Apparel company HOMAGE has come up with some unusual products over the years, from a Slayer-font t-shirt honoring John Clayton and the famed “This is SportsCenter” commercial to a “Kelce Bowl” t-shirt in partnership with Jason and Travis Kelce and their New Heights podcast. Their latest is an ambitious NFL-licensed “NFL x Flavortown Collection” in partnership with Guy Fieri, which features all 32 NFL teams with different local flavors, from Nashville Hot Chicken for the Tennessee Titans to Crawfish Boil for the New Orleans Saints to the Juicy Lucy Burger for the Minnesota Vikings to Fieri’s own Trash Can Nachos for his favorite team, the Las Vegas Raiders. Fieri told AA via email this collection is a natural food and football pairing:
“When it comes to goin’ all in for your favorite football team, you gotta both eat and look the part and my new Flavortown collection’s got your back. Reppin’ the iconic local flavors of your favorite hometown team will have you game day ready. Let’s go!”
HOMAGE founder and CEO Ryan Vesler also spoke to AA on this collection via email. Vesler said Fieri was a perfect fit to work with for this given his love for both food and football.
“Guy is obviously one-of-a-kind, and we both share a passion for digging deep to uncover unique stories,” Vesler said. “Guy has an extreme love of food and football–and these two things really are symbiotic–so it made complete sense for us to partner on the NFL x Flavortown collection. Guy pinpointed the defining flavors celebrated by each team’s fans and then the incredibly talented team of designers at HOMAGE translated those into eye-catching, retro-inspired graphics that we hope fans will love.
Vesler added that Fieri’s established fandom and connections with the NFL (including a “Guy’s Flavortown Tailgate” event at Super Bowl LVII in February and an appearance in 80 For Brady) also helped with getting this project to completion.
“Guy is a football super fan. Specifically, a Las Vegas Raiders super fan. And he is certainly a known entity within the NFL, a connection that certainly helped to fast track the collaboration.”
Vesler said this food and football pairing seemed like a great combination given the importance of tailgating around the NFL.
“With almost complete accuracy, you can guess what team a fan roots for by asking what’s on their tailgate menu. Food is so intertwined with football that it’s nearly impossible to have one without the other. If I say ‘Juicy Lucy,’ you know I’m talking about the Minnesota Vikings, ‘Trash Can Nachos’ are instantly recognizable as the go-to for Las Vegas Raider fans, and ‘Rocky Mountain Oysters’ are known as the favorite of Denver Broncos fans. The NFL x Flavortown collection captures the connection between football and food and tells a story with custom graphics tailored to each team.”
Launching shirts for all 32 teams is a big swing, but Vesler said their brand’s fans would have been upset if this had been done without including all teams.
“If we launched with just one or two teams, I promise you that we’d have a lot emails from fans of the other 30-31 teams asking where their t-shirt is! HOMAGE customers are very passionate and vocal–and we love this kind of relationship. It also means that we get a lot of feedback. Over the years, we’ve learned a thing or two about what our customers and what sports fans want. A full launch in partnership with the NFL to celebrate the flavors of all 32 teams was really the only way to go.”
HOMAGE picked up the NFL license in 2022. Vesler said that’s been a great partnership for both sides.
“This is the second season that HOMAGE has had the NFL license, and our partnership continues to grow both in team stores and online with NFLShop.com. We aim to offer a different look and a different vibe, something that we think sports fans are really craving. We will continue to create apparel that tells a story around the sports and pop culture moments that define culture. Partnerships like this one with the NFL and Guy Fieri’s Flavortown is a testament to our ability to push creative boundaries, think outside the box, and deliver truly unique apparel to fans.”
The company’s certainly come up with a lot of creative ideas over the years, from the Clayton Slayer-font shirt to the Kelce Bowl shirt and New Heights partnership. And this NFL x Flavortown collection is definitely another notable swing there.
The NFL x Flavortown collection is available on HOMAGE’s site here.
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.