New Collegiate Uniforms

Last week kicked off the official season of college football. The social media networks were buzzing with tweets and posts of fans talking trash and giving their predictions of whose team will be number one despite some key player’s suspensions. However, all of the traditional pre-game commotion went to a screeching halt once the teams hit the field and we notice a major change to the player’s uniforms. Georgia’s Bulldogs, Maryland’s Terps, Oregon State’s Ducks and Boise State’s Broncos are just a few teams that unveiled their new look created by Nike and it’s competitor Under Armour. These new uniforms cause such excitement that it became a trending topic on twitter within minutes. Of course there were mixed reviews regarding who had the worse and best uniforms. Along with critics waiting to see how well the uniforms protected the players during the game. For whatever the reason may have been in deciding to change the uniforms. It certainly made an impression that had many glued to the television whether they were sports fans or not.

Which is what sports marketing is all about, using sports teams to promote various products as well as the advertising of a sport event to the public in order to increase participation. According to Business Insider, “since the uniforms hit the TV screens on Sunday night, Under Armour’s search volume on Google had risen 60 percent over their average for the previous month,” (2011). Although they still have a very long way to go in surpassing Nike. The University of Maryland uniforms demonstrates that Under Armour has the skills to produce quality product that can compete along side top companies in the industry. Like stated before, there were mixed reviews as to the best and the worse uniforms. Regardless if people liked the uniforms or not, they made a statement and received massive attention. For instance, the Maryland’s Terps decided to market or rather incorporate the state colors. Some individuals complain that it resemble a medieval character while coach Randy Edsall defended the uniforms by stating the uniforms represents their “Maryland pride, letting everyone know that we are playing for everyone in the state.” I don’t know about anyone one else, ugly or not, including the patriotic symbol of a state flag is genius in my book. However, no matter how fashionable the uniforms look, in the end, it all comes down to the winner of the game.

-The Sportnista ‘95

Picture Reference:

Brilliant, J. (2011). Under Armour Terrapins Pride Uniforms & Cleats. Retrieved from http://counterkicks.com/2011/09/06/under-armour-maryland-terrapins-pride-uniforms-cleats/

Smith, S. (2011). Nike Pro Combat Uniforms: 10 College Teams Get Fashion Maker. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31751_162-20015332-10391697.html