With the NFL Draft complete and most free agents signed, many fans will be shopping for jerseys of the latest players to join their favorite teams.
They won't come cheap.
Nike is the new apparel maker for NFL jerseys and T-shirts, taking over for Reebok. Nike is charging more for jerseys and T-shirts than their predecessor did.
Replica Nike men's jerseys are retailing for $100, which is roughly $15 more than what Reebok charged last year.
Replica player T-shirts are selling for $32.95, or $5-$10 more than last year depending on the retailer.
Authentic jerseys, termed Elite by Nike, are $350 on multiple official team websites.
The more expensive price tag is one of several changes coming with NFL apparel and licensing.
When Reebok held its licensing apparel agreement with the NFL, it made baseball caps too. In this contractual go-round, New Era will create the on-field hats worn by players. The first NFL New Era hats released are retailing for $34.95.
But the new jerseys have gotten the most attention. The home jerseys for all 32 NFL teams were shown April 3 at a New York City fashion show.
Turns out most teams did not make major changes with their uniforms. But some distinct changes are on the horizon with the new apparel provider.
Among them:
Design changes
What's happening: Just minor tweaks, for the most part. The Seahawks were the only NFL team to make major changes to their home jerseys with sleek silver lettering and neon green patches on the sleeves.
Quotable: "Some teams will lean more toward the traditions. But you can see here you can put innovation into the uniform without changing the look, necessarily about it."
- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell
Different feel
What's happening: The Nike jerseys are lighter than the ones worn previously, a request made by the players. They also stretch and move with the players and have improved ventilation.
Quotable: "They don't want anything weighing them down. They want to be faster." - Todd Van Horne, Nike's creative director for football and baseball
Traditional uniforms staying the same
What's happening: Many teams, including the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Redskins and Pittsburgh Steelers kept their traditional home uniform looks despite the switchover.
Nike is known for exotic uniform schemes in college: Oregon colors range from green to silver to black depending on the week and Virginia Tech has worn multiple maroon, orange and black combinations in recent years.
Quotable: "I like the fact that there are teams that are pretty much staying more in line with where they've been and there's other teams that are starting to push a little bit more." - Nike CEO and President Mark Parker
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
