You can tell a lot about a sports fan by the clothes they wear — the passion, the energy and the expense to blend in or stand out with their tribe. I’ve wondered if championship teams and their fans have anything in common on the color wheel. Never looked at it until now, and sure enough there’s some interesting bits of information to be learned. This is not a scientific study, but a simple observation about championship teams, specifically Superbowl winners. Some minor ground rules.
Every team has a primary team color and an accent color. I chose to focus solely on the major team color — not the accent color and not their white jersey – every team wears white. I’m more interested in the overarching color that defines the brand. I asked my self these questions;
- What’s the color that defines the team overall?
- If I were to look into a stadium of fans, what’s the the dominant color I’d see in the stands?
The chart below is based on that color, the single dominant brand color, not the color the team wore in the Superbowl. The Superbowl is only one game, and I’m more interested in understanding the color promoted by the team and fans throughout the year.
The colors align.
Dark colors are generally a good thing — bright colors not so much. You can group some fairly distinct eras of color.
The early years – 1967-1974
I never realized until now that the dominant tribe color was green. But if you think back to the late 60’s and early 70’s — green really was the flavor of the day in everything from carpet to counter tops. Even though the green these teams use are all very different from the average avocado colored refrigerator.
The dark years – 1975-1981
Well yes, I suppose those were some dark years of high inflation, energy shortages and hostages. I never associated the tenor of the times with the color black, but the colors do align with the mood of the country at that time.
The red years – 1982-1992
There was lots of red in the 80’s — however not very similar to the reds of the NFL. The 80’s were taken over by bright, vibrant hues, that almost glowed. It’s still interesting to see how the two “red” teams won over the same period of time.
The blue years