Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this forum article are those of the author, and are not endorsed by the Franklin Post or Franklin High School.
Since the invention of sports, jerseys have worked their way into culture in the United States and around the world. They’re more than just a way to differentiate between teams on the field and are now a big part of fashion. Whether in school or a grocery store you’re bound to see a couple. However, I’ve noticed that most of the jerseys you see on the street worn for the purpose of fashion are retro. Now of course one reason for this could be the rising popularity of “vintage” clothes, but I believe the real reason for this is that modern sports jerseys are simply uglier.
But what is it that makes modern jerseys worse than the old-school ones? One of the main contributing factors certainly seems to be the monopoly Nike has established in the professional sports world. Nike has become the main manufacturer of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), and National Football League (NFL) jerseys with the NFL being the first to sign on in 2012 and the MLB being the last in 2020. Since Nike took over, the common theme in these three sports has been a drop in quality. Just last year, Nike and their manufacturer, Fanatics, faced a major scandal with the MLB as both players and fans noticed that the names on the jerseys were smaller. During an infamous photoshoot taken in the preseason, many also noticed that some of the pants were see-through to the point that one could see the players’ tucked in jerseys behind their pants. Additionally, according to a USA Today article, there were complaints of jerseys holding in sweat and breaking quickly. Although these problems seem to have been fixed for the 2025 season, it doesn’t bode well for this partnership.
Aside from the material issues, the jersey designs have gotten lazy due to Nike’s lack of competition over the years. Back in 2011, before Nike had contracts, the MLB, NBA, and NFL all had separate manufacturers and this led to them being held to a higher standard. Now that Nike has contracts with the three biggest leagues in the U.S., there isn’t any threat of other manufacturers to taking over so they know they can jack up prices, make low-quality jerseys, and there’s little anyone can do about it.
However, Nike hasn’t completely given up on trying to innovate jerseys; every year the NBA has all 30 teams get a “City Connect” jersey for their home city which varies from the basic home and away jerseys that are standard for all sports. In the first few years of these jerseys they were, for the most part, well received, but as the years have gone on the fan feedback has been poor. According to Basketball Jersey Archive, of the highest-rated jerseys voted by fans for the 2024-25 NBA season, 6/10 were either a classic jersey or a slightly different take on a classic jersey. When you look at the lowest-rated jerseys, 5/10 were the new “City Connect” jerseys.
So if jerseys now aren’t good, when were they good? I asked this question to Quincy Warren, a senior at Mountain View High School in Bend, OR and a former Franklin student. “Definitely the 1990s to early 2000s,” Warren said. “When you think of iconic jerseys you immediately think of that era. The Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Braves, and Philadelphia Eagles all had some timeless jerseys in that period.”
When you look at the jerseys of the 90s compared to today, one major noticeable difference is that minimalism has taken over. Minimalism has become a popular trend in the corporate graphic design world over the years and Nike has bought in hard. On one hand, some of the most simple jerseys are also some of the most iconic, like the Boston Celtics’ simple green and white scheme or the New York Yankees with the classic pinstripes. However, those are classics because they’ve stayed pretty much the same for the better part of a hundred years and in that time both teams have won the most championships in their respective sports in huge sports markets. For a team with less success and a smaller market, the jersey has to pop out at you. “Some teams ruin their jerseys by putting as little as possible. It’s not eye-catching or purchase-worthy,” Warren stated.
Now there is the argument that the love for old jerseys is just nostalgia talking. People have always hated what’s new and wished for the old. Also, when we look back at those older jerseys we usually only look at the good. Every jersey wasn’t a classic; a couple of them had to not be very good like the weird felt trend that the 76ers and Dallas Mevericks fell into.
Nevertheless, there have been some great jerseys to come out of the Nike sponsorships. In recent years, the Miami Heat’s “Miami Vice” themed City Edition jerseys have always been a hit, and some of the MLB “City Connect” jerseys are super clean like the ones for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Maybe in 15 years, we’ll look back and only see the good jerseys produced in this era and wish for them back, but only time can tell. For the time being, I think things need to change. Whether that’s through a different distributor, or maybe Nike is capable of hearing the cries of the people and heads back to the fun and outside-the-box designs of the old days.
