When the Jets unveiled their new uniforms last Thursday night, it created a firestorm of opinions…
Some fans said “the jerseys are awesome.”
“What were the Jets thinking,” was a response from others.
There were those who felt that “they’re okay but they could have been better.”
“I like the green and white but not the black” was also a popular comment.
That’s actually how I feel along with the fact that I love the new helmets, but I’m just one person.
Whatever your opinion is of the Jets’ new look along with the rebranded colors of “Gotham Green”, “Spotlight White”, and “Stealth Black”, the Jets accomplished exactly what they set out to do when they announced months ago that they were going to have new uniforms.
And then the next day, another genius and well thought of plan was executed perfectly by the Jets. They shipped new jerseys to a plethora of talk show hosts and other celebrities with the objective being to have them either talk about them, wear them on the air, or share photos of them with the jerseys on social media.
For the Jets, it was mission accomplished.
WFAN’s “Boomer and Carton” wore the jerseys during their show which also airs on CBS Sports Network. Rick DiPietro, Chris Canty and Dave Rothenberg on ESPN Radio wore the jerseys as well and shared photos on social media. ESPN “Get Up” host and huge Jets fan Mike Greenberg was sent a jersey and he showed it off on television that morning.
The Jets also sent jerseys to other New York area sports stars like Nets point guard D’Angelo Russell, Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard, and Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips. Celebrities like Ralph Macchio were sent the new jersey as well and this whole concept of shipping jerseys to famous people seems to have caused another issue.
It seems as if there’s this feeling that the Jets are insulting and disrespecting their fans by sending free jerseys to celebrities and not sending freebies to loyal fans. That’s just a ridiculous take to have. This is a business and when a team rebrands, the objective is to see as many jerseys as possible. Sending free jerseys to celebrities is a great way to get free publicity and advertising.
If it’s cool for a famous person to wear the jersey, it may convince a fan who is on the fence about the new look or perhaps a casual sports fan or even a non sports fan to buy the jersey. If you’re a fan of the team and you like the jersey, you’re going to go out and buy it. It’s that simple. You don’t get one for free. You’re going right to the Jets website or a sporting goods store with your credit card and you’re paying for it.
What are the Jets supposed to do? Send out 80,000 free jerseys to make sure Met Life Stadium is filled with them on gamedays?
That’s utter nonsense. The Jets are in business to, not only hopefully start winning more games, but also to make money.
I honestly don’t care how many celebrities they sent it to for free, although selfishly I would have definitely enjoyed receiving one, would have been very gracious about it, and would have pounded my chest about it to the world. But it’s okay that I didn’t, whether it’s Pete the Jets fan or Peter the sports reporter.
I’m not insulted. But I’ll say this and it has nothing to do with celebrities putting their stamp of approval on it. I’m going to get the new jerseys for my family.
But not until I see one available in a 4XL for me!!!!
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