More than 80,000 designs later, fans choose NHL's first fan-designed jersey to be worn next season
Photo credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Islanders fans picked the Navy Lighthouse design as the team's new third jersey, making NHL history as the first fan-designed sweater.
The New York Islanders have their new third jersey, and this time the fans get all the credit.
The team announced Thursday that the Navy Lighthouse concept won its inaugural third jersey design contest, beating out seven other finalists in a bracket style vote that fans decided round by round.
The submission numbers alone tell you how much this resonated on Long Island, with more than 80,000 designs coming in from fans before the field got narrowed down.
A fan movement decades in the making
The navy jersey features a lighthouse crest with orange and teal accents running down the sleeves and along the bottom stripe.
It is a nod to a symbol that has followed this franchise through some rocky chapters, including the old fisherman era jerseys and the ill fated Lighthouse Project that once promised to reshape the Nassau Coliseum grounds.
That project never got off the ground, but the lighthouse itself never really left the fan base's heart, and now it is coming back in a much brighter light.
Team president of business operations Kelly Cheeseman credited the passion of Isles Nation for making the contest a success, and he is not wrong.
This marks the first time any NHL franchise has let its fans build the foundation of an official on ice sweater from scratch.
What comes next for the jersey
The design still has some steps to go before it hits the ice.
The Islanders will work with Fanatics to turn the winning digital concept into a full NHL ready uniform, and the team says it plans to pull ideas from other fan submissions to keep refining the look.
The whole process will take a while too, since the jersey is not expected to debut at UBS Arena until the 2027-28 season.
The person who submitted the winning design will get a signed version of the jersey and tickets to its first game.
No word yet on retail pricing or a release date, so fans will have to sit tight a little longer.
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