When did sports team uniforms become so convoluted?

[SteveH]

The more uniforms they have, the more jerseys they can sell.

Yes, the money is a huge draw. Yellow, Green, Black, White jerseys just like Pokemon gotta catch them all.

It never hurts to have Nike in your hometown if you're going to start a trend with uniforms

Well Eugene + Ducks is Nike from the start, and Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman have given back generously, Bill Bowerman's scholarship paid for my Masters.

That said, nobody recruits better than Alabama & uniforms don’t come more traditional than that.

Very true, I won't deny that one big. But not being Alabama, Oregon had to figure out a way to recruit in order to build the program. The combination of facilities, winning and a coaching let Oregon get to the National Championship game and knock U$C and Udumb down.

 

[low-key]

I love sports but not a traditionalist , so Im liking this

 

[mrodgers]

I love trying to watch a Boston Bruins vs. Pittsburgh Penguins game on a small TV.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Seriously, can I gripe about soccer kits some more?

What team is this?

The flybe's? Is that the name of a team?

No? I have to look at the patch in the left corner? There's a patch there? What is that, a trumpet and a globe? Yeah, no idea who that is.

What about this one, from the early 80's? Pooh Jeans?

Oh, look, a little star in the corner. Well, that clears it all up! Obviously's that's ... ummmmm ... AC Hollywood?

Compare that to:

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Here we see the Chevrolets vs the Fly Emirates

 

[Colleen27]

The more jersey designs they have, the more jersey designs they can sell. And pro teams (and some colleges) are all about that merchandising cash. I personally don't much care what the players are wearing as long as I can tell one team from the other, so I don't care how often they change it up.

Now high school & youth teams... that's started to irk me because I don't want to buy uniforms every year. But even with the team providing the standard jerseys, it seems like every season includes at least 2 special games where parents are expected to buy the themed shirt.

 

[GreatLakes]

It's all about money. For professional soccer the largest spot is reserved for the kit sponsor but I'd rather have that and non-stop action with no commercials than TV timeouts (hello 2-minute warning) and commercials between innings. You know what kit your club wears so it doesn't really matter. If you can't tell which team is Manchester United and which is Arsenal you aren't much of a fan anyway.

Seriously, can I gripe about soccer kits some more?

What team is this?

Norwich City F.C., the Canaries, hence the canary sitting on a ball. That is an old picture though, probably 10 years I'd guess.

 

[soccerdad72]

Here we see the Chevrolets vs the Fly Emirates

Pro soccer has always had the market on sponsorship jerseys, but now the NBA has ripped them off...

 

[Klayfish]

Pro soccer has always had the market on sponsorship jerseys, but now the NBA has ripped them off...

And soccer ripped off NASCAR. The relationship with a sponsor goes incredibly deep there....probably more than any other sport.

 

[JaxDad]

Don't forget NASCAR...

ETA: Great minds, @Klayfish...

 

[soccerdad72]

And soccer ripped off NASCAR. The relationship with a sponsor goes incredibly deep there....probably more than any other sport.

True - I've never heard a soccer player thank his sponsors in his post game interview

 

[bcla]

Here we see the Chevrolets vs the Fly Emirates

How about the Fly Emirates Red vs the Fly Emirates Blue?

But wait, there's more:

 

[bcla]

And soccer ripped off NASCAR. The relationship with a sponsor goes incredibly deep there....probably more than any other sport.

That's true of auto racing in general. Especially on an open-wheel car where there's little room for much.

 

[Klayfish]

True - I've never heard a soccer player thank his sponsors in his post game interview

Yup. I'm a huge racing fan of nearly all types (except F1) and frankly it gets annoying. I know who your sponsor is, driver, I don't need to hear you give a generic thank you to each of them.

That's true of auto racing in general. Especially on an open-wheel car where there's little room for much.

Yes, but I was just using NASCAR as the example, as it's the biggest auto racing sport in the US.

However, the relationship in auto racing with their sponsors is more than just a logo on a jersey (or car in this case). Without the sponsors, NASCAR and most other large auto racing bodies simply wouldn't exist.

 

[bcla]

Yes, but I was just using NASCAR as the example, as it's the biggest auto racing sport in the US.

Understood. It's basically a big billboard on wheels. But I'm amazed at how much stuff one can put on a "barely there" open-wheel chassis.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

How about the Fly Emirates Red vs the Fly Emirates Blue?

 

[FlightlessDuck]

If you can't tell which team is Manchester United and which is Arsenal you aren't much of a fan anyway.

Well, sure. My gripe is as a noob. I like the story of AFC Wimbledon (FC Wimbledon moved to Milton-Keynes by its ownership, so the fans started their own club, AFC Wimbledon, and got it all the way to League One). I know their home kits are blue and their kit sponsor is Football Manager.

But they played an away game recently vs FC Halifax Town. Halifax was in blue. AFC Wimbledon was in black. I was pretty confused for a few minutes.

 

[soccerdad72]

Come to think of it, when talking about sponsors and logos, golf and tennis are pretty high up there as well - pretty much every thing that can be promoted on a player, is.

 

[NotUrsula]

Colorblindness was an issue for awhile in 2015 when Nike introduced the Color Rush uniform line (the ones that have matched-color shirts & pants)..

Nike fixed it the following season by adding an all-white option for any team that used red or green.

LSU football has had a white-at-home tradition since 1958, when football coach Paul Dietzel decreed it. When they won the NCAA chamipinonship that year, the color stuck. When the NCAA made the color rule in the early 80's, LSU refused to go quietly, and kept petitioning until the NCAA caved in 1995 and let them return to the white at home (with certain specified exceptions.) LSU uses 3 options: white with purple and gold trim, purple with gold & white trim, and the much-disliked gold with purple trim that is very rarely worn. (The basketball team, OTOH, wears gold jerseys often, they like them.)

 

[bcla]

Come to think of it, when talking about sponsors and logos, golf and tennis are pretty high up there as well - pretty much every thing that can be promoted on a player, is.

They have some pretty tight standards on how big the logos are.