Of the 24 expansion teams since 1988, 13 of them had hideous jerseys in their first year. That's more than half, which is a failing grade, expansion teams.
So is there a rule that says expansion teams in their first year have to have shitty jerseys? Or is it just that marketing teams hired by new professional sports teams don't understand basic eye pleasing combinations of colours and trim and cool animals biting things? If you don't know what I'm talking about, just have a look for yourself:
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| 3 of the many awful inaugural expansion team jerseys. |
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I don't know what to hate more about the 3 jerseys you see above. Is it the hideous colours? Is it the godawful font choice? How about disgusting trim? These jerseys (and many more) have the same problem in common. They were trying to be too bold - too different. Everyone was trying to recreate the phenomenon that was the San Jose Sharks circa 1991.
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| I have no idea who this Colman fellow is. |
Everyone in the world (ok, just North America) was really surprised when in the early nineties, kids started buying the latest NHL expansion jersey paraphernalia. They couldn't explain it. I remember them actually doing real news stories on it because no one could understand why American kids (and Canadian as well) were wearing the crappiest
hockey team's jersey like it was something cool. In the end everyone agreed it was because of the weird new colour, teal. However teal was only part of the reason the jersey was a success. Look at that font. Classic. Look at that design - clean lines, no one trying to make this jersey memorable by being hideous, the bold decision of the colour stands out but we are comfortable with it because we recognize the other features. Add in a pretty cool logo of a crazy wild animal biting something and you have a damn fine jersey.
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| Scott "The Teal Bulb" Pose |
All that being said, teal was pretty much dead by 1992 and no other expansion team since has recreated the hype and popularity that the Sharks had in the 90s. Instead it's been a stream of duds including the Devil Rays:
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| Can I say Devil Gays? No? |
And of course the lowly Raptors:
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Uh guys I think there's something wrong with the pinstripes.
Oh and you named the team Raptors by mistake too. |
So then, here's a list of all the awful inaugural expansion jerseys of all the major North American sports. All these jerseys had some garbage bozo designing them and while some have improved since, some continue to be completely terrible. These jerseys have some and maybe even all of the following: poor colour choice, bad overall design, awful logo, terrible trim and brutal fonts.
| NHL | NBA | NFL | MLB |
| panthers | hornets | jaguars | diamondbacks |
| thrashers | raptors | | marlins | |
| wild | grizzlies | | devil rays |
| blue jackets | bobcats | | |
| thrashers | timberwolves | |
