After three seasons of “Color Rush,” the monochromatic uniforms won’t be a Thursday Night Football staple anymore, according to Fox Sports executive Bill Wanger.
Color Rush on Thursday nights is no more, according to Fox
A Fox executive says the network won’t lean on “gimmicks” like Color Rush to get fans to tune in on Thursdays.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
At NAB Show — a convention for the media, entertainment and technology industry — Wanger said Fox plans to go in a different direction for Thursday Night Football and steer away from “gimmicks” to get fans to watch. Color Rush was apparently one of those gimmicks.
Fox reached an agreement with the NFL in January to broadcast Thursday night games for the next five years — excluding Thanksgiving day games.
Color Rush was introduced during the 2015 season when Nike specially designed alternate uniforms for eight teams in four games: The Panthers, Titans, Cowboys, Rams, Bills, Jaguars, Jets, and Buccaneers.
Some really liked the new uniform twist, but plenty of fans didn’t. Among those who were unhappy were fans with red/green color blindness, who complained about a matchup between the Jets and Bills being difficult to watch.
Nike and the NFL worked out most of the kinks and rolled out alternate uniforms for all 32 teams in 2016. Some earned positive reviews, others were terrible — looking at you, Jaguars. But those days are over now, according to Fox.
But this doesn’t mean Color Rush alternates are gone, altogether. Nike is still the uniform provider of the NFL, the alternate uniforms already exist, and they will probably just be moved to another night of the week or used sporadically on Sundays. It just won’t be exclusive to Thursday nights.
The real challenge for Fox, though, will be if they can keep Thursday Night Football games from continuing to be poopfests. That remains to be seen.
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