Nike unveiled its newest line of NFL uniforms in a fashion show in Brooklyn on Tuesday to mark the beginning of its five-year licensing deal.
The sports apparel company enlisted the services of New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz and other NFL players to show off the new duds. Nike takes over the licensing deal from Reebok, which had a deal with the NFL for the past decade, and hopes that a redesign of the uniforms not only makes them more attractive to players, but also appeals to shoppers.
The company recently filed a lawsuit against Reebok for attempting to sell Tim Tebow Jets jerseys after Nike acquired the NFLPA license on April 1st. It claimed that Reebok having the ability to sell Tebow Jets jerseys would severely diminish the market for Nike when it unveiled its own version of Tebow Jets jerseys in late April.
The unveiling of the new line elicited strong reactions from many on social media platforms after the event. The uniform getting the most buzz is a Seattle Seahawks uniform that is very Oregonesque with a mix of green and blue. Paul Lukas, author of ESPN's Uni Watch, called the jerseys "seriously ugly," with many other pundits agreeing with him on Twitter.
Other teams underwent some small uniform changes, but Nike kept the basic design the same. The reason why more teams didn't join the Seahawks and undergo a massive upheaval is two-fold: teams are only eligible to completely redesign their uniforms once every five years and teams must approve every major change made.
Nike cannot just change up a team's uniform unless it has explicit permission from that organization, according to Lukas.