Die-hard fans are more likely to bet on scores and rattle off stats, but there’s one area of athletic intelligence where you can reign as champ: fashion. Memorize these fun facts and trivia about sports team uniforms, and you’ll dazzle the competition.
In the Beginning
- The only word for the first baseball uniforms is “snazzy.” In the mid-1800s, the New York Knickerbockers Baseball Club suited up in blue wool pants, white flannel shirts, and straw hats.
- Soccer players in the Victorian era didn’t need coordinating clothes to play. They distinguished themselves with colorful scarves. Established uniforms didn’t evolve until the late 1800s.
- Women were allowed to play volleyball in 1900—but they weren’t allowed to be comfortable. They wore white dresses with long sleeves and long skirts, along with their everyday shoes.
The Long and Short of It
- One could make an argument that Michael Jordan’s most significant impact on basketball was sartorial. He wanted to wear his college shorts under his Chicago Bulls uniform and kicked off the trend for baggy shorts.
- Chicago holds another notable achievement in the world of shorts. In 1976, the White Sox became the first Major League Baseball team to take the field in shorts. In this case, however, the fad didn’t catch on. They were also the last team to take the field in shorts.
- The Utah Jazz’s John Stockton was the last player to cling stubbornly to old-school style. Some have called him the “King of the Short-Shorts.”
The Color Guard
- The University of Texas is so proud of its uniform orange that it trademarked it: Pantone 159. The University of North Carolina had the same idea with Carolina Blue. If you want to use it, you’d better get approval from the university.
- Colors are common in team names, the most basic being the Cincinnati Reds, the St. Louis Blues, and the Cleveland Browns. You could make a case for the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Boston Red Sox, and the Chicago White Sox, but you’d only deserve partial credit.
- The Dallas Cowboys consider their blue home jerseys so unlucky that they’ve worn white for all but one home game since 1971.
Leggo My Logo
- You can’t talk about sports team uniforms’ facts and trivia without talking about the history of branding. The first logo appeared during an NFL game in 1948. A Los Angeles Rams running back impulsively painted horns on his helmet.
- The Pittsburgh Steelers’ helmets have logos on just one side: the right.
- Tiffany & Co. designed the Yankees’ classic interlocking NY logo. They initially created it for the NYPD’s Medal of Valor in 1877. When the police chief became a part owner of the Yankees, he made it part of the uniform.
Additional Resources:
Boston Celtics
LA Lakers
New York Yankees
Dallas Cowboys
Pittsburgh Steelers
Cleveland Browns
KC Chiefs
SF Niners
Minnesota Vikings
Dallas Mavericks
Houston Astros
Chicago Cubs
