New Look for Islanders by 2014?
Tuesday · Apr 30 · 2013 | 12:47 AM PDT
There was a fascinating report in the New York Post last week. Apparently, the New York Islanders are looking into the possibility of a complete rebrand to accompany their move to Brooklyn in a couple years.
Artist conceptsThe changes would include a brand new color scheme — and probably a new logo, though they aren't that far along in the process it seems.
The sports marketing brain trust at Barclays Center is weighing a change in the team’s royal blue, orange and white team colors, sources said.
Barclays Center, which will take over the business operations of the team when it moves from Nassau County as soon as 2014, is currently holding separate focus groups of Islanders fans and Brooklynites, sources added.
A member of one group told the Riverhead News-Review earlier this month he was asked to rate a new team jersey without any orange, one that looked like the old Brooklyn Dodgers uniform — blue and white.
The focus groups will be done in about 45 days — and then team owner Charles Wang will be updated, a source said.
You may recall that when the move to Brooklyn was announced last October, Wang said the branding of the club would not be changing. Guess this is one of those "never say never" things.
Also worth noting is that they previously announced the move to take place in time for the 2015-16 season. Now it's sounding like that could be moved up a year to 2014-15.
Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark is leaning toward a recommendation that the team, which has the worst attendance in the National Hockey League, undergo a complete rebranding, the source said.
Yormark is encouraged by his efforts at rebranding of the Nets upon landing in Brooklyn from Newark. Team colors were changed to black and white. Attendance rose from a league-worst 13,961 to 17,187 per game, and jerseys, which hadn’t cracked the top 10 in popularity, finished No. 4 this past season.
Yormark ... said, “The colors black and white are the new badge of honor in Brooklyn. The question is, can we weave that into the [Islanders] color scheme, and create a connection to the fans here in Brooklyn?”
Of course the article points out that the organization isn't dying to grab Nets fans so much as keep their own existing Long Island fans.
What does all of this mean? Could those concept artists envisioning the Isles in black and white really have been on to something? What do you think?
Reader Comments (37)
They never learn do they?
The fact that they would even consider changing this fantastic pair of uniforms the Islanders have is absolutely ridiculous. If anything, make a new Brooklyn-based third jersey and get rid of that disaster of a third jersey they wear right now. If they are this stupid, since they will be in Brooklyn, why don't they make Super Mario jerseys. I ain't talking about Lemieux either. If they want a change, make a pair of Mario jerseys and have a Luigi one as a third. If they want to change a classic look cause they are going to Brooklyn, they might as well look as ridiculous as the very idea itself.
Oh God No! This will undoubtably be a travesty if they do go ahead with it. They have one of the best looking sets of jerseys (excluding their hideous black alternate jersey of course) in the league, definately top 10 best in the league IMO. Why would they want to piss off their fans??? I am sure the majority of the fans will not like this idea. IMO they should just leave the boring ass bland, and colourless logos and uniforms to the LA Kings and Brooklyn Nets. I absolutely do not and have never liked any of the Brooklyn Nets infused NY Islanders logo and jersey concepts. I would also be highly against a name change to the Brooklyn Islanders. I can only hope Islanders fans will voice their displeasure vehemently in public with regards to this rebranding news.
As a long time Islanders fan and hater of both ANYTHING but their original look, and Black for Black's Sake...PLEASE NO. DON'T DO THIS. NEVER. PLEASEEEEEEE DON'T.
Yes the Nets jerseys jumped in sales this year, but was it from having bland old Black and White as their colors? Or was it because BROOKLYN was plastered across everything instead of NEW JERSEY? That makes a big difference to people, I'd say. Whereas "New York" and "Brooklyn" are equally popular/recognizable.
Most of us thought black for black's sake died out by now, but us Isles fans know that our ridiculous current 3rd jersey did it anyway. Didn't boost jersey sales for us there; you know what does? Having Tavares and other nationally recognizable players on your team.
RG3 didn't lead the NFL in jersey sales last year because people likes the Redskins colors. They bought it because of the player. Let's hope these "focus groups" realize this.
As an Isles fan (admittedly) for over 30 years, I've gone away from the team in the past due to poor management (yet I still own and proudly wear one of the Fishermen jerseys). If they pull this one off and basically become the "NHL Nets," I'm officially done. The Nets can get away with the black and white "hip-hop" look that Jay-Z came up with (I personally think of it as ghetto), but remember, it's hockey and it's a different market of clientele. I don't think Islander fans would accept changing the color palette over 40+ years, so I'm not too worried.
pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee leave the jersey as is. although the islanders have not been great in the last 20 years they still have one of the richest history's in all of professional sports. there is something special about the old school team who still has the old school uniform like the ny yankees, la lakers, edmonton oilers. to change the jersey would be a mockery to the franchise. if this new jersey is to replace our alternate 3rd jersey then i am all for it because that is the biggest joke. whoever is in charge of the islanders uniform decision in the past 20 years needs a slap upside the head for the decisions he or she has made. from our current 3rd jersey to the fisherman jersey has been an atrocity. keep the uniform classic and simple and let us have a connection to the dynasty we once had. we are new york islanders, not brooklyn islanders.
no no no no no please no
They finally get it right again and now some NBA people that don't appreciate hockey history want to ruin that. Ticks me off. Leave the Islanders alone! (But get rid of that awful alternate jersey)
This sounds like a massive mistake. The Islanders have a great set of uniforms right now - why change them again, especially with their past track record of god-awful designs?
Better not change anything... I'll be pissed. Add a new third, throw a Bklyn Bridge/ Lighthouse shoulder patch and call it a day. They're not moving across the country, they're still on Long Island. Don't fix what aint broke.
Wonderful. Now every time I see the islanders I'll be tempted to readjust the color balance on my monitor.
I just don't like the idea. I like change...but I was reading some posts on an Islanders Blog on SB Nation and their fans are not too happy either. I understand they want to lure new folks into the arena, but nothing will do that like winning games. Doesn't matter what your team looks like. I think changing their colors is a HUGE slap in the face to the guys that built these teams and the great Islander tradition.
the Stanley Cup champs already own black and white. back off.
stupid idea. look at LA they are black and white now.
leave it as they are the finanly have good retro looking jerseys. change isnt always needed,
I hope they do. I feel that there is great potential for the Islanders to have a great new look, and it would be a wasted opportunity to stick with what they have now, instead of going for something fresh, new, and deeply 'Brooklyn'. I'm not a big fan of the black and white look (I was bummed when the LA Kings took the look on again), but if that's what Brooklyn is, that should be the colour scheme.
I personally LOVE the Islanders uniforms. I think it's a shame when teams with a history and classic look decide to rebrand. it rarely works out. Look at all the teams that are rebranding back to how they looked in the 70's and 80's. The New York Islanders have a great color scheme and beautiful uniforms as they are right now. Leave them alone!
No, absolutely not. I love the current Isle's identity. The one they have now dons a nice color scheme (pretty much the same as the Oilers, but whatever) that they should keep until the end of time (albeit the bright blue to navy blue change from the mid 90's-2007, which wasn't that much, and I liked it), or at least until they move, which I suppose will never happen.
Not only do I not want them to ditch the blue, orange and white, I don't want them to meet black and white. I think one monochrome team identity per league is enough. NBA has the Nets, NFL has the raiders, MLB has the Black Sox. Let the Kings, if they, sadly, keep their white and black forever, be the only team in the league that sports those colors, or lack thereof. The Islanders have one of the best identities in the NHL, in my opinion, and they should keep it for as long as they can, and maybe a modernization or two, not anything like the fisherman, but anything but black and white.
I think Backhand Shelf sums it up nicely.
http://blogs.thescore.com/nhl/2013/04/30/no/
No thanks, the Islanders have the best jerseys in the league, wish they would stop messing it up
how to completely alienate your current fanbase in one easy lesson.....black and white??? just say no!!!
As a religious Lightning fan, I am the first to say that change is not always for the better. They really need to leave the Islanders alone. That is a classic look for a classic team. Brooklyn is still in New York. They don't need to be rebranded just because they moved arenas.
The only team that needs black is Tampa. God almighty, BRING BACK THE BLACK!! BRING BACK OUR VICTORY STRIPES!!!
Black and white. As dull as it gets. A badge of honor? Really? The Nets are the blandest team I've seen and I was so disappointed. But I thought, ok, it's Jay-Z. He's why they look so terrible, he's a rapper that doesn't understand the first thing about jerseys. Now they want to take a classic NHL team with a tremendous history that finally got its great look back and they want to ruin it to match a terrible looking basketball team? These people are beyond stupid. How about Brett Yorkman tattoos his children's entire bodies in that fresh black and white look? If it made him money, he'd do it in a heartbeat.
NONONONO! islanders have unique look going back to the days of mike bossy and the cups they won, they finally have jerseys that look amazing! guaranteed this study or whatever this is, is being run by people that don't know hockey or the history behind it
As a Pens fan and a Islanders fan (grandfather grew up on on the Island, Mike Bossy was my Hockey GOD before Lemieux). PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not change the uniforms. Islanders mgmt finally got it right with the retro look, please don't undo it!
Article I found last week,, love the NY Mets style logo combined with the NY of the Original Islanders logo
BTW ,, Rangers fan I am
http://www.bkmag.com/BrooklynAbridged/archives/2012/10/24/welcome-to-brooklyn-the-new-york-islanders-find-a-new-home
They tried it... and failed miserably... and tried a bunch of uniforms with the classic logo. And they ended up right back where they started, and everyone was was happy again. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. It is an iconic logo and an iconic jersey. STOP CHANGING STUFF.
(...and this is coming from a Rangers fan!)
I think I'm in the minority here who likes the Nets' rebranding (I think that it's a simple, solid - yet at the same time unique and ridiculously pervasive), but the Islanders shouldn't go anywhere close to the black-and-white direction. A blue-white "Brooklyn" third (a la the Dodgers, maybe with an "Islanders" script in that style) may look a little too collegiate but I think it could work, changing the logo (to account for all of Long Island rather than Nassau and Suffolk Counties) is a must, and maybe a "Brooklyn New York" roundel with the bridge or the lighthouse (or perhaps something a bit more unique, like the Williamsburg Savings Bank tower, but a few blocks away from Barclays) would be cool. But that's it - nothing too drastic.
DO NOT WANT!!!!! Do they not realize that they have one of the sharpest uniform sets in the league?
http://nooooooooooooooo.com/
It's ONE thing to re-brand the Nets when they went from being "New Jersey" to "Brooklyn" in their local identity. They became Brooklyn's first team since the Dodgers left for LA. The black and white works for them and it's been a successful rebrand.
However, the Islanders' royal blue and orange has to be left ALONE. Period. By the way, the Islanders are "New York" and so are the Mets, who play in Flushing, Queens. Royal blue, white, and orange are also the colours of New York City's flag. The Islanders need to re-grow their New York City fan base since the Dynasty Years of the '80s and preserve their longtime Long Island fan base.
And why not re-introduce navy blue instead of black for a third?
Last time I remember this team plays for the state of New York. How does thay change things when they move over to Brooklyn? I think everyone could imagine the hate of a jersey change from their current classic Blue and orange. It'll remove the team's identity from years past up until now. I sure as hell hope they do not change a thing.
Speaking as a British person who lived and worked in America for much of the 1990s, this sort of rebranding is one thing that just amazes me about the approach to the history of a team (and its colours) in the US. There are many positive things within major professional sports in the US, such as the draft system which brings the opportunity for all teams to be competitive, but the 'franchise' approach does seem to encourage these very strange ideas. Although the Islanders have only been in existence for just over 40 years, they have a significant history, most importantly their four consecutive Cup wins. As others have said, the recent redesign of their jerseys to reflect these more glorious times seems to have been universally welcomed (with the exception of the awful black 3rd jersey) so it does seem bizarre in the extreme that the ownership would even consider the introduction of a new logo and new team colours, especially so shortly after these 'successful' changes. Again, as a Brit brought up on the fact that your team has its colours and that these do not change, the notion that supporters would welcome such a major turnaround would not be one that would find favour in Britain. The only such instance in Britain was the decision by the new (Malaysian) owners of Cardiff City (known as the 'Bluebirds') to change their colours from blue to red(!) was met with very large protests and a boycotting of club merchandise.
It seems form the views already expressed that this 'proposed' rebranding is wholly unpopular and I would hope that the 'focus groups' would quickly come to the same conclusion.
They'd be stupid to discard the Islanders brand. It's classic and beautiful. Getting rid of it to make way for a black and white jersey would be very sad. I can guarentee a B&W jersey would not have the same longevity to last for as long as what the Islanders look has. Like I said, it's classic.
When you win four Stanley Cups, jettisoning your tried and true uni colors is utterly ridiculous and a slap in the face to your fans.
I honestly love the Islanders ugly colors and awkward looking logo. The only problem for me is the two colored i.
Rebranding the Islanders is a crazy move. The only merit to the argument is that they lead the league in lowest attendance.
There's aren't too many teams that I think should rebrand, and of the NHL teams, the Islanders don't make the list.
I think the Isles Should use a San Diego Mariners / New Jersey Knights jersey as A Jersey Change or a Alternate .