After MLB players complained this season about the introduction of Fanatics' Nike-branded uniforms, the company assured there will be “no hockey version of Jerseygate,” according to Mark Lazerus of THE ATHLETIC. Lazerus wrote both the league and the NHLPA “wanted to be sure” and Fanatics “needed to be sure.” The NHL jerseys, which were unveiled yesterday, had been “completed long before the baseball nightmare” and had been “taken to all 32 NHL locker rooms to be seen and felt and approved by all 32 head equipment managers and hundreds of players.” After baseball, though, all parties “knew they had to do it all over again" to "assuage any fears and prevent a similar catastrophe in hockey.” The league and Fanatics started by “making a presentation” at the GM meetings in Florida in mid-March. Prototypes of the jerseys were “sent out to all 32 team presidents.” NHL Head of Consumer Products Rich Villani “crisscrossed the continent with Fanatics to make sure as many people saw the jerseys as possible.” NHL VP/Marketing & Chief Branding Officer Brian Jennings said, “Fanatics was great, they met the moment, they mobilized.” An NHLPA source said that the players “are ‘pleased’” that Fanatics made player input a priority on the new jerseys and “are ‘very confident’ in how they’ll turn out.” They added, “Michael Rubin and his team have done a fantastic job throughout the process.” With the league’s blessing, Fanatics decided to “move up the jersey reveal to draft week,” three months ahead of schedule, to “stem any doomsaying from fans and pundits who saw what happened with baseball” (THE ATHLETIC, 6/26).
