In a major shift to its visual identity, the NFL announced on Friday, April 25 a new uniform initiative titled the Rivalries program, aiming to promote local culture and team history.
Designed in collaboration with Nike, the initiative will introduce alternate uniforms for each team and marks the league’s most significant uniform update since the debut of the Color Rush series in 2015.
It mirrors the successful effort of Major League Baseball and NBA in recent years through their respective City Connect (MLB) and City Edition jerseys, which looks to deepen fan engagement and modernize team branding.
“The NFL is home to some of the biggest rivalries in football,” Renie Anderson, executive vice president, told CBS Sports. “We decided to team up with Nike to allow fans and players to connect like never before with the Rivalries program because nothing brings communities together quite like a good rivalry.
“The four-year rollout was designed to build the program out over time and highlight the unique rivalries individually, rather than doing it all at once. This will also build anticipation over time.”
How will the Rivalries uniforms work in the NFL?
The announcement was made during the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft and will debut in phases across a four-year period. The AFC East and NFC West get the inaugural honors.
That means fans of the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, and San Francisco 49ers will run the special designs.
They will then be followed by the AFC South and NFC North in 2026/27, then the NFC East and AFC West in 2027/28, and finally the AFC North and NFC South in the 2028/29 season.
Each participating team will be required to wear its Rivalries uniform at least once per season in a home game against a divisional opponent and they may choose which team this is against.
The NFL has confirmed that these jerseys will only be worn by one team per game, for example the 49ers and Rams can’t both wear the uniforms against each other so as to avoid confusion.
Visuals of the Rivalries jerseys have yet to be released, they are expected ahead of the 2025/26 regular season meaning that they will arrive no later than September; when the Philadelphia Eagles kick off the year on Thursday Night Football.
But Jalen Hurts and the defending champions will have to wait until the 2027/28 season before they can wear their uniforms at the Lincoln Financial Field in the NFC East against the Dallas Cowboys.
The NFL has also confirmed that existing alternates and throwbacks will remain in circulation, with teams now allowed to wear alternate uniforms up to four times per season as part of the new identity push.
Read the full article here
