What's actually changing with the new Fanatics NHL on-ice jerseys?

I've been given a look at what teams and players will be using next season, here's what we know so far.

The NHL and Fanatics revealed the new jerseys for the 2024-25 season on Wednesday morning.

It is the first year of a 10-season deal after the NHL and Adidas split.

I have seen the jerseys myself. Before Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, a representative from Fanatics showed me the jerseys for about half a dozen teams, including the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers.

Aside from the Fanatics logo on the back, replacing the Adidas, it would be hard for someone to tell it was a new product if you’ slipped the jersey on and walked the concourse with it during the Stanley Cup Final.

Here is a video from Fanatics put together to promote it that they forwarded to me.

Here are some of the key notes.

• The uniforms are still being made at SP Apparel, a Quebec-based company that has made the NHL on-ice uniforms for 49 years. The logo and branding may have changed, but the jerseys themselves have been made in the same factory for close to five decades, that’s not changing.

• There are two notable changes with the jersey itself. Fanatics ditched the dimpled design on the shoulders that Adidas had been using, and has reinforced the elbow, something that came from equipment managers who noted that jerseys were wearing out quicker because of “board burn.”

• When it comes to consumer-facing products, Fanatics is going to sell actual authentic jerseys to fans outside of the game-worn products. This wasn’t the case during the Adidas deal, this jersey will be called the Authentic Pro, which will be the top of the line jersey available for fans. These will typically be made to order and will be pricy.

• Fanatics is also taking over practice jersey production and will be ditching screen printed logos for hand stitched logos.

• The Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings are unveiling their new jerseys later today, they worked with Fanatics on the re-brand and creating the jersey. Those Ducks and Kings re-brands have been in the work for close to two years.

I’ve spoken to people from both Fanatics and the NHL about the product, but also spoken to some players that have been asked to test the jersey. So far the jersey has been well received by all parties.

One of the reason Fanatics is getting out front of this, and why they showed people like me the jersey before it came out, is because of the debacle and backlash that came from the Major League Baseball jerseys.

The MLB jerseys were a disaster, and Fanatics has taken the blame as the jersey producer. But as Fanatics representatives have pointed out, the design of the jersey is a Nike product, and Fanatics is simply filling a contract.

When this happened with MLB, those in the NHL offices started to worry about some blowback the league would receive.

I spoke with Brian Jennings, the NHL senior executive vice president of Marketing and Chief Branding, last week about this.

“When the news broke (with baseball) I knew instinctively that this was going to come our way,” Jennings said. “So I picked up the phone and I called Fanatics, and we talked about how we are going to get some shrapnel here with the blowback.”

Jennings said there was initial worry for the NHL, but the league worked with Fanatics to better understand how the baseball situation wasn’t related nor would really impact the NHL on-ice product.

The fact Fanatics had already committed to partnering with SP Apparel, effectively keeping the it the same base jersey as the prior edition, helped ease some worries in NHL central offices in New York and Toronto.

From a Fanatics perspective, this season is more about sticking the landing and not re-inventing the jersey. There are some new branding opportunities with the Ducks, Kings, and of course the Utah Hockey Club, but none of those jersey changes were pushed for by the apparel company.

Fanatics first real test as a jersey designer will likely come with the Winter Classic and the Four Nations Faceoff jerseys.

Of course, you want too see the jerseys. Here are some of the promotional materials I’ve been given.

And here are some examples of the jerseys sent to me.