All NFL teams appearing on “Thursday Night Football” will wear uniforms that — from head-to-toe — will be one color, marking a significant expansion of what the league calls its “color rush” initiative.
Last season, the NFL tested these monochromatic uniforms in four Thursday night games in November and December. This season, each Thursday night game will feature teams wearing one-color uniforms — not including the opening night or Thanksgiving Day games. All told, 14 Thursday games and the Christmas night Ravens-Steelers game will feature these Nike-produced uniforms.
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Bills at Jets was one of four color rush games in 2015.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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Since it sold “Thursday Night Football” rights to CBS in 2014, the NFL has pushed to give the games a big event feel, and league executives think special “Thursday Night Football” uniforms will add to that. Thursday night ratings have grown significantly over the past two years, as the NFL has dominated broadcast prime time through the fall. This season, the NFL added NBC to the mix with the latter part of the package, and it sold streaming rights to Twitter, which will simulcast most of the games.
The color rush idea was born in college, where Nike has produced special uniforms for Oregon’s football team and Under Armour has done the same for Maryland. In both cases, fans of the schools reacted positively.
One of the more recognizable color rush games last season occurred in November between the Bills and Jets. The field at MetLife Stadium resembled a Christmas scene, with the Bills decked out in red and the Jets in green.
The league later found out that some of its color blind fans were unable to tell the difference between the two teams, causing the league to make some tweaks this season. When the Bills and Jets play in this week’s Thursday night game, the home team Bills will wear red and the visiting Jets will wear white.
Teams will wear Nike Vapor Untouchable jerseys. The NFL has pledged to donate all of the proceeds of color rush jersey sales to the NFL Foundation to fund health, safety and wellness programs for youth. The first $500,000 raised will replace youth and high school football equipment and fields destroyed during last month’s floods in Louisiana.
