Outraged Raptors fans want to start a petition to get better jersey designs
Toronto Raptors fans got a first leaked glimpse at the team's 2022-23 City Edition jersey at the end of October, and many fans are taking to social media to call out a perceived lack of creativity in the design.
The backlash has been swift since leaked photos began to spread via social media on October 30, and the jerseys have been met with everything from memes to outright hatred for their simple look and resemblance to previous years' designs.
The raptors ignoring the fans bases demand for a purple, red and black jersey unfortunately continues. Instead the most mediocre of all OVO jerseys https://t.co/cfK10sXwe3
— Jeremy Mulder (@jeremymulder3) October 30, 2022
The team's subreddit — the second most-viewed team subreddit after that of the Los Angeles Lakers — has been a particularly lively hotbed of criticism, littered with memes at the expense of the new jersey design.
Practice jerseys look better than these. Sadly.
— Teresita, RN 🇨🇦 (@RaptorsGirl99) October 30, 2022
The leaked photo shows that the team has once again gone with OVO colours for its City Edition, to the disappointment of fans who were hoping for a change of pace.
the raptors unit seeing ovo colors in their jerseys for the 451th time pic.twitter.com/6oQtR39GqR https://t.co/vllWzuqQDb
— im hard like steve hardvey (@slavefgc) November 1, 2022
Many want the team to get back to its roots with the classic expansion-era purple dinosaur look.
how hard is it for the raptors to bring back the original iconic purple jerseys, come onnn
— maddie (@maddiecholette) October 30, 2022
It's clearly a very important topic for some, including one fan who is now calling for a petition to get better jersey designs.
These @Raptors jerseys were fresh. @Tmac_213 🔥 🦖 pic.twitter.com/NkDrEy8n7P
— Blake Hoagland (@BlakeHoagland) November 2, 2022
The fan calling for the petition on Reddit says, "The Raptors have had arguably the best jerseys ever made but In recent years the designs continue to get worse and worse. I feel like we need to make it well known more that were not happy with these jersey designs and want the same quality as before."
A few memes have taken specific aim at the team's oft-used chevron detailing, something a vocal group of fans seem to want to be put to bed for good.
ong, why do we keep getting worse every year. i swear our ones from 2016-2019 were miles better than our home and away ones now
— +++ (@FUKEMNWEBALL) October 30, 2022
If this all sounds familiar, Raptors fans have a bit of a reputation for reacting negatively to new jersey designs. It was just one year ago when a similar wave of criticism followed the reveal of the NBA's 2021-22 Nike NBA City Edition team uniforms.
