Uniforms and Kits
What a player wears when they are competing can have huge financial benefits. A sponsorship can earn an athlete far more than they make in salary or prize money. For example, 20-year-old Jannik Sinner has a $150 million mega deal with Nike that will run for 10 years. That is, yes I will do the math for you, 15 million dollars a year. As compared to the approximately 11 million dollars he has made in 2024. While the outfits professional athletes wear is fun to analyze, we watch the sport for the competition. However there was a very funny scene on the show Cheers where Diane picks her winners in the football pool based on the mascot and the color of their uniforms. (It is well worth watching the 5 minute clip especially from 2:04 seconds in.)
The uniform is a contributing factor to playing as a cohesive unit on the field or the pitch. However, interestingly enough when one player can play by different rules they must wear a different uniform. For example, the goalie in soccer and the libero in volleyball. In soccer, the goalie is the only one who can use their hands, the defining characteristic of soccer is that you can’t use your hands. (I actually think the reason why Americans have never really embraced soccer is because there is so little scoring and if goalie were prohibited from using their hands, scoring would go up significantly. But I digress.) The libero in volleyball is a defensive specialist, who is not permitted on the front line. The differentiation in uniform assists the referee in seeing who is permitted to violate a basic rule.
With those exceptions the uniform for all other players wearing the same uniform. Of course players are always looking for ways to stand out with headbands or sweatbands or special equipment. The most common is what I often refer to as the Yankee arrogance. That is not the fact that northerners are innately smarter than southerners. It is the fact that the New York Yankees may be the only team in baseball in which the players do not have the names on the jerseys. Like most team sports players are identified by their numbers and players certainly have preferred numbers. The greatest honor is of course having your number retired. However, with most teams players wear their name as well. It is the way we learn who they are. In hockey in which the play is so fast and the players wear helmets we may never know who they are unless they had their names on the backs. This certainly true in football in which there is so much protective gear, they are nearly all identical. That is actually the point on some level for wearing a uniform.
In Europe the uniform is called the kit but it serves the same purpose. Players in team sport wear the same outfit to reinforce the idea that they are not individuals, they are part of a team. (Later I will address the similarities and differences between team and individual sport.) Trying to get a group of people to work in concert with each other and anything that can be done to assist in that team mentality is useful. Phrases like the is no “I” in team are cliches that remind the players to work together. “Teamwork makes the dreamwork” is the idea that working together will produce something greater than any individual canb accomplish on their own.
I remember when I was an 8 year old little boy playing on my first basketball team at our local JCC. (the Jewish equivalent of the YMCA.) I was over the moon when I got my fist uniform. I remember the way it hung on me like wet laundry hanging off the clothes line. I didn’t care. I was thrilled. It meant so much. Most of all it meant I was part of the team. I was part of something bigger even though it was called “Biddy Basketball.” By the way, it is just not nice to call it Pee Wee football mostly because it may be referencing the inability to hold it in, especially wearing so much gear and in that circumstance I might also wet myself; and because no one should be connected in any way to Pee Wee Herman.
The idea of belonging to something bigger from such a young age is incredibly powerful and a huge marketing opportunity. It is why there is no way I could ever hit a baseball going 90 mile per hour but when I go to Mets’ game i put on an authentic Mets jersey, Or when I go to a Rangers game I put on an authentic sweater (that is what they call jerseys in hockey – I guess because you need a sweater if you are going to compete on ice, even though they sweat like nobody’s business). I have not earned the right to wear the team’s uniform but I do. Putting on the jerseys makes me feel like I am part of the team. And the more you want to feel like you belong, the most gear you wear the more you feel invested and part of it. Hats, jackets, sweatshirts and t-shirts give you a feeling of belonging. That is why many companies will issue their employees logo imprinted swag, to instill great loyalty and connection rather than working just for the paycheck. We show our pride and fidelity.
I remember terrible seasons when the NY Giants were getting clobbered and I was wearing my Giants hat and someone said to me, “aren’t you embarrassed to be wearing that hat given the season they were having.” “That is when real loyalty comes in. That is, real courage is displayed” I remarked. It is easy to be a Chicago Bulls fan in the early 90’s. It is easy to be a fair weather friend, it is hard to be a fan of a losing team. I know I am a Met fan.
The uniform shows you are part of something. If you watch tennis, you will often see athletes who are endorsed by Nike wearing either the exact same outfits or very similar. The same is true for Adidas or Ons. It breeds brand loyalty in the spectator who wants to emulate a certain athlete.
Lance Armstrong, Maria Sharapova, Michael Vick, Ray Rice, Barry Bonds, Adrian Peterson are all athletes who lost lucrative endorsement deals due to behavior that was representative of the culture of each sponsor.
The uniform tells us who is part of the team and who is not. This year has been a particularly contentious year. Between the election, the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the middle east, Adidas dropped Palestinian-American model Bella Hadid from a shoe campaign after criticism from Israel. (For a really important explanation of her comments click here for a great article.) A player can be benched or worse suspended for behaving inappropriately. Wearing the uniform means not only that you belong but that you represent as well.