How the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are turning retro uniforms into a sub-brand

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will take the field in their disco-era pale orange uniforms on Oct. 15, but the NFL team doesn’t see the return of the “creamsicle” as a single-day promotion. Instead, the Bucs aim to craft a sub-brand meant to elicit nostalgia among longtime fans and provide allure to younger ones, all year long.

The move comes as sports franchises get more strategic around their uniforms, using events such as throwback games and special-edition jerseys to forge deeper connections with supporters, win new fans, and sell more tickets and merchandise. NFL fans will see an explosion of throwback events this year, as teams have had time to take full advantage of a 2022 rule allowing for alternate helmet designs.

Tampa Bay’s creamsicle launch is supported by a comprehensive branding and sales effort, including deals from partnering brands such as Publix, Coca-Cola and Jameson.

“What we’re exploring with creamsicle is using our legacy to write a larger story about the Bucs and the history of the team,” James Ruth, chief marketing officer of the Buccaneers, said in an interview. “This is an almost 50-year-old institution in the Bay, and we’re getting fans excited around the legacy of the team.”

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The Buccaneers’ marketing staff created the campaign in-house. To be certain it’s not received as a gimmick, Ruth said the staff eschewed use of the word “throwback” when discussing their plans. 

“We very quickly tried to eliminate throwback from the vernacular because we didn’t want to be seen as something that is just kitsch. If you call something a throwback, you really limit its power and potential,” Ruth said. “We said we’re actually going to treat this as a sub-brand, and leverage creamsicle as an opportunity for us to celebrate legacy. And when we have that legacy conversation, we leverage creamsicle.”

Bucco Bruce

Tampa Bay has a colorful history in those uniforms. The Bucs arrived as an expansion team in 1976 bearing a look that was also new to the game: it was the only club with an orange, red and white color scheme. The logo depicted a rakish winking pirate with a feathered cavalier hat and a dagger between his teeth, known as “Bucco Bruce.”

The Bucs, noted for having gone through their inaugural season without a single win, wore variations on the creamsicle uniform until 1997, when it was replaced with a considerably more aggressive pewter-and-red scheme. The change sent Bucco Bruce sailing—then-quarterback Trent Dilfer remarked he looked “wimpy”—and in his place was a skull and swords depicted on a tattered flag. Through tweaked over the years, the pewter-and-red look remains the Bucs’ primary uniform today.

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While relegated to the dustbin, creamsicle stopped being a laughingstock and gradually became cool again. “It’s one of those funny things about history, that the brand was seen one way, 25 or 30 years ago, and now it's seen differently,” Ruth said.

The Buccaneers have taken the field in orange jerseys four times since 1997—but this will be the first time since 2012. That’s because the NFL, citing player safety concerns, limited its teams to a single helmet beginning in 2013. The rule was rescinded in 2022, in part due to the efforts of Bucs owner Joel Glazer.

The change unleashed a pent-up demand for throwback uniforms: In addition to the Buccaneers, the New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Tennessee Titans, Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings are all doing retro uniforms this year.

Lee Roy’s

The Buccaneers revealed the creamsicle jerseys on July 12 after building up to the event with a series of social media posts that served as “breadcrumbs” telling a story linking the team’s past to its future. 

The story centered around a fictitious nightclub called Lee Roy’s—a nod to the late Buccaneers Hall of Famer Lee Roy Selmon—populated only by Buccaneers legends and fans. Early teasers showed disco dancing at the club and teased the July 12 announcement date; a July 11 teaser showed Bucs legend Derrick Brooks making a call with a rotary dial phone to an unknown person: “I need you to get the fellas and meet me at Lee Roy’s. It’s time.”

“We could have just thrown out some old highlights and said, hey, look at the guys when they played in the jersey. And probably, it would have been great if we did that alone,” Ruth said. “But we actually went further, to try and create a whole narrative around the release. We talked about this jersey, which isn't a throwback [but] is a celebration of this team, and everything that's existed around this team, for the last 50 years. And if you have been a fan for two weeks, or 20 years, you get to be part of this legacy.”

The post-launch effort also provided social media moments including a challenge for players to draw Bucco Bruce.

The Buccaneers supported the reveal with a microsite, social media “cards” for current players showing them in the creamsicle jerseys, and multiple social media and email links to buy merchandise and tickets to the Oct. 15 game.

A social post showing Kreischer meeting his idol, former Buccaneers great Mike Alstott, was the best performing social post of the reveal due to its authenticity, and for how it drew a wide range of fans, Ruth said.

“Our big challenge was, how do we activate that in a way that makes sense for all components of our fan base—not just the people that are feeling it from a nostalgic perspective, they’d been in the Big Sombrero [the Bucs’ former home, Tampa Stadium, which they used through 1997],” Ruth said. “How do we actually reformulate it so it’s relevant or younger fan base in a way that they build their own sense of nostalgia without actually being in the stadium?”

Kreischer’s audience “is probably not from that era,” Ruth continued. “But seeing him interact with Alstott, and seeing his love for that era, I think ignites that passion for new fans. And it makes it young and relevant for people that don’t have a history of actually seeing the creamsicles in its original version. I think that's a really cool thing from a brand and marketing perspective.”

While the team declined to provide specific figures, it said merchandise sales exceeded Fanatics’ estimates, making the creamsicle one of the NFL’s best-selling alternate jersey launches to date.

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Overall the team had its best-performing day for engagement rate, impressions and interactions, and the team saw a 24% email click-through rate. Page views for tickets for the Oct. 15 game against the Detroit Lions increased by 350%.

Creamsicle Day

The Buccaneers are building further excitement by latching onto the National Creamsicle Day holiday on Aug. 14, with events throughout the city.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor will make an appearance at Bucs training camp, downtown buildings will light up in orange, and a festival at the Armature Works event center will include cheerleaders, Bucs legends and a fireworks show.

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The team’s advertising partners are along for the ride.

“Our partners have been clamoring for creamsicle for the same reason our fans have, and I think they have found some very unique, fun ways to activate this new sub-brand,” said Atul Khosla, chief commercial officer of the Buccaneers.

The grocery chain Publix, for example, on Creamsicle Day will give away orange reusable grocery bags to the first 100 customers in 100 area stores. Bakery departments in the stores will feature Bucco Bruce-themed cookies and cakes.

Coca-Cola and the chicken chain PDQ (both Buccaneers sponsors) are teaming up on a promotion to provide collectible cups featuring six Tampa Bay players in orange uniforms. Coke will also make Fanta orange soda ice cream floats available for purchase at Raymond James Stadium this season.

Jameson is giving away Bucco Bruce flags with the purchase of Jameson Orange whiskey at area retailers. Jameson and other Pernod Ricard brands will also feature orange cocktails for sale at the stadium.

The winery Keel & Curley will show off a co-branded classic Ford Ranchero, and will make an orange sangria available at its retail store and at area Publix stores.

“Our partners have tremendous brand reach that allows us to have an extension of creamsicle we couldn’t do on our own,” Khosla said. “So joining forces makes a ton of sense.”