NFL Changes Major Uniform Rule For 2018 Season

Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said that the National Football League is taking into consideration more Color Rush options and even alternate uniform combos.

Football teams are allowed to wear alternate uniform at any time throughout the season.

Of course, this is only possible if the primary home and away uniform option are a preferred choice 13 out of the team’s 16 regular games in the season. This is just an attempt to loosen any uniform color restrictions and a way to attract fans back to the game. Yes, the marketing perspective matters here.

“The NFL is relaxing its policy to where teams will now be able to wear their alternates/throwbacks or color rush jerseys on three occasions during the season. It used to be that teams could only wear the former twice, but this gives teams the option to wear those three times,” Breer explained.

The league kicked off the monochromatic uniform getups three years ago. This came as a result of the new deal with Nike. Color Rush uniforms are a Thursday night staple, and this is some sort of a tradition for two seasons now. This triggered a huge social media reaction, and even impressive apparel sales figures noted in individual teams.

The league’s Color Rush promotion was first met with complaints. Most complaints came from color blind viewers. USA Today’s 2016 story explained how Buffalo and New York’s game was hard to watch for this group of viewers. It’s hard to catch up with a game led by players in all-red and all-green uniforms.

Less strict uniform regulations open greater flexibility for brand-building efforts.