Reminder of High School Football, Basketball Jersey Number Changes for 2024-25

DOWNERS GROVE, ILLINOIS (January 25, 2023) – The National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) wants to remind its members and everyone in the sporting goods industry that new football and basketball jersey number requirements from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) take effect with the 2024-25 school year.

As you prepare to work with high schools on orders for new basketball and football jerseys, it is important they are aware of the upcoming requirements where the entire body of the jersey number (continuous horizontal bars and vertical strokes) shall be a single solid color that clearly contrasts with the body color of the jersey.

Bob Colgate, the NFHS director of sports and sports medicine and staff liaison to the Football Rules Committee, said a lot of football jersey designs he has recently received from NFHS member state associations do not have the solid portion of the number clearly contrasting with the body color of the jersey, which would make them non-compliant as of the 2024 season.

The solid number can still have a border or outline to the number in 2024 but the key is that the solid portion of the number (body) needs to clearly contrast with the body color of the jersey. As of 2024, the outline or the border of the number will not be used in order to comply with this rule and it will be the solid portion of the of the number (body) that needs to comply.

The same time frame and reasoning was implemented for basketball jerseys for the 2024-25 season. The reason for the change was the difficulty seeing some numbers that were the same color as the jersey, with a contrasting border, for on-field officials, game administrators, fans, media and coaches who are scouting opponents.

These rule changes were adopted by NFHS in 2019 to give schools time to budget for new uniforms by the 2024 season. If you have questions about a basketball or football jersey design being compliant, contact Marty Maciaszek, NSGA Team Dealer Director at mmaciaszek@nsga.org or (847) 296-NSGA (6742), ext. 1260.