National Basketball Association - Utah Jazz
Utah Jazz Unveil New Colors, Uniforms
Jazz's new look will be blue, basic
 After
25-plus years of distinctive-looking uniforms with bold
logos on the chest, the Utah Jazz have gone to, in the
word of Jarron Collins, a "basic" style with just block
lettering for the 2004-05 season.
Basic, but also apparently popular.
When the Jazz unveiled their new outfits of mainly
navy and light blue "Utah" and "Jazz" blue, according
to team president Dennis Haslam on Thursday evening
near the beginning of the NBA Draft party in the Delta
Center, most comments were favorable.
"I think they're beautiful; I really do," said
Collins, who modeled the away uniform that now reads
"Utah" on the front instead of having the team logo. The
away shorts say Jazz on the sides, and vice versa for
the home uniforms, with Jazz on the jersey and Utah on
the shorts. "Bear," the Jazz mascot, modeled the home
uniform.
For this season, abiding by league rules, the Jazz
will have no third alternate uniform, such as the
black-and-copper outfits they've worn for years. Maybe
next year there will be another, said Haslam.
 He
said research has shown that the uniform color that
young people buy most right now is a light blue,
followed by navy. Those colors dominate the updated
logo, which has purple mountains, light blue Jazz
lettering with dark blue encircling the perimeter.
"I think people are going to love the colors," he
said, calling it "a younger look."
And apparently, Haslam is right.
"I love this stuff. I like the new colors, the
style," said Travis Howland, a young man from Murray who
rushed to buy some new merchandise at a booth on the
Delta Center floor.
Colette Campbell, of Riverton, finds the new colors
"awesomer" than the old look. "I like purple," she said.
"I like blue because of the (BYU) Cougars." She saw some
similarity in Utah's new uniform and those worn by BYU.
Aleta Parker, of Sandy, who was rushing back to her
Delta Center seat with a handful of new items, just
likes the Jazz and wanted to be updated. She'll miss the
old uniforms with the mountains on the front but said,
"Everyone likes changes." When she first heard Utah was
switching, she feared the uniforms would look too
similar to the new ones unveiled recently by Memphis,
but she was satisfied they were different. The new
uniforms do, however, somewhat resemble those now worn
by the Dallas Mavericks.
"They look great. They look like champion colors,"
said Tyson Price, of Sandy, hopeful that the youthful
Jazz team could carry its new colors into the NBA
Finals.
 Which
is just what the Jazz did the last time Utah changed
logos and colors, from the original Mardi Gras green,
yellow and purple and Jazz note it brought with it from
New Orleans to the stylized lettering and copper, light
blue and purple of the recent uniforms. Utah went to the
finals the next two seasons.
Haslam was cognizant of that "It's a sign of good
things to come" and said the team actually had wanted
to change last season to coincide with the very new and
youthful look of its personnel, but it takes six to nine
months to get colors and designs approved by the league
and manufacturer, so this season became the target time.
Fanzz stores president and Jazz senior v.p. Robert Hyde
and senior v.p. of sales and marketing Jay Francis were
at the forefront of picking the designs.
When the league shifted to Reebok last season, many
teams began changing, partly at the request of the NBA
and Reebok, which wanted its own look.
"It's appropriate now with the new team, new style,
new colors," said Haslam, whose team still had three
first-round draft picks to play with and expected to get
a lot younger at the time he said it.
People always speculate that new looks are designed
simply to sell more merchandise. Haslam said that's not
necessarily right because there will be a lot of
obsolete merchandise on the Jazz's hands now.
Jazz Unveil New Look
Salt Lake City, UT The Utah Jazz Draft Day Party
brought more than new players to the team, the
organization showcased to local fans at the Delta Center
their new team colors and updated logo. Jazz Center
Jarron Collins and the Jazz Bear modeled the new
uniforms during the unveiling of the new colors of navy,
light blue, purple and silver. In addition to the new
colors, the team revealed their newly redesigned
website. The Jazz home uniform is white with navy trim
with Utah in block letters across the front in navy with
a light blue shadow. The road uniform is navy with light
blue trim with Jazz in block letters across the front in
light blue with a silver shadow. The uniforms are
manufactured by Reebok and employ the Reebok Play Dry
Technology, a unique technology that directs the
players' sweat away from their bodies. The design allows
for maximum movement and is lightweight for optimum
performance.
With the team heading in a new direction and at the
request of the league and Reebok, the Jazz decided early
last season to update their colors and logo, said Chief
Marketing Officer, Jay Francis. The new look of the
Jazz is vibrant. We think the colors and the revised
logo bring an exciting new look and feel to the team
that will energize our fans.
In 1996, the Jazz decided to part ways with the Jazz
note logo and the old Mardi Gras colors of Purple, Green
and Yellow and update their logo to reflect the local
market. Prior to 1996, the Jazz had not changed their
logo since joining the National Basketball Association
in 1974.
Fanzz, the official team store of the Utah Jazz, is
the exclusive outlet for new Jazz merchandise through
Saturday, June 26. A wide variety of apparel is
available including replica jerseys, T-shirts, ball caps
and other items. Authentic team home and away jerseys
along with the complete line of Jazz merchandise will be
made available in October 2004.
These articles were taken from
www.deseretnews.com and
www.nba.com/jazz/. All rights
reserved.
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