On September 16, Beijing time, the NBA held a jersey launch conference for the new season, and each team sent its own representatives to participate in the jersey launch. How are Nike-sponsored jerseys different from usual for the new season? Through this article, I believe that you can learn more about it.

Durant Griffin leads the model

All 30 teams in the league sent their own models to attend the conference. Among them, the Thunder sent new signing Paul George, the Clippers sent Griffin, and the Warriors sent Durant. In addition to these big names, the rest of the teams also sent important figures in the team, such as the Pacers sent Turner, the Lakers sent Randle, the 76ers sent Simmons, the Timberwolves sent Towns, the Nets sent Russell, the Raptors sent DeRozan, and the Suns sent Bledsoe...... It can be seen that for this jersey launch, the teams still attach great importance to it.

Griffin shows the jersey in person

The whole press conference was very cool and filled with a sense of science and technology. The 30 "models" in the new jerseys finally stood in two rows, in front and back, and under the clicking flashing lights of the scene, they looked like a men's group.

It is worth mentioning that there is one "alternative" member among the 30 teams, and the Hornets will be the only team in the league to have the "Flyer" logo printed on their jerseys. For the rest of the teams, the logo is Nike's classic "hook". As for the reason, it is because the owner of the Hornets is "Flyer" Jordan, and "Jordan Brand" is a brand of Nike, which can be regarded as opening a "back door" to its own team.

Know how much the jersey has changed

Historically, the NBA has had seven different partners, sponsored by a homegrown American manufacturer called Sandknit in ancient times. Since 1990, Champion (1990-2000) has become the exclusive jersey supplier of the NBA, and after becoming the NBA's jersey sponsor, Champion has made fans shine with bright and avant-garde designs and brought a more intuitive impact.

It is worth mentioning that in 1997, Nike (1997-2004) and Starter (1997-1999) joined the ranks of jersey sponsorship, and divided the world with Champion, and the three teams each held the jersey sponsorship rights of 10 teams. In 1999, Puma took over the jersey contract from Starter, but Puma became an NBA jersey sponsor for only two years before announcing his withdrawal from the market in 2001.

In 2001, Reebok (2001-2006) joined the fray and became the exclusive sponsor for the 2004-45 season. And in 2006, after adidas (2006-2017) acquired Reebok, it spent $1 billion to become the sole sponsor of NBA jerseys, and the intention of this move was obvious, to go all out and compete with Nike for the basketball market.

Now that adidas' contract has expired, Nike sees an opportunity to sign an eight-year contract with the NBA and become the sole sponsor of the jersey. It can be seen that from Sandknit to Champion, from Nike to Starter, from Puma to Reebok, and then from adidas to Nike, which is now the return of the king, from this series of changes, the vicissitudes of the times are vividly displayed.

Compared to the previous jersey, the new jersey has a lot of changes. The league rules that teams can sell a 2.5 x 2.5 inch slot on their official jersey to place the sponsor's logo. As a result, the NBA became the first of the four major North American sports leagues to have an ad printed on their regular gameday jerseys. At present, many teams have completed the investment work, among which the Warriors signed a three-year 60 million sponsorship contract with Rakuten Group, and the Cavaliers also signed a three-year contract with Goodyear Tire, with an annual sponsorship amount of about $12 million.

Warriors-themed jerseys

In addition to the advertisements printed on the jerseys, the Spurs, Timberwolves, Cavaliers, Pistons and Trail Blazers will all change the team's logo. In addition, Nike, as a marketing expert, also changed the usual "home version", "away version", "second away version" and "retro night" jersey titles, and changed these names to more stylish "league version", "logo version", "announcement version", "city version" and "classic version". Just by sounding like the name, it's very lofty.

In addition to creating a gimmick, behind the "jersey rename", there is also a careful construction of the league brand. For example, the "league version" expresses "the achievement that most athletes pursue in their lifetime"; The "Logo Edition" represents the "heritage and identity" of each team. Compared with the easy-to-understand names of the home version and the away version, the "Union version" and "logo version" obviously add some humanistic and romantic atmosphere.

The new hoodie is a reflection of street culture

In addition to the new jerseys, Nike and the NBA also released a warm-up hooded jacket, which is the first time that a hooded design has appeared on an NBA warm-up jacket.

New hoodie

Speaking of hoodies, back then, it was just a grassroots on the street, and there was a black history that could not be looked back on———— associated with concepts such as crime, invisible people, and sneakiness. In the 70s of the 19th century, hip-hop culture flourished on the streets of New York, and graffiti artists painted on the walls of train stations and subway stations, but did not want to leave their names, so hoodies became their "standard", on the one hand, to hide from the police, and on the other hand, to disappear without a trace. In the 70s of the 20th century, skateboarding rose on the streets of California, USA, and hoodies became a favorite of skateboarders again. But like graffiti art, skateboarding is not well received by mainstream society and is labeled as childish and unprofessional.

Even if it enters hip-hop culture, it expresses uninhibited and rebellious. But in 2012, Martin, a 17-year-old black boy, was shot dead by police officer Zimmerman, which changed the hoodie's fate to a great extent. In the weeks following Martin's killing, the hoodie became a symbol of protest against unfair treatment, with citizens spontaneously marching in million-dollar hoodies, joined by members of Congress, NBA stars and musicians.

The hoodie really changed its image completely thanks to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the Silicon Valley elite who always wore a hoodie, beach pants and big slippers to swagger through the market, such a casual combination formed a stark contrast to his billions of net worth, and also made the best note for his uninhibited personality.

How much technology is hidden in a small jersey

In addition, Nike's "NikeConnect Technology" on jerseys was showcased at the event, which helps wearers personalize their experience in real-time through the integration of jerseys, smartphone devices, and the NikeConnect app. By downloading the NikeConnect app on your smartphone, tap the Nike NBA jersey subscript with your phone when the app is open, and the NikeConnect icon there has an NFC chip embedded in it, which can help the wearer get real-time information about the team and players. Tapping the jersey with your phone at any time will give the wearer real-time access to team and player information, such as pre-match entry videos, match highlights and team playlists. On the day of the race, you'll get even more exclusive experiences.

New technology

In fact, the application of NFC technology on mobile has become very common, especially as a means of payment. It is similar to the QR code interaction method that domestic users are more accustomed to, and from the perspective of "smart sportswear", implanting an NFC chip in the clothes is of course more beautiful than printing a QR code as a whole.

Stefan Holland, Vice President of Digital Revolution at Nike, talks about the wonderful future of smart jerseys through big data. "We can tell James how many fans in Beijing are calling for him. If you look at this as a new channel for communicating with your customers, you can imagine how impactful it is. "In theory, this is a real asset when it comes to digital marketing.

But then again, despite the fact that the jersey is loaded with smart chips, it sounds very cool. But this is possible even without NFC technology. After all, for fans, if they want to see NBA information, they can choose from various APPs to subscription accounts, so scanning smart jerseys has not been significantly improved in terms of user experience. Therefore, it is still unknown whether fans who buy jerseys will actively "scan the code" as Nike expected.

As for the material of the jersey, Nike also uses environmentally friendly materials, neither cotton nor nylon from time to time, the texture is very light, and the mesh shape of the back is different, showing various permutations and combinations. According to Nike, the new jersey is like a layer of skin, and there is no discomfort on the body, and it can be considered that it is just an extra layer of skin on the outside.

Players praise the new jersey

As the Thunder's "model", George praised the new jersey. "I like it very much, it's a whole new step up the game. The new jersey has been improved in many ways, in addition to the colour, the tightness, the lines, the length of the pants, etc., which I think is very interesting and the direction of the future development of the jersey, and I am looking forward to and excited to start the new season with the new jersey. ”

George praises the new jersey

"The Great" Embiid did not go to the scene as a "model", but he can't wait to show the new jersey on his social account, "I'm very excited, I really want to wear the new jersey to play." ”

Bledsoe from the Suns also liked the new jersey, "It's amazing, I think it's very smooth, flat, slim, you find, I really like those elements. In addition, Bledsoe also said excitedly, "We have the best jersey in the league." ”

Interestingly, the Warriors official also deliberately showed a photo of Durant wearing a themed version of the jersey, which is very similar to the color of Durant's jersey when he first entered the league and wore the Seattle SuperSonics.

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