[Promotional Idea] A jersey ON our backs contest?

[FanIn80]

So, I've been reading the Jersey Ideas thread (http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=117010), and there are actually some pretty good ones in there. In addition, I've never really been fond of the current jerseys. I mean, I don't hate them... but is "I don't hate them" really the intended effect?

Then I started thinking about some of the various things teams do to reward fan loyalty, and I coupled that with the thinking that this year (after the lockout), they would probably want to do something even more extravagant as a reward.

What about a "jersey ON our backs" promotion?

Each year, the team gives away their jerseys at the end of one of the final home games. They call it "jersey off our backs" night (common knowledge, I know). What if, this year, there was a contest to design a new jersey and the reward was the team would wear that jersey during that game, and give it away (and/or a regular jersey, if desired) at the end of the night?

Or, even better, what if the contest was to actually design the new look of the Flames going forward. Make it a serious contest, with fan-voting, coupled with judging, etc. The end result being that the fans get to design the new permanent jerseys, and the winner gets some kind of reward - whether the team buys the design, or agrees to a royalty, or a free pair of season tickets, etc etc.

Anyway, I think this would be pretty cool, and I think we'd get a lot of positive PR around the sports world as well (if done right). I also feel safe in suggesting this, because there really ARE some pretty nice designs in that thread (http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=117010). We have some people on this site with enough connections to at least get this idea heard by the team management, and it seems like it could be a pretty fun thing to do. At the very least, it's a decent way of actually making sure some of the designs are actually seen by the club.

Thoughts?

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Sounds hokey and minor/bush league. Most fan designs are god awful as well. Factor in the cost of production of jerseys and distribution I highly doubt that this would ever have a chance of taking off, it is a pretty big undertaking... look at the challenges associated with the heritage classic and the jersey debacles that ensued.

[BurningSteel]

Idea? Good.

Chance of success? There will be another lockout before this ever gets off the ground,

[browna]

Problem is, with all the hoops to do with the NHL, any jersey/major branding changes aren't approved until early in the calender year, if changes are to do be done in September.

Basically, its about a year long process from when the NHL gets the final design from the team, to going through the approval process at the league offices, along with the jersey manufactuer to make sure it can be done etc etc, to it hitting the ice.

The league has to make sure they can clear out inventory of old jerseys before any new design comes out, among other logistics, even when an design has been approved internally.

Edit: I guess you could get the winning designer to put them on the back at the beginning of the season, but that takes a lot out of your idea. There wouldn't be able to be a vote, even a year or year and a half out, because if some aspect of the fan voted top design can't be manufactured, it doesn't fly. I believe the design process goes through a couple prototypes, with sometimes very subtle changes from a design aspect or manufacturing aspect, to get to a final product.

Plus, with fans knowing for sure that there is a new jersey in a year, the likelihood of fans buying the current jersey until that new design comes out, is greatly diminished.

[GGG]

For a third Jersey or fourth jersey design I like the idea

Road jersey
Home jersey
Retro Jersey
Fan Jersey

And then if the fan jersey is popular enough then you could replace the current jersey without the inventory problems outlined above.

I would organize the so that judges would trim it down to all quality entries. Then fan voting to select the top 10, then another round to select the top 5. Then judges to pick the winner

[bc-chris]

i really like GGG's idea

i remember looking at fans' concept jerseys for lots of teams when the new rbk style of jerseys were coming out, and yes, some looked awful, but there was also a lot of really awesome looking designs.

[FanIn80]

Exactly. Sure, a lot of the designs are horrible - that's actually part of the fun - but there are some designs that truly are really, really good. These designs deserve something more than just a post on a message board. My underlying goal is really just to get some of them at least considered by the club.

Also, I would argue that if the the fans had been consulted at all, the heritage jerseys would not have looked the way they did. The Habs wore their '89 jerseys, why the heck didn't we? If they had gone back to their old Maroons jerseys, then sure, work the Cowboys into the whole thing. They didn't though, and the Calgary/Montreal rivalry of the mid-late 80's was awesome. They showed up with that in mind, and I have no idea why we didn't. Had the fans been involved in that, I suspect we would have seen our '89 jerseys that day.

[Redliner]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the horse head logo a result of a fan-designed logo competition? I've scoured the internet and can't find any reference to it but I'm pretty sure it was.

[dissentowner]

The current jerseys are fine.

[FanIn80]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the horse head logo a result of a fan-designed logo competition? I've scoured the internet and can't find any reference to it but I'm pretty sure it was.

It was, but it was also back in the day when we relied on people drawing something with their hands and mailing it in, and the final selection being done by the same people that gave us the pedestal jerseys in the first place.

I don't think we'd get the horse head if that happened today with the ability to include fan voting and opinions, etc. Not to mention how much easier it is to flesh out a design on your computer without having to know how to draw, meaning there would actually be a lot more submissions to choose from.

[Puppet Guy]

the Milwaukee Brewers just did something like this. The uniform's going to be used in two spring training games only.

http://mlb.mlb.com/cutfour/#contentId=41202232

[darthma]

Imagine if the Canucks did this and fans across the NHL got together to jihad the voting process - ending up with a diving logo for their fan-voted uniform. That would be a dream come true... (and also why this would never work).