DENVER — The Denver Broncos on Monday teased new uniforms for the 2024-25 season, with the team’s president promising a “full redesign” that will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
The new uniforms will feature the same logo and colors, according to Broncos president Damani Leech.
Beyond that, the team’s announcement on social media gave little away about the new look. The new uniforms come after the Broncos surveyed thousands of fans and solicited feedback from a small group of players on the design, Leech said.
Fans can expect a familiar look, and maybe even a nod to the mountains to Denver's west.
“Wanting to evolve and be new and different, but also being respectful of our history and traditions,” he said at the NFL’s spring meetings in Orlando. “[Also] understanding our surroundings from a geographic standpoint, there will be nods to that. I think people will be really excited about it.”
But what else might fans be able to look forward to with the first major redesign in more than two decades? We asked sports uniform and branding expert Todd Radom, who has written multiple books on the subject, for some insight on what direction the team should go.
He said the answer is clear.
“I think it would be marketing malpractice if they did not lean heavily into orange,” Radom said. “Orange is the color of the moment for the Broncos.”
Orange, of course, became synonymous with the Broncos in their early years. The vaunted “Orange Crush” defense was one of the NFL’s best in the 1970s.
Radom said, however, that the team retaining its current logo is a sign they’re not going full retro. Instead, expect minor tweaks.
“They're not throwing all the way back to the old 1960s look,” he said. “I think the numbers, the uniform details, the striping, the trim – that's going to be probably pretty contemporary, but built for this moment and beyond.”
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While he says it’s one of his favorites, Radom says orange uniforms can be “polarizing.”
“There is a familiar sweet spot to be had,” he said, adding that too light of an orange hue can look like the 1970s Tampa Bay Buccaneers creamsicle look and too dark of an orange hue can appear red.
“It's very expressive. And certainly in the case of the Broncos, it ties the 1962 team, all the way back to the maturation of the franchise, to those Super Bowl wins [in the 1990s].”
The Broncos’ current look is more or less the same one they’ve had since 1997. Radom, who’s also given us incredible insight on the uniform history for both the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets, said it’s time for a refresh.
“It's been quite some time and their uniforms are very of their moment, meaning 1990s,” he said. “The Broncos have been primarily navy blue. This is a very 1990s construct. Teams were getting much tougher, much darker following the Raiders at that time being sort of the template for that kind of thing.”
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In 2016, the Broncos unveiled an all-orange “color rush” alternate uniform with a navy-blue helmet bearing the iconic “D” logo. Last year, they used a brighter orange “color rush” alternate with a white helmet the team said was an homage to snow-capped mountain peaks.
