As teams across the NFL embrace Nike-made throwback uniforms and bring other brand partners into their turn-back-the-clock stadium nostalgia experience, both they and the NFL have discovered a largely untapped reservoir of fan fervor.
After years of treating throwback merchandise like a costly premium item for die-hard fans, the NFL, its teams and Nike are making them accessible to the masses. That’s giving brand partners a unique opportunity to reach broad, casual fanbases that might otherwise ignore week-to-week action. From Good Humor to Microsoft to Toyota, which helped the Philadelphia Eagles launch Kelly Green throwbacks this summer, brands have a chance to leave their mark on beloved eras in football history even if they missed out on them the first time.
“When we look at Creamsicle, we never really viewed this as a throwback—as a one-time gimmick,” said Atul Khosla, the Buccaneers’ chief commercial officer. “We very much viewed this as a long-term, multiyear effort to build a sub-brand.”
Let them play
The NFL loosened uniform regulations in 2022, making it easier for franchises to wear alternate throwback kits, with the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, New England Patriots all opting to wear Nike and Riddell throwback uniforms and helmets. This year, the Buccaneers join the Seattle Seahawks, Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans—who’ll pay homage to their original hometown by wearing Houston Oilers throwbacks during two games this season—among teams embracing throwback gear.
Taryn Hutt, the NFL’s vp of club marketing, said that the last two years have shown just how connected fans have been to merchandise and design from specific eras, with Philadelphia fans waiting in line at 3:15 a.m. for the release of Kelly Green merchandise resembling the uniform worn by Eagles legends Randall Cunningham and Reggie White in the ’80s and ’90s. As teams launched throwback gear during training camp and at the start of the season, league marketers spent weeks promoting those efforts on NFL Network, NFL.com and morning football shows.
“What has made this program so special and elevates it year over year is clubs continuing to lean in [and] make it this whole integrated 360 plan,” Hutt said.
