The National Hockey League (NHL) and Fanatics officially debuted the Fanatics Authentic Pro NHL on-ice uniforms, the first Fanatics-branded and designed NHL player uniforms that will be worn during the upcoming 2024-25 season. Today’s unveiling is meant to build anticipation for the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft on June 28-29 at Sphere in Las Vegas, where the NHL’s next generation of players will receive the official Fanatics jersey of their new team after their name is called on stage.
Fanatics’ design and development process, in collaboration with the NHL, also included active participation by a number of critical stakeholders, including NHL players, the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), and executives and locker room personnel from every NHL Club, resulting in a high-quality jersey engineered for the modern hockey player.
While the jersey’s base construction remains similar to the current jersey standard, new features of the Fanatics Authentic Pro uniform, which is made in Canada with domestic and imported materials, include:
- An additional layer of fabric inside the lower sleeve enhances uniform durability and is intended to reduce material wear from sustained friction against the boards. This enhancement was the direct result of feedback from NHL players and equipment managers.
- New shoulder fabrics replacing the debossed pattern fabric used on the shoulders of the prior NHL jersey.
- A new NHL Shield execution on the front neck of the jersey, which includes a special hologram finish.
- Fanatics branding embroidered on the back neck of jerseys.
Over the past several months, Fanatics worked with the NHL and NHLPA to visit all 32 clubs, where players, including Connor McDavid, Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Brady Tkachuk and many more, had the opportunity to see, feel and try on the new uniforms. Throughout these visits, the Fanatics Authentic Pro on-ice uniforms received positive feedback. The players were glad to see that Fanatics kept the base construction similar to what they were comfortable playing in and also that some slight design and performance adjustments have been made to the uniform.
Fanatics Takes Over From Adidas
In March 2023, the NHL announced that Fanatics, its longtime e-commerce and fan apparel partner, will become its new outfitter of on-ice uniforms and authentic jerseys beginning in 2024-25.
Related: THW’s 2024 NHL Draft Guide
Over the years, Fanatics has incrementally broadened its relationship with the NHL. It runs retail stores at a few NHL arenas and onsite at events like the NHL All-Star Game and Winter Classic. It operates the NHL’s flagship retail store in Manhattan, which opened in 2021.
Fanatics took over from Adidas, who decided to step away from making hockey jerseys and did not extend its deal with the NHL beyond the 2023-24 season.