NWSL’s new Nike kits laying foundation for commercial growth
For the 2024 NWSL season, Nike took over the kit design process for the
league’s 14 teams and, for the first time ever, is releasing all new
primary and secondary kits for every team in the league in a single
season. Courtesy of Nike/NWSL
For the first time in the National Women’s Soccer League’s 11-year history, every team kit for the new season will be brand new.
The feat is the product of an overhauled design process with longtime
partner Nike that has team sources around the league optimistic about
creating more customized kits in the future.
Each of the 2024 primary kits for the league’s 14 teams is a bespoke design
meant to bring to life local culture and storytelling. All 14 secondary
kits are new, too, and each looks similar in design as part of a leaguewide
theme around “the strength of the collective,” according to Nike.
The new design process gives teams equal access to customization options
that allow them to be bolder than they have been in an otherwise bland
decade of league merchandise. Several of the 2024 primary kits achieve
their goal, from San Diego Wave FC’s bold orange, pink and turquoise kit — meant to mimic the city’s idyllic
sunsets over the Pacific Ocean — to the Orlando Pride’s kit covered in oranges, a nod to the region’s robust citrus industry.
Love or hate the final designs, the league has finally moved on from the
embarrassing monotony of its early years, when teams looked like local
youth clubs with mostly red or blue stock templates and all-white alternate
kits. Nike has eliminated white shorts completely this year, citing
players’ concerns about visible period leaks. White kits are no longer required by the NWSL as they were in the past, just “light” and “dark” options as per FIFA
regulations.
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There are finally stories to tell around these kits — and stories sell.
The new kits are about fashion and professionalism, which all relate back
to business for a league attempting to sustain growth by attracting new
fans. Fashionable kits reach more than just soccer fans; they become
grassroots marketing to everyone.
“How do you create that ultimate item that, if you’re visiting a city like
New York or L.A. or, for us, Orlando or wherever, how are you creating
something that people are going to buy to represent that city but also
represent the team, too?” Katie Eaton, the NWSL’s vice president of
consumer products, told ESPN. “Obviously, people are fans of them on the
field, but [we’re] also creating lifestyle brands.”
The new process is one that teams began 18 to 24 months ago, which is now
the amount of lead time needed to turn initial concepts into final physical
products; teams are already finalizing their 2026 kits — which some team
sources say will include third kits for the first time in league history.
Team sources around the NWSL describe a collaborative process with Nike, in
which they present ideas and Nike’s design team helps bring them to life.
It begins as an intake form and a discussion about high-level objectives
and evolves into rounds of digital design and experimentation. After about
two years, printouts and digital renderings finally come to life on
mannequins and then players and fans.
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Julie Haddon, the NWSL’s chief marketing and commercial officer, first saw
the jerseys in person recently at the LeBron James Innovation Center at
Nike’s global headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Even after months of final
reviews on screens, seeing the collection of colors and custom designs in
person moved her.
“To then turn around and see all of these on actual models, the actual
see-touch-feel, it was sort of breathtaking,” Haddon told ESPN. Like the
league’s new championship trophy made by Tiffany & Co., the kits are a sign
of the league “leveling up,” Haddon said.
In the past, much of the kit design onus was on individual teams, a system
that created great inconsistencies in level of detail from team to team.
The Portland Thorns, who are based a short drive from Nike’s headquarters, were the first
women’s team in the world to get a unique visual identity from Nike and
have long had more detailed kits (including the polarizing 2023 white kit).
Teams like the North Carolina Courage have traditionally been stuck with plain kits, which went to the extreme
last year with an all-white kit that even zapped the club’s badge of its
colors. Fast forward to 2024, and the Courage have a bold blue primary
defined by floating triangles. Those aren’t there at random from some
designer’s obsession with geometry; they represent “The Triangle” area of
North Carolina, which includes Raleigh and Durham. Sure, there’s plenty of
marketing jargon in all of this, but there’s clear progress in the
attention to detail.
Racing Louisville FC leans into its local horse racing history for the second straight year —
ahead of the Kentucky Derby’s 150th anniversary — with a
lavender-and-white argyle pattern inspired by the traditional garb of a
jockey. The Chicago Red Stars, who have long had some of the most creative kits in the NWSL, will boast
a bright blue-and-white geometric pattern representing the convergence of
the city’s neighborhoods.
Nike, which is the only on-field apparel partner the NWSL has ever had
since it kicked off in 2013, now treats the NWSL like its biggest global
club and confederation partners. That includes offering the company’s most
advanced technology — DRI-FIT ADV — and marketing. Nike’s lifestyle
campaign to launch the 2024 NWSL kits is reminiscent of how the brand rolls
out kits for World Cups and its largest global events.
The San Diego Wave’s 2024 primary kit represents a horizon line where the
ocean meets the sky, which Nike says represents different communities
coming together for a shared vision. Courtesy of Nike/NWSL
Eaton calls 2024 a “foundation” to growing the commercial appeal of NWSL
kits nationally and globally — a concession that there is still room to
grow. The unifying theme of the secondary kits still evokes memories of
templates with their similar gradients, a necessary evil of resetting the
entire process. All the secondary kits will be replaced next year with
bespoke designs to establish new, two-year kit cycles on par with global
standards.
Going forward, teams will get new primary kits and secondary kits in
alternate years, meaning each team will get a new kit each season, a
cadence that never formally existed before. Teams will wear their new
primary kits in 2024 and 2025. Secondary kits will reset again next year
and be worn in 2025 and 2026. There could be some exceptions; the Washington Spirit are in the middle of an impending rebrand and could get a full reset, for
example. There’s also the issue of expansion, which is why Bay FC and Utah Royals FC are wearing disappointingly plain jerseys, including Bay FC’s
black-and-white that hardly even feature the team’s real colors. Those
franchises were only officially accepted into the league last year, too
late in the process to create anything highly customized.
Why good kits matter for the NWSL’s business
This kit refreshment is about business as much as it is fashion.
The more detailed process to create bespoke designs is a sign of increased
investment in the league from Nike. In late 2021, the NWSL announced an
extension — reportedly through 2030 — with Nike that the league called
its “most substantial agreement in history.” It promised that “specific
focus will be placed on elevating performance through research in footwear
and apparel innovation, and growing engagement by highlighting athletes
both on and off the field.”
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A recent study by Grand View Research valued the global licensed sports merchandise market at more than $33
billion, with North America representing the largest market. Historically,
the NWSL contributed negligibly nothing to that figure, but in the past two
years the league has significantly overhauled its overall branding — a
league rebrand is expected next year — and licensed merchandise. Women’s
sports at large represent a significant growth opportunity in the market
given their historical neglect by retailers.
Accessibility matters, too. Fans might just be able to find their favorite
NWSL jerseys now, too, unlike in the past when few were produced.
“This is the largest number of jerseys going into market than ever before
and more available, accessible in more retail locations than ever before,”
Eaton said.
Third-party retailers like Soccer.com and Dick’s Sporting Goods will sell
Nike’s entire NWSL kit collection. Previously, only select NWSL teams could
be found at national retailers, mostly online. Dick’s Sporting Goods, which
is the largest sporting goods retailer in the United States with more than
800 physical locations, will largely carry kits for the local in-market
team at physical locations, Eaton said.
That will include more player products, too, meaning fans in San Diego
should be able to walk into the store and buy a Wave jersey off the rack
with forward Alex Morgan’s name and No. 13 already printed on it. Or fans in New York and New
Jersey could purchase a jersey of reigning champion NJ/NY Gotham FC with Crystal Dunn’s No. 19 on it — another first for the league. Like the NBA, a large
segment of NWSL fans follow players first and teams second.
Crucially, the presence of these kits in brick-and-mortar locations, and on
major retailers’ websites, allows NWSL teams and players to be discovered
by new or casual fans, which are the audiences the league must acquire if
it is to sustain its growth. Fashion-forward kits are the perfect vehicle.
Haddon knows from her five years as an executive at the NFL that avid fans
and casual fans are two different segments of equal importance.
The Chicago Red Stars’ 2024 primary kit features a patchwork design that
Nike says represents the neighborhoods of Chicago coming together. Courtesy
of Nike/NWSL
“What is interesting is a lot of fans of the NWSL are drawn to the culture
of the league and the energy of the league and the fashion-forward content
that is out there with the players,” Haddon said. “So, I think there’s a
lot of excitement around the way we’re building new audiences together.
We’re bridging the audience of the current avid fan with the future fan.”
Inventory of women’s team’s kits has been a problem globally for years.
Rising popularity in the women’s game has created a demand for merchandise
that recently took manufacturers, including Nike at times, by surprise. In
2019, U.S. women’s national team kits became Nike’s best-selling soccer jersey, men’s or women’s teams, in
a single season. The only problem was it took a long time for fans to
receive their orders because the company didn’t anticipate demand.
Nike and other manufacturers — plus FIFA itself — were better prepared
for the 2023 World Cup, but demand sometimes still exceeds expectations. England goalkeeper Mary Earps won the Golden Glove at the 2023 World Cup, but nobody could buy her
jersey. Nike made it available for sale after Earps complained publicly,
and Earps said it sold out in a day. (Eaton says NWSL goalkeeper jerseys will be available for purchase later
this spring, after the field-player jerseys launch.)
Lifestyle clothing is a way for NWSL to further tap into casual fans. Eaton
pointed to last year’s partnership with the brand Wear by Erin Andrews,
which produced NWSL team jean jackets, as one example. New, bigger
licensing deals are expected this year.
The North Carolina Courage’s 2024 primary kit features a motif of
triangles, a nod to the Raleigh metro area where the Courage play, which is
known as The Triangle. Courtesy of Nike/NWSL
Teams have bought into the business opportunity of merchandise. Bay FC designed its entire brand identity — a baseball-style “B” reminiscent of the “D” logo for MLB’s Detroit
Tigers — based on the likelihood that it would become a global fashion
statement beyond soccer, like the New York Yankees’ “NY” hat. Team owners
and new signings alike walk around wearing varsity letterman-style jackets
with Bay FC’s “B” on them in hopes of sparking a hip fashion trend. The
team’s kits should eventually follow suit, once they have enough lead time
to design them for future seasons.
All these initiatives are about building out the NWSL as a major sports
league, which is the overarching objective of every league business
decision right now, from a record media rights deal to new facilities.
Haddon describes the objective using the term “unmissable entertainment,” a
phrase which could equally be heard in NFL board rooms.
Kits are the most prominent item in that merchandise effort. Players wear
them on the field, fans wear them in the stands and — if all goes to plan
— locals will wear them on the streets. The NWSL and Nike envision a world
where someone is wearing the Wave’s jersey at a beachside party, or
Orlando’s vibrant orange jersey at a downtown club on a Friday night.
Tapping into wider local communities will take time, but with kits that
finally make statements, the objective looks more achievable.
“It’s part of our strategies to build our brand and grow and engage our
fans,” Haddon said. “So, I would say absolutely, it’s important that we’re
able to not just create the great product for the players on the pitch and
the fans at the games, but the fans who are going to be seeing it on four
different broadcast networks. If you want to be able to buy it, the
findability is going to be important.”
Source: Decked out in brand-new, bespoke Nike kits, NWSL clubs are now equipped to be more visible in their neighborhoods and in board rooms.
