After the failed Utah Jazz rebrand in 2022 went up in bright yellow flames, the organization swiftly decided to pivot once more, unveiling a new rebrand today. This time, the responses appear to be much more favorable.
Ryan Smith and the Jazz recognized the fans’ affinity for purple as the team’s main color. Hence, they hurried the release of throwback purple mountain uniforms alongside the black, white, and yellow rebrand two years ago. They also introduced a purple jersey featuring mountains for last season’s city edition uniform. Despite their efforts, promoting the slogan “Purple Is Back” alongside the unpopular highlighter yellow jerseys couldn’t salvage the disastrous rebrand.
This time around, the Jazz have fully embraced purple, mountains, and the essence of Utah. According to Ben Barnes, the Jazz’ Senior Brand Director, “It’s really been a philosophy that’s been a part of who we are… We realized that this was a really good time to bring that back into the forefront. It’s informed our culture since the team moved here. It’s rooted in our homes, our unparalleled love for the sport, the rigor of playing with elevation, and in the confidence of the community on the rise.” The rebrand establishes “Mountain Purple” as the team’s new primary color, with black and sky blue as secondary colors.
While Nike typically mandates teams to maintain their two main uniforms unchanged for at least five years, the Jazz appear to have been granted an exception to that rule. However, they will need to compromise by retaining their white and black uniforms as the primaries for one more season.
After this transition year, the team will be fully into the purple rebrand in 2025-26, showcasing the white association uniform, the purple icon uniform, the black statement edition uniform, and a city edition uniform that won’t be announced until a later date.
The Jazz have offered comprehensive insights into the rebranding on their website, encompassing team colors, logos, and beyond. The incorporation of sky blue as a secondary color serves as a delightful nod to various eras of Utah Jazz basketball. Sky blue featured prominently in the original mountain uniforms of Jazz legends in the 90s, as well as in the uniforms of players like Deron Williams and Andrei Kirilenko in the 2000s. This new rebrand amalgamates influences from different periods, including the 90s mountain uniforms, the gradient city edition uniforms, and Ryan Smith’s enduring affinity for minimalism.
There’s still much to see before we’ll know how well this rebrand lands, including new courts, merch, the unrevealed city edition uniform, and just how these look in-game. However, compared to the 2022 rebrand, this looks like a home run.
