How Colts, Nike worked together to create 2026…

As a part of the NFL and Nike’s Rivalries Uniform Program, the Colts announced a new uniform for the 2026 season Tuesday. Each year, two divisions are announced as part of the program, and the 2026 participants come from the AFC South and NFC North.

The uniform design, however, begins far before the announcement. The kickoff call for the project was May 7, 2024. What came after was meeting after meeting to deliver the perfect uniform for both players and fans.

“It truly takes a strong partnership from Nike, the league and the team,” Nike design director for NFL uniforms Ryan Airhart said. “We definitely don’t claim to be  ‘Colts franchise experts,’ so we really rely on that partnership with the Colts to get the ball off for the entire process.”

When initially engaging in conversations surrounding the Rivalry uniform, Airhart sends out a list of questions to each team in order to encourage team input.

“When they’re able to develop strong points of view on the stories they want to tell, or the overall approach whether it’s paying homage to the past or designing for the future and if there’s color spaces they want to explore,” Airhart said of the collaboration. “That really gives them the opportunity to have those internals before we really start to engage about what the uniform design is going to look like.”

When designing the uniforms, Colts Owner & Chief Brand Officer Kalen Jackson and the Colts wanted to make sure they kept some of that historic tradition and stayed true to the identity of teams going all the way back to the organization’s time in Baltimore.

“Some of the elements that I would say are more of a nod, when you’re looking at our closet of jerseys, would be the font: the numbers and on the nameplate,” Jackson said.

One other consistency between uniforms: the horseshoe. However, jerseys in the past have yet to don the iconic logo. The Rivalry jerseys will be the first to have the horseshoe, with one on each sleeve.

“We had to realize and look at pictures like, ‘Oh, yeah we’ve never had it on there,’ so it was cool to have it on there,” Jackson said. “It’s meant to really replicate a real horseshoe with the way we did the metallic look.”

The uniform goes far beyond the design and look. Working with the equipment staff and players, the Colts and Nike had to ensure that every piece of it made for ample performance on the field. With different needs for different positions, the makeup of the uniform has to be just right.

“The material is always the first thing that comes up,” Jackson said. “They’re so good in our equipment room. They sometimes don’t even need to put it on, and they’ll feel it and say, ‘Absolutely not,’ or ‘I’m really concerned about that and I’m not sure it’s going to work.'”

The Colts haven’t introduced a new uniform since 2023 when the “Indiana Nights” jerseys were unveiled. With the Rivalry uniforms, the organization wanted to push the envelope on previous designs.

“It’s not that (other uniforms) aren’t great,” Jackson said. “I think we really are a traditional team and we have a traditional look. We really like to honor that tradition, and I think maybe we stayed a little bit too safe sometimes.”

Debuting in Lucas Oil Stadium Week 3 against the Houston Texans, the Rivalry uniform represents an expansion of the Colts’ brand, something Jackson is always looking to grow while also maintaining the history her family built.

“We feel so honored to step into our dad’s shoes. He’s built such an incredible legacy and built so much into our incredible logo with the horseshoe,” Jackson said of her late father Jim Irsay. “It’s the same goal as the jersey, the same goal as the brand: keeping that tradition and keeping that incredible legacy, but building upon it and continuing to be innovative, unique, and listen to our fans. We hope we continue to do that in all elements, but I think this is a really great representation of that.”