New York Islanders Open Fan Contest to Design 2027-28 Third Jersey

The New York Islanders announced on Wednesday a contest that lets fans design the team's new third jersey for the 2027-28 NHL season, ESPN reported. The team said this marks the first time an NHL franchise has asked its fanbase to create an official sweater. The contest opened Wednesday and drew nearly 12,000 entries within five hours.

Fans may submit designs until July 24 through a creator tool on the Islanders website that supplies historic logos, official fonts, color options and a notes section for details. An Islanders committee of executives, players and equipment managers will choose five finalists after the deadline. A public fan vote in early August will select the winner.

The designer of the winning entry receives an autographed jersey and tickets to the game in which the team first wears it. The template used in the tool was approved by the NHL and Fanatics. Kelly Cheeseman, president of business operations for the Islanders and UBS Arena, led the effort.

Cheeseman ran a similar fan-design campaign about a decade ago while an executive with the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer. "Islanders fans are among the most passionate in all of sports, and their emotional investment is the heartbeat of this franchise," Cheeseman said.

"With this contest, we are breaking down traditional boundaries and inviting Isles Nation directly into the design room to do something that has never been done before in our league.

The Islanders last used a third jersey from 2018 to 2024.