New York Islanders Launch Fan Contest for 2027-28 Third Jersey

Q: How will the Islanders prevent a 'Boaty McBoatface' joke from becoming their official fan-designed jersey?

The Islanders are trying to avoid a “Boaty McBoatface” outcome by keeping the contest tightly controlled and reserving a team-led review before fans ever cast a final vote. Fans are not submitting anything-goes artwork. They must use the club’s online jersey builder, which limits designs to approved templates, historic Islanders logos, official fonts, striping patterns and a defined color menu. That still allows creativity, including nontraditional colors, but it prevents prank entries built around unauthorized images, text or completely off-brand concepts. The biggest safeguard is the selection process. After submissions close, an internal Islanders committee — with input expected from players and team leadership — will review the entries and cut them down to five finalists. Only those vetted finalists will go to a public vote in August 2026. In other words, the public is not choosing from every raw submission; it is choosing from a shortlist the team has already deemed serious and usable. There is also league-level oversight. The contest was developed with NHL intellectual property and legal review, along with Fanatics, which adds another layer of screening for branding, rights and production standards. So while the Islanders are inviting fans to shape the jersey, they are not surrendering control of the process. The structure is designed to produce a fan-created look without letting an internet joke become the official uniform.

Q: Will the winning fan design be professionally altered, or will an amateur creation truly represent the team on the ice?

The winning jersey is unlikely to go straight from a fan’s screen to the ice unchanged; it will almost certainly be professionally finalized, even if the core design remains the fan’s. The Islanders’ contest is built around a controlled design tool, not a blank canvas. Fans are choosing from pre-approved templates, striping patterns, historic logos, fonts and color options that the team already owns or has cleared for use. That means the submitted design is amateur in authorship, but professional in its building blocks. The selection process also points to oversight rather than a raw public upload becoming an NHL uniform. A committee, with player input, will narrow entries to five finalists before a fan vote. Team president Kelly Cheeseman has said the long runway to the 2027-28 debut reflects the time needed for creation, approval and production, and that the club worked with NHL intellectual property, legal departments and Fanatics to set up the project. So the most accurate reading is this: the fan’s concept should genuinely shape what appears on the ice, but the final jersey will still go through professional review, compliance checks and manufacturing refinement. It will be a fan-designed Islanders jersey, not an unvetted amateur sketch worn exactly as submitted.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 8

Wednesday's launch lets Islanders fans submit designs for the club's next third jersey, which will debut in the 2027-28 NHL season.
The winner will receive a VIP gameday experience, while submissions are funneled through a team website tool built with templates and logos from across Islanders history.
That archive includes the polarizing "Fishsticks" look, and the club is also allowing colors beyond its usual blue, orange and white palette.
The move aims to tap fan input after a widely criticized run of alternate jerseys, turning a long-running complaint into an NHL-first design experiment.