Throwback Jersey Definition

In the world of professional and collegiate sports, teams often update their uniforms and logos to keep players looking fresh and in line with current tastes and trends. From time to time, teams return to one of their older styles of uniform, known as a "throwback jersey," for a special event.

  1. Identification

    • A throwback jersey is a shirt from a uniform that is either identical to---or inspired by---a previous jersey design for a sports team.

    Function

    • Sports teams sometimes wear throwback jerseys to commemorate the anniversary of a big victory, the death of a retired famous player from the team, or as a part of a league-wide event.

    Types of Sports

    • In the U.S., throwback jerseys are found for National Football League (NFL) teams, National Hockey League (NHL) teams, Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA) and many collegiate football and basketball teams.

    Features

    • Often, sports teams license copies of the throwback jerseys to be sold to fans around the time the team begins wearing the shirts. In some cases, throwback jerseys sold to fans bear the name of a famous player who played during the era the jersey design was originally worn.

    Availability

    • Official throwback jersey replicas are available at stadiums, from sporting goods stores, chain and department stores who have licenses to carry officially licensed sports apparel and from online retailers.