Maple Leafs Release Innovative Jersey with Justin Bieber

Blue & White Flipping to Black & Yellow

Canadian music icon Justin Bieber is back at it again with another collaboration with a massive organization. First, it was Tim Hortons with the release of Bieber-inspired Timbits: TimBiebs. Now, the Toronto Maple Leafs will wear a Bieber-designed alternative jersey against the New Jersey Devils next week.

This release is just packed with collaborations. We’ve got the Leafs, Bieber, Bieber’s brand Drew House, Adidas, and the Leaf’s annual Next Gen game… WOW!

The jersey as you can see is black with some blue finishing on the base and sleeves with a modern-looking Toronto logo with a blue tie-dye feel to it within the leaf. The numbers on the back are all black and you can even subtly see the Toronto skyline in the background.

But this isn’t new for teams. New jerseys are released all the time, however, this jersey is reversible, the very first reversible jersey in the NHL. The reversed side has gone for quite a controversial design: the Leaf's biggest rivals’ colourway, the yellow and black of the Boston Bruins. With yellow stripes on the sleeves and one of the bases of the jersey, the collaborative jersey features the normal leaf logo but only in outline, with the yellow Drew House logo inside of it, showcasing Bieber’s fashion brand right in the middle.

Overall, this jersey looks clean, but from a point of view of fans, not so much. Some fans are not going to be happy wearing the colours of the Bruins. Vinay Menon from the Toronto Star even said “For better or worse - and it’s been worse since 1967 - the Leafs are blue and white. With his “Next Gen” jerseys, Bieber is screwing with our team colours for sport and profit.”. Not exactly the impression this collaboration was looking to inspire.

However, this collaboration is pretty awesome. Having a Canadian icon and fashion brand collaborate with a professional hockey team hasn’t really been seen before. We’ve seen Jordan collab with PSG and other iconic brands partner with NBA teams, but never really in the NHL.

This has the potential to open up the NHL and hockey as a whole to become an internationally loved sport and hopefully create a similar impact the Jordan collab had with PSG’s massive increase in fans.

Published: March 25, 2022 - Issue 31 of The Sport Marketeer