people would stop suggesting American sports do things like they do in soccer. With a few exceptions, we don't really care about soccer. No regular/clash uniforms. No teams with only city names. No advertising on uniforms.

Soccer is very popular in America. You should open your eyes.

Soccer isn't one of the "four major" sports in America, and I doubt it ever will be. Yes, there are a lot of soccer fans, but a large portion of them are expatriates. If you go to a Chicago Fire game, you will find a lot of people speaking Spanish and a lot of people speaking Polish. They can sell out Soldier Field for a match between the US and Mexico, but 75% of the people in the stands will be rooting for Mexico. Time will tell how loyal second and third generations will be to the sport which was popular in their homeland. My Macedonian neighbors are huge soccer fans and have a special satellite package so they can get soccer from around the world. Needless to say, their kids were brought up watching soccer. When the kids were eight years old, they used to wear David Beckham shirts and kick a soccer ball around the driveway. Now that they are 16 and 17, they play basketball in the driveway and follow the White Sox (they became fans by virtue of 2005). So basically, they are doing what the other kids their age do, and that doesn't include liking soccer.

[Saintsfan]

America cares about soccer, but that doesn't mean that American sports should copy soccer. I'm in favour of colors vs whites in football.

[Kevin W.]

Soccer isn't one of the "four major" sports in America, and I doubt it ever will be.

It's about to pass hockey.

[guest23]

this whole topic may be much ado over nothing...quite often marketing executives may think their brand is "losing focus" or "being diluted" without providing any empirical evidence suggesting that alternate uniforms are in fact diluting the team brands...my suspicion is that jersey or merch sales may be sluggish or down therefore said marketing exec wants to find the most convenient scapegoat as opposed to doing any real research.

with regard to branding in the nfl I'm willing to argue that the vast majority of a team's brand equity actually lies within the helmet and logo...while the jersey is the most consumable and most revenue generating part of the team brand, it is not the most essential portion of the overall brand...case in point college football and elite pro soccer regularly have their primary jerseys change and constantly add new alternate/change kits yet their identities are still tied to their primary marks (helmets/logos/colors).

If I'm the nfl I'm better off spending my time developing strong brands and identities with my helmets and logos...it's also important to have solid and identifiable primary uniforms that are distinguishable by color scheme (like soccer)...from a business standpoint it's foolish not to introduce an alternate for 2 games a year as I would argue that an alternate can enhance the brand and also provide incremental revenue to the teams by giving loyal fans another product to buy.

if the nfl is concerned about merchandise sales in the future they may want to examine the following factors before they jump to "branding" as issue #1:

- lockout

- bad economy

- product quality

- rising retail price points

- uninspiring product design

[TFoA]

Soccer isn't one of the "four major" sports in America, and I doubt it ever will be.

It's about to pass hockey.

Aw hell, here we go.

[Buster]

I wish the NFL (and other leagues) would follow the soccer model and just have a regular uniform and a clash uniform.

Horrible idea. Home and road uniforms need to stay.

[Kevin W.]

I wish the NFL (and other leagues) would follow the soccer model and just have a regular uniform and a clash uniform.

Horrible idea. Home and road uniforms need to stay.

You do realize what a clash uniform is, right?

[tvko]

Soccer isn't one of the "four major" sports in America, and I doubt it ever will be.

It's about to pass hockey.

Nope.jpg

MLS is losing money, and fast.

The problem with doing that in NCAA is the sheer amount of schools and companies, it would be hard to standardize something like that. I like the NCAA uniforms the way they are, with wacky 5 alternate teams and traditional 2 uniform teams.

[nuordr]

The NFL is looking to tighten the restrictions on alternate uniform use. I'm guessing this might be part of a greater preemptive action to prevent Nike from doing anything crazy when they take over the uniforms in 2012.

It would be nice if the NCAA did the same and quashed this Nikegon nonsense.

Wait no alternate uniforms during SNF and MNF?????? Huge mistake.

I agree. This is a great time for teams to show off an alternate and help out their sales. The owners should be all over this.

[TheOldRoman]

I wish the NFL (and other leagues) would follow the soccer model and just have a regular uniform and a clash uniform.

Horrible idea. Home and road uniforms need to stay.

You do realize what a clash uniform is, right?

I don't follow soccer, but if my team wears a blue jersey brough to you by Best Buy, we would still wear that jersey when playing against a red team brought to you by Target. If I play a road game against your team, which wears a blue jersey brought to you by Walmart, we would then have to wear a different colored jersey, possibly a green jersey brought to you by Monster Engery Drink or a white jersey brought to you by Dove soap.

[vmd9]

Really? The 8 days a year you have to see your Browns in white/white is so horrible for you?

It's not horrible, but it would be better if they would use different combinations. Of course it's boring to see the same thing for 8 games.

[DustDevil61]

You know, I don't mind a set limit on how many times a jersey can be worn (think Jets' NY Titans), but I do have a problem with when it can be used...I like the idea of teams wearing alternates on nationally televised games (even if I might not like every single alternate). I also support the idea of alternates that aren't just recolors of the jersey, but possibly throwbacks/fauxbacks or something that switches things up a bit, and has just a little more creativity than recoloring the main jersey.

[oldschoolvikings]

I wish the NFL (and other leagues) would follow the soccer model and just have a regular uniform and a clash uniform.

Horrible idea. Home and road uniforms need to stay.

You do realize what a clash uniform is, right?

I don't follow soccer, but if my team wears a blue jersey brough to you by Best Buy, we would still wear that jersey when playing against a red team brought to you by Target. If I play a road game against your team, which wears a blue jersey brought to you by Walmart, we would then have to wear a different colored jersey, possibly a green jersey brought to you by Monster Engery Drink or a white jersey brought to you by Dove soap.

Well done.

[swilson160]

No, the NCAA doesn't need to adopt nazi-like uniform rules

I remember back in history class when we learned that the world went to war to stop the Nazis from limiting the use of alternate uniforms. Thank God we won so the world could once again be safe for BFBS.

[Gothamite]

No, the NCAA doesn't need to adopt nazi-like uniform rules

I remember back in history class when we learned that the world went to war to stop the Nazis from limiting the use of alternate uniforms. Thank God we won so the world could once again be safe for BFBS.

Are you kidding?

The Nazis were all about BFBS.

[guest23]

I wish the NFL (and other leagues) would follow the soccer model and just have a regular uniform and a clash uniform.

I wish people would stop suggesting American sports do things like they do in soccer. With a few exceptions, we don't really care about soccer. No regular/clash uniforms. No teams with only city names. No advertising on uniforms.

do you realize that the nfl originally had the european model with primary/clash?..it wasn't until games were televised on black & white tv that the need arose for every team to have a white jersey...with the advent of color hdtv there is no reason not to go back to the old system.

personally I'd like to see the bears in orange more often and the rams go back to a yellow primary.

[IceCap]

The NFL is trying to protect the brands of their teams. They have the right, and some could argue the obligation, to do so.

Wow, gotta love unwarranted steps taken by a league that can't even figure out it's finances.

What one has to do with the other, I have no idea.

I do know, however, that the NFL is the most profitable/most watched pro sports league in the United States. So I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Yes, lets not let teams wear jerseys on a larger stage that may allow them to be seen by more and thus purchased by more to help the distorted finances of the league.

Think about it. Who's more likely to buy a team's new alternate jersey? Fans of the team. Fans who will see the new alternate jersey on the field even if it's not being worn in a nationally televised game. Wearing alternates on Sunday, Monday, and Thursday Night Football increases exposure of the alternates to more people, yes, but those people are likely fans of different teams and won't be willing to spend the cash on some other team's alternate. All in all limited exposure of alternates to Sunday afternoon games probably won't hurt the sales of alternates, as the expanded audience for the prime time games probably won't be interested in purchasing them anyway.

And of course, taking away celebrations and alternate jerseys just continues to show how stupid this sport is getting, and why I'm not sure how much I care it won't be on.

They aren't banning alternate jerseys. They'll still be there.

Teams should be allowed to wear whatever they wwant whenever they want.

I see the concept of a uniform has been lost on a few of our members.

A uniform is primarily worn to distinguish the two teams. That's why teams have designated home and road uniforms. To be worn specifically at home or on the road. Alternates, as the name implies, are to be worn sparingly, an alternate set to keep things fresh once and a while. They're not supposed to be worn "whenever."

No, the NCAA doesn't need to adopt nazi-like uniform rules

It makes the NFL stale and boring and would certainly make NCAA football just as boring visually.

Nice shot at Oregon too lol, clever

I agree, I get so tired of the teams that wear the same two uniforms all season.

You know we're on the train to crazy town when people start questioning the simple home/road dynamic that's been the basis of uniform design since forever.

Thank god the NFL is finally doing something about the alternate uniforms. Now if only Hockey could jump on that bandwagon and make these teams at least look like themselves most of the time...

Amen. There are a few NFL teams that I only get to see when they play a prime time game. It would be nice to be able to see these teams play in their standard uniforms for those games.

No, the NCAA doesn't need to adopt nazi-like uniform rules

Yes, lets compare one of the most categorically evil regimes in human history to the NFL telling the Ravens they have to wear purple jerseys on Monday nights.

[Gothamite]

Wow, gotta love unwarranted steps taken by a league that can't even figure out it's finances.

What one has to do with the other, I have no idea.

This is something that frequently puzzles me. Because the NFL is buried deep in serious labor negotiations, they can't do any other work regarding the running of their league?

People must either think that other human beings are incapable of multi-tasking or that the NFL has exactly three employees.

At some point, the lockout will be over and a new contract will be signed. Don't you think that the league might want to have a slight idea of what will happen next rather than waiting for that day to come?