NFL Gives Fans What They Want: More Throwback Uniform Games

National Football League throwback and alternate jerseys, already a big hit with fans, are set for a marked increase in exposure during the 2025 season.

Team owners at last week’s annual league meeting in Florida approved a shift in which teams will be allowed to wear alternate uniforms as many as four times during the season, up from a prior three times per club. Critically, teams also gained approval to wear alternate helmets with primary home and road jerseys, creating many additional potential uniform combinations. 

The change will also mean that particularly popular NFL throwback uniforms, such as the Kelly green of the Super Bowl LIX champion Eagles, the Buccaneers’ “Creamsicles,” and the Broncos’ “Orange Crush” jerseys, can be worn for nearly a quarter of the regular season. 

Alternates and throwbacks amount to as much as 30% of all NFL jersey sales—a figure outstripping their presence on the field and showing their outsized popularity with fans. Players also have frequently lauded the alternate looks. 

The change arrives as Nike recently extended its uniform rights deal with the NFL through 2038. League officials said the company will be fundamentally involved in additional changes likely forthcoming to the NFL’s uniform program. Those shifts are also intended to be notably different from the multiple missteps Nike has seen with its redesign of Major League Baseball uniforms. 

There will still be some guardrails in the NFL uniform expansion, however, including a prohibition on alternate jerseys in the Super Bowl.

“We talked about expanding the options that are available for teams, but also making sure there’s an understanding of the consistency that needs to be there from a brand standpoint,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. “When someone turns on the TV, it’s great to see a new uniform, a new look, but you also want to know it’s the Denver Broncos, [for example].”