Pac-10 Sports Style on the Playing Field

A handful of teams in the Pac-10 conference are making changes- style changes.

Washington State University and Arizona State University have made headlines over the past few days with the unveiling of new rebranded uniforms. University of Oregon has always been popular for styling flashy, new uniforms throughout their season.

Why such a push to show off new uniforms?

It deals with the process of rebranding a school’s athletic department. This in turn can help apparel and merchandizing sales, garner in more athletic recruits, and boost morale and fan spirit.

Bill Moos, athletic director for WSU, was fed up with inconsistencies in colors and fonts. For example the women’s basketball team wore a different shade of color than the men’s basketball team.

His solution?

Moos turned to Nike, a company he had collaborated with before when he was athletic director at Oregon, and had them come up with a consistent model for WSU uniforms. Now, there is one official shade of color and a set of fonts being used for all uniforms.

Furthermore, Moos hosted an unveiling party in Spokane that was open to all WSU fans. This was not only a great PR move, but also a way to bolster fan morale and create excitement for the upcoming football season.

Oregon, with its close ties to Nike founder Phil Knight, is constantly surprising the nation with flashy new styles. The football team’s six different jerseys, five helmets, and five sets of pants separate them from other teams.  

ASU is now following in Oregon’s tracks with a rebranding process of their own. Historically, ASU has always featured their mascot Sparky, (a goofy-looking devil) on their helmet. With their new uniforms, only a bright yellow pitchfork appears on a black helmet, pointing out toward the opposing players. Additionally, ASU unveiled their all black uniforms.

The result is a pretty intimating look that definitely rivals the constantly-changing look of Oregon and new WSU uniforms.

In a world where colleges are always competing for that extra edge, catchy new uniforms that help make the brand identity of a school is definitely an important aspect of sports.

Will the expenses for rebranding uniforms pay off for WSU or ASU?

Only time will tell. But one thing is for sure: the Pac-10 will sure look good while competing for more attention.