2025 NRL Jerseys, Sponsorship, Logos

[flippikat]

Think in this case it was a kind of rush to market with a short turn around scenario- also not sure if there was an IP issue with using the ARL designs?

Yeah, I think it was this more than anything else.

Also have to consider that Nike had no previous experience in making/designing rugby league jerseys, so there was an "arty" angle to the designs that was a real shock at the time.

Up to 1996, jerseys had bars, or stripes, or Vs with straight lines. They didn't have curves or prongs or 3 weird downward pointing arrowhead things on the front!

 

[blue bags]

Superleague really suffered for having pairs of teams in the same templates (just differently coloured) - Broncos & Raiders, Warriors & Panthers, Rams & Mariners, Sharks & Reds.

The two best designs - Bulldogs & Cowboys - were the only two unique ones.

The Cowboys was my favorite of the lot, the striped V was just looking like the next-big-trend in jersey design in the mid 1990s (Roosters away & Gold Coast Chargers had striped V too), and once the Cowboys ditched the Superleague jersey they had a long run of hideous designs through the 2000s-2010s.

About time the Cowboys did a modern take on their Superleague jersey - maybe a slightly scaled-back V, maybe colours flipped (navy jersey, gold V perhaps)...

I have a Raiders and a Bulldogs
Super league Jersey's

 

[Matiunz]

Yeah, I think it was this more than anything else.

Also have to consider that Nike had no previous experience in making/designing rugby league jerseys, so there was an "arty" angle to the designs that was a real shock at the time.

Up to 1996, jerseys had bars, or stripes, or Vs with straight lines. They didn't have curves or prongs or 3 weird downward pointing arrowhead things on the front!

I remember at the time Nike were hailing their ‘NASA technology’ that was some of the early moisture wicking fabrics, pretty sure they had to revert/refine them after a couple of rounds as there were complaints the fabrics became to slick and interfered with ball handling and tackling etc

 

[kdalymc]

that's all good but why the f**k was every jersey 8XL

 

[GAZF]

that's all good but why the f**k was every jersey 8XL

They expected fans to wear them with jeans from that period.

 

[sheepbender]

I'm sure the mockups were posted a while back, but Ive not seen any with players in the gear.

 

[steeden.]

Expect Star to not be on the Broncos jersey much longer, season hasn’t started and they are behind on their payments already

Brisbane Broncos give Star Entertainment sponsorship payment reprieve

The major NRL club signed the embattled casino giant on as a back-of-jersey sponsor in 2022, with a five-year deal worth about $1.5 million every season.

www.afr.com

 

[yakstorm]

Expect Star to not be on the Broncos jersey much longer, season hasn’t started and they are behind on their payments already

Brisbane Broncos give Star Entertainment sponsorship payment reprieve

The major NRL club signed the embattled casino giant on as a back-of-jersey sponsor in 2022, with a five-year deal worth about $1.5 million every season.

www.afr.com

I wonder if this is why the NSW Blues jersey has been held back? Traditionally The Star has been on the upper back and just under the badge on the Men's jersey.

 

[Wb1234]

Probably the only decent idea from super league

 

[Nuke]

Is the suggestion to go with what the ESL have now? IE: The first 17 chosen for Round 1 have numbers 1-17 in the position they were chosen, then each new player added to a team list over the season gets jersey 18, 19, 20, ect? That would be the only proper way to have players names added to NRL jerseys for marketing reasons. Otherwise, how many players would wear, say, a #3, #11, ect, in one team throughout the course of one season?

 

[Wb1234]

Is the suggestion to go with what the ESL have now? IE: The first 17 chosen for Round 1 have numbers 1-17 in the position they were chosen, then each new player added to a team list over the season gets jersey 18, 19, 20, ect? That would be the only proper way to have players names added to NRL jerseys for marketing reasons. Otherwise, how many players would wear, say, a #3, #11, ect, in one team throughout the course of one season?

Nah the numbers should remain even if a new person comes into that position

 

[Nuke]

Nah the numbers should remain even if a new person comes into that position

So, the ESL system then? Again, if player names were to be associated with numbers, it really is the better system.

 

[madball]

I get that it would become a mess if you have three #7s in a season and three different names - but - I hope NRL sticks with the current numbering.
I don't have an issue with the choose-your-number and it does open up jersey retirements as an option for legends (ie: Newcastle retiring 7 because Joey is an immortal) but I also like that the NRL doesn't do that.
I think from a marketing/merchandise perspective, you just sell the main player's names and then do made-to-order for different players, like an origin call-up.
It would be cool for the players too, especially one's making their debut to not only play in the NRL, but have their name on that jersey forever too

 

[Saxon]

Probably the only decent idea from super league

Doubt it will happen.

Well, it might happen for the US game, but I don't think it will become a regular thing. No club is going to give up the long term revenue that a sponsor's name in that space will bring.

 

[Captain Apollo]

I'm not in favour of jersey numbers being tied to individual players for their careers at the one club. Its a team sport, not an individual sport, and for mine going down that road is just more dumb assed individualisation of a team sport. This is not the USA, Australians prefer more a team ethos in my opinion.

Further, at least by keeping the numbering as reasonably consistent as it has, you know what position each player is nominally playing.

I wouldn't have a problem if they added the players name to his or her jersey. The only thing I can see as an issue is it might make jersey backs look more cluttered, and it might also cause problems for sponsor logos.

Further, at professional level, only US sports have jersey numbers retired. Look at soccer. Nowhere - England, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Italy etc retire jersey numbers at club nor national level. I mean what do we in the future want players running around with triple or quadruple digits on their jerseys? C'mon.

 

[Éamonn an Chnoic]

Individual numbers is a great idea! It would be a great way to develop player profiles and mech/advertising opportunities.

keep the classic 17 for rep football, but the club game would really benefit from it!

 

[Wb1234]

A push to have player names on the back of jerseys is unlikely to get off the ground unless the proposal receives support from all 17 NRL clubs.

Canterbury CEO Aaron Warburton is urging the NRL to consider the idea but the Bulldogs boss is facing an uphill battle to get the proposal over the line.

Warburton revealed on Monday that the Bulldogs were close to finalising their Las Vegas submission, which includes a move for the surnames of Bulldogs players on the back of jerseys if the club is one of the four teams to open the 2026 season in America.

“It’s about pushing the boundaries … It’s about us putting the Bulldogs on the map,” Warburton told SEN.

“We’re actually talking with the NRL at the moment because we think it’s the perfect moment to implement surnames on the back of jerseys.

“Something as simple as that we think will really engage the fans.

“There’s a lot of chat online, particularly with our fanbase, around why they can’t see a Burton or Kikau or Mahoney on the backs of jerseys with their number.

“The stats say they want it, and we’re really open to it. It’d be a discussion for us and all the clubs and in particular the top-of-jersey sponsor to negotiate what that would look like to make way for the surname.”

Media-link

This masthead understands the NRL is open to the idea but it is likely to face multiple hurdles including commercial issues and the lack of game-wide consensus.

It’s understood the NRL will only give the idea serious consideration if it can be made standard across the game, meaning the Bulldogs, as a stand-alone club, are unlikely to have the proposal approved by the governing body.

For it to be standard practice, clubs need to be willing to potentially forgo, or reduce the size, of its back of jersey sponsor to accommodate the player name.

While Warburton concedes game-wide support might be hard to come by, he believes there is a test case for names to be on jerseys used in showpiece events like Las Vegas, which could be used as a “guinea pig” for the idea.

Warburton said the club would work with any sponsor affected by the proposal to ensure the value of the sponsorship is not reduced by the move.

“We’ve started some of the conversations internally and the metrics behind it,” Warburton said.

“We don’t want to approach any particular sponsor with, ‘This is how we are going to diminish your brand awareness’.

“Some of the early research has suggested it will actually amplify it just in terms of the amount of interest and eyeballs on that space.

“The size of the logo, anything you do with that by reducing it will reduce the value of it.

“But we think there is a lot more to valuing a sponsor logo than just eyeballs. If you are enhancing the match day experience, it could be 10-fold exposure but just in a different way.”

While it is standard for a player’s name to appear above their number in football and basketball competitions around the world, it hasn’t been a common sight in rugby league since the late 1990s.

Origin stars have their name embellished on the back of their NSW and Queensland jerseys. Super League teams did so in 1997 and Melbourne Storm wore player names during the club’s inaugural season in 1998.

Fans can already add their own name or the name of their favourite player on the back of a jersey but at an extra cost.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/why-bulldogs-ceo-aaron-warburtons-bid-for-nrl-player-jersey-names-could-be-a-false-dawn/news-story/c600c2e207dc00fbc8bf5b2f425c862d?amp

 

[Wb1234]

If one club wants to do it for regular season games what business is it of other clubs

It’s a great way to increase jersey sales and increase fans engagement with the sport

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Why wouldn’t the clubs just utilise that space where the sponsor is across the shoulders with a Velcro swatch. Then each player has a Velcro patch that goes on. If they’re 10 this week, 17 for a month, then 12… club has its jerseys numbered and they switch around the name patches?

 

[The Mad Hatter]

If one club wants to do it for regular season games what business is it of other clubs

It’s a great way to increase jersey sales and increase fans engagement with the sport

The biggest issue is, most folks like 1-17 on the players jerseys. Names aren’t a problem but folks don’t wanna see # 8 on the wing or #45 at halfback.