SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The University of Houston is going ahead with plans to introduce an alternate blue uniform, despite pushback from the NFL. This decision comes after the NFL’s merchandising and licensing division issued a cease-and-desist letter, warning UH that its Oilers-themed uniforms infringed on the NFL’s intellectual property rights.
Chris Pezman, UH’s athletic director, told the Houston Chronicle at the Big 12’s spring meetings that the school is confident in its legal position. “This isn’t a stretch,” Pezman said. “It’s a layup. We have a very defensible case.”
UH first wore the blue uniforms during its football season opener against UTSA, and they were also used in the women’s soccer and golf seasons. After receiving the cease-and-desist letter, UH consulted legal counsel and decided to continue with its alternate uniform plan. In mid-April, the university notified the NFL of its intentions to proceed. “We’re doing it,” Pezman stated. “We looked into everything and concluded that we have a solid case.”
As of Tuesday, UH hadn’t heard back from the NFL, which declined to comment on the matter on Wednesday. “We’re giving them two or three weeks to respond,” Pezman said. “We’ll see if they reply.”
UH hasn’t finalized when the uniforms will roll out, but one idea is to debut them at home games against in-state rivals. Pezman is considering whether to wait a year to give the new uniforms a proper launch across various sports. “It’s May already,” he noted. “Do we wait and roll it out the right way, with a big reveal?”
UH has been working with an external design firm for several months on the new blue uniform, known as “Houston blue.” The football version features a shade of blue slightly different from the iconic Columbia blue made famous by the Houston Oilers in the late 1970s. It also incorporates similar striping on the helmets and pants, with a script “Houston” on the front and on both sides of the helmet. However, the oil derrick logo from the Oilers is not used.
In an October 13 letter, the NFL accused UH of trying to “free ride” on the popularity of the NFL and the Tennessee Titans (the team that inherited the Oilers’ legacy). Pezman said that UH made some changes to the stripes on the uniform and pointed out other schools that use similar color schemes, like Mississippi and Louisiana Tech.
“The stripes were the only thing they could really hold against us,” he said.
UH previously shared a history with the Oilers, having been co-tenants at the Astrodome from 1965 to the mid-1990s. The school argued that the blue uniforms were a nod to Houston’s football history and also reflected the city’s connection to the light blue color, used by the Houston Police Department.
According to Pezman, the debut of the uniforms during UH’s inaugural Big 12 season “just felt right” as a way to strengthen the university’s connection to the city. He also mentioned that the NFL had previously expressed disapproval of UH’s uniform design in a February 2023 letter but had not provided formal consent to the use of the blue uniforms or any similar designs.
Following the cease-and-desist letter, UH initially responded that it had “no current plans to use that uniform for merchandising” but would reach out if those plans changed. However, the response to the blue uniforms was overwhelmingly positive, leading UH to decide to proceed. “I knew it would be popular,” Pezman said. “I just didn’t know it would be this popular. We tapped into something, and we’ve got to follow it through. This isn’t just about us; it’s about the city.”
The appeal of the Houston blue uniform with “Houston” emblazoned on it is that it attracts a broader audience, not just UH fans. “When you just use UH branding, you limit your market,” Pezman said. “With the Houston script, it has a much broader reach. It allows us to tap into a larger market, like those Texas-themed T-shirts you find at truck stops. This Houston blue with the red and white script can be anyone’s.”
