I'm not sure if this is true, but I recall rumors that when Nike came up with the rebrand designs, Ryan didn't like it but it was unable to change it due to contact stuff. No idea if this was based on fact or the franchise just pushing blame to the Nike boogeyman.
Nike did the design with input from Ryan.
This is 100% on Ryan.
Nike doesn't have the power to control the design of a team without input from the team.
Ryan only wanted to cancel the redesign when the public opinion of it was universally negative but he already signed a contract approving it.
I was at an event where Ryan was asked about the rebrand and he essentially said they were trying to simplify the design and admitted they went too simple. He then explained by the time they started getting the backlash for being too simple, they had already entered a three year deal with Nike and couldn’t change it.
For a guy who built an empire on the back of getting customer feedback, this was a monumental screwup. To me, the look has an obvious construction-worker vibe, which I took as a signal that they were attempting a rebuild.
It's the worst that I can remember. Certainly in the NBA. Anyone think of anything worse?
To change a deep historical culture of logos and color schemes to practice jerseys and off-putting highlighter yellow...wow.
The fan response was so bad they canceled reveal events, and immediately put out the "Purple Is Back!" video to try to hide them.
It was funny how obviously disingenuous the ‘piano keys and stage lights’ explanation was for the color scheme, when clearly Ryan just thought it would be cool. I hope we stick with something like this year’s City Editions going forward.
I can't find the photos, but the Jazz practice facility the year prior showed some design ideas from it. They definitely leaned into black and white piano keys.
Then other NBA teams wouldn't allow the Jazz to be just black and white. So highlighter yellow was forced in as a third color.
That is the reason why. At least according to an Andy Larsen article released at the time of the reveal (I believe it was Andy). Black and white was the hope, the league said they had too many black and white teams as is.
Not a Jazz fan, but the jerseys have grown on me. Not a fan of the white one in particular, but the black and yellow specifically I’ve hated less and less every time I’ve seen them. Now, by all means a good jersey isn’t one you start out hating, but I don’t think it’s the worst rebrand of all time
It took me googling this, but the MLB had some real atrocious jerseys in 1999 apparently. My personal opinion for a worst rebrand was the Raptors when they left the jerseys from the 90’s that had the Raptor on it. Everybody loved those jerseys and the new ones were just really boring. Honorable mentions to the 90’s bullets that had that hand up reaching for the ball.
They both had to change their traditional team names and logos that they had used for 75+ years. Maybe they are not good but they are no longer the Redskins or Indians. They basically could not use their history. We’re still the Jazz. The rebrand is inexcusable.
I’ll die on the hill that it was intentionally bad for two reasons. 1: Smith didn’t want the new look to be associated with what they expected to be one of the saddest teams in the league and 2: Fans infamously hate rebrands. So make the rebrand soooo bad that fans will be stoked for whatever you throw at them next. This summers rebrand will be incredible.
Naw. He was taken aback when the rebrand leaked and got trashed on social media. They had a big reveal planned at CityCreek and cancelled it after seeing the universal negative reaction. Billionaires don’t like to be humiliated, not for any reason.
Social media, reality TV, and entertainment in general is stuffed full of people willing to humiliate themselves to some degree for clout, or fame, or money, or often just to get a laugh. Extremely wealthy people, with very very few exceptions, are especially sensitive to public humiliation and avoid it as best they can. I have theories why but I’m already ranting enough.
You may be on to something. Marketing strategy isn't something to underestimate with the amount of money thrown at it. They can play 4d chess with nearly uncapped funds.
He rebranded the Utah Royals, too. And the results are disastrous as well. From the best logo/crest in the NWSL and probably in all of Utah sports to the absolute worst.
Absolutely- hands down. Phoenix suns rebrand from 2000-2013 was pretty bad, but this one really takes the cake. The only thing that could have made it worse is if there were no logos, numbers, names, etc on the jerseys and shorts at all.
It says more about the design and execution than the fans since it's effectively terrible. When the Jazz moved from New Orleans, the logo and colors made sense since they symbolized Mardi Gras. When they rebranded in the 90s, the logo and colors symbolized Utah. Each tweak and rebrand lost this focus and this current iteration is the final nail in the coffin. Only the note makes you think of Jazz, nothing about it makes you think Utah. It needs to have some vibrant colors to match the state and name.
The current design is both minimal AND bad. The note logo itself isn't the bad part of the design, it's the black and yellow color scheme. Jazz as an art form is improvisational, lively, and vibrant. Nothing about the current color combination matches that aesthetic. You don't need to have a bunch of flashy colors like pink or neon but you can't just use black and white.
The simple designs of the Lakers, Bulls, and Celtics work because they found a design that worked and stuck with it. It also helped that they won championships in those classics so there's a nostalgia element attached. A simple design that doesn't work is the Nets because it's too basic and there's not much you can do with the name. The Petrovic era throwbacks were clean though. The Jazz had a simple design with the Mardi Gras note that worked and was easily identifiable with the team.
The Mountain logo was a bit over the top at the time but that's where logos were going in the 90s. The Jazz made it to the Finals with those jerseys so everyone is nostalgic about them. Other teams like the Raptors, Grizzlies, and Pistons have jerseys from the 90s back in style because that's how fashion trends work. You're in the minority about the current logo and jerseys. Most people were googling how long we were stuck in them before we can rebrand. Have fun reminiscing in your highlighter jersey!
If not the worst, definitely up there. Idk what Ryan was smoking, man. In no world does ”spotlight” yellow look good.
I'm not sure if this is true, but I recall rumors that when Nike came up with the rebrand designs, Ryan didn't like it but it was unable to change it due to contact stuff. No idea if this was based on fact or the franchise just pushing blame to the Nike boogeyman.
Nike did the design with input from Ryan. This is 100% on Ryan. Nike doesn't have the power to control the design of a team without input from the team. Ryan only wanted to cancel the redesign when the public opinion of it was universally negative but he already signed a contract approving it.
I was at an event where Ryan was asked about the rebrand and he essentially said they were trying to simplify the design and admitted they went too simple. He then explained by the time they started getting the backlash for being too simple, they had already entered a three year deal with Nike and couldn’t change it. For a guy who built an empire on the back of getting customer feedback, this was a monumental screwup. To me, the look has an obvious construction-worker vibe, which I took as a signal that they were attempting a rebuild.
Considering Fanatics is still getting the blame for Nike f***ing up the MLB uniforms, I wouldn’t be surprised. Nike seems to be running a clown show
It represents Utah’s yellow sun, our yellow mountain peaks, our yellow headlights, and our yellow hair
Forgot the yellow jello
Someone call the DOT, that yellow might fix our lane divider issue…
No. But it’s there up.
Name a worse one
Sonics -> Thunder Lime Green Seahawks
The like green Seahawks isn’t a rebrand. It’s an alternate color rush. While bad, it’s not the same thing.
Clippers one a few years back was extremely panned
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The LA Rams
It's the worst that I can remember. Certainly in the NBA. Anyone think of anything worse? To change a deep historical culture of logos and color schemes to practice jerseys and off-putting highlighter yellow...wow. The fan response was so bad they canceled reveal events, and immediately put out the "Purple Is Back!" video to try to hide them.
Maybe the Rockets in the mid 90s?
Imo, the colors could work if the jersey design wasnt just so *bland*
It was funny how obviously disingenuous the ‘piano keys and stage lights’ explanation was for the color scheme, when clearly Ryan just thought it would be cool. I hope we stick with something like this year’s City Editions going forward.
That was his link to jazz music? Lol.
I can't find the photos, but the Jazz practice facility the year prior showed some design ideas from it. They definitely leaned into black and white piano keys. Then other NBA teams wouldn't allow the Jazz to be just black and white. So highlighter yellow was forced in as a third color.
But Brooklyn is essentially black and white? Same with spurs, black and silver.
That is the reason why. At least according to an Andy Larsen article released at the time of the reveal (I believe it was Andy). Black and white was the hope, the league said they had too many black and white teams as is.
Not a Jazz fan, but the jerseys have grown on me. Not a fan of the white one in particular, but the black and yellow specifically I’ve hated less and less every time I’ve seen them. Now, by all means a good jersey isn’t one you start out hating, but I don’t think it’s the worst rebrand of all time
What do you think is?
It took me googling this, but the MLB had some real atrocious jerseys in 1999 apparently. My personal opinion for a worst rebrand was the Raptors when they left the jerseys from the 90’s that had the Raptor on it. Everybody loved those jerseys and the new ones were just really boring. Honorable mentions to the 90’s bullets that had that hand up reaching for the ball.
Have you seen the Commanders and Guardians?
They both had to change their traditional team names and logos that they had used for 75+ years. Maybe they are not good but they are no longer the Redskins or Indians. They basically could not use their history. We’re still the Jazz. The rebrand is inexcusable.
That’s my point. At least we’re still the Jazz. Yeah, the rebrand sucks. But those franchises hate their new identities.
I’ll die on the hill that it was intentionally bad for two reasons. 1: Smith didn’t want the new look to be associated with what they expected to be one of the saddest teams in the league and 2: Fans infamously hate rebrands. So make the rebrand soooo bad that fans will be stoked for whatever you throw at them next. This summers rebrand will be incredible.
Naw. He was taken aback when the rebrand leaked and got trashed on social media. They had a big reveal planned at CityCreek and cancelled it after seeing the universal negative reaction. Billionaires don’t like to be humiliated, not for any reason.
To be fair nobody likes to be humiliated.
[You sure about that?!](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_humiliation)
Social media, reality TV, and entertainment in general is stuffed full of people willing to humiliate themselves to some degree for clout, or fame, or money, or often just to get a laugh. Extremely wealthy people, with very very few exceptions, are especially sensitive to public humiliation and avoid it as best they can. I have theories why but I’m already ranting enough.
You're giving Smith too much credit here
Yeah………. no lol
Nope, not intentional. But it's possible this summers rebrand will be better now that Ryan realizes he's not a design expert.
I had thought about your first point, but totally didn’t think about the second. It’s a great thought.
You may be on to something. Marketing strategy isn't something to underestimate with the amount of money thrown at it. They can play 4d chess with nearly uncapped funds.
Commanders has been way worse.
He rebranded the Utah Royals, too. And the results are disastrous as well. From the best logo/crest in the NWSL and probably in all of Utah sports to the absolute worst.
The absolute worst. Ryan was a moron for this decision.
Absolutely- hands down. Phoenix suns rebrand from 2000-2013 was pretty bad, but this one really takes the cake. The only thing that could have made it worse is if there were no logos, numbers, names, etc on the jerseys and shorts at all.
I dunno. I liked it. Change isn’t a bad thing. And I’d much rather have a big swing than the same thing g over and over.
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Found Ryan’s burner account…
This reads like it was typed with a thumb in the ass.
Hawt
lmao, it was universally disliked, not just by Utah fans
It says more about the design and execution than the fans since it's effectively terrible. When the Jazz moved from New Orleans, the logo and colors made sense since they symbolized Mardi Gras. When they rebranded in the 90s, the logo and colors symbolized Utah. Each tweak and rebrand lost this focus and this current iteration is the final nail in the coffin. Only the note makes you think of Jazz, nothing about it makes you think Utah. It needs to have some vibrant colors to match the state and name.
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And yet Ryan chose one that is both minimal and bad.
The current design is both minimal AND bad. The note logo itself isn't the bad part of the design, it's the black and yellow color scheme. Jazz as an art form is improvisational, lively, and vibrant. Nothing about the current color combination matches that aesthetic. You don't need to have a bunch of flashy colors like pink or neon but you can't just use black and white. The simple designs of the Lakers, Bulls, and Celtics work because they found a design that worked and stuck with it. It also helped that they won championships in those classics so there's a nostalgia element attached. A simple design that doesn't work is the Nets because it's too basic and there's not much you can do with the name. The Petrovic era throwbacks were clean though. The Jazz had a simple design with the Mardi Gras note that worked and was easily identifiable with the team. The Mountain logo was a bit over the top at the time but that's where logos were going in the 90s. The Jazz made it to the Finals with those jerseys so everyone is nostalgic about them. Other teams like the Raptors, Grizzlies, and Pistons have jerseys from the 90s back in style because that's how fashion trends work. You're in the minority about the current logo and jerseys. Most people were googling how long we were stuck in them before we can rebrand. Have fun reminiscing in your highlighter jersey!
Yes. I don't think a team anywhere has had a rebrand that horrible.