A few weeks after coming up short to the Texas Rangers in the World Series, the Arizona Diamondbacks unveiled a new look on Nov. 17. The club announced four new uniform combinations, centering on the colors of teal, red, black and off-white.
The move came after increased fan pressure to return to the team’s original purple uniforms, which had been featured as throwbacks during the 2023 season. In the October edition of The Roundup, I was one of those fans, when I called for a shift away from the previous “Sedona Red” theme.
And while the purple that many of us wanted did not come back, I’m excited by the openness to change that the Diamondbacks management showed. The front office showed a willingness to listen to fans, and to take their input into account.
The uniforms are clearly upgrades from their predecessors. My favorite new feature is the larger role of the teal, which makes the logos and wording stand out. It also brings a uniqueness to the jerseys that had previously been missing.
Ms. Abbey Withey agreed with me. Ms. Withey is an art teacher at Brophy, but she also has a history designing logos and merchandise for businesses. When I showed her pictures of the new Diamondbacks uniforms, she was also a fan of the greater use of the teal. “I think it’s really cool and I don’t think we’ve owned it enough, as a city anyway, so I’m excited,” Ms. Withey said.
It still feels like the Diamondbacks left a lot on the table, however. Sure, the greater prominence of the teal improves the distinctiveness of the jerseys, but overall the uniforms look too similar to the previous ones. The team had the opportunity to completely revitalize their brand with fresh colors and designs, but instead they tweaked their current ones and missed out on significant potential.
A fan poll conducted by AZ Snake Pit, which covers the Diamondbacks for SB Nation, had a majority of fans pick the “Good” or “Meh” options, below the “Great” and above the “Poor” and “Terrible” options. Clearly, other Diamondbacks fans share my opinion of the new designs.
Ultimately, any change brings energy to the team. “I think that novelty is good for brands. So in some ways it doesn’t really matter what the new ones look like because I think that change is good for the organization,” said Ms. Withey. So while there are pluses and minuses to the new uniforms, Diamondbacks fans should be happy that the organization is making changes and responding to their requests.
