Dozens of Philadelphia Eagles fans have been unpleasantly surprised when the officially licensed “kelly green” merch they ordered arrived with crooked decoration. The color is a throwback to an earlier look for the Eagles (now sporting “midnight green”), and the nostalgic collection was launched just in time for the 2023 season – or so fans of the defending NFC champs thought.
After customer Shealyn Kilroy posted photos on X (formerly Twitter) showing a tilted and off-center number 1 on one of the two shirts she ordered for her boyfriend (only one arrived – another problem), other fans chimed in with their own personal fouls.
Did anyone else’s Kelly green Eagles merch come in from the official NFL shop uhhhh crooked? pic.twitter.com/JRdoD4Bk9l
— Shealyn Kilroy (@shealynkilroy) September 14, 2023
“Why does Fanatics hate Jalen Hurts?” asked Mike Gunzelman of sports fan site OutKick, as the quarterback’s No. 1 seems to be the main culprit (ouch!). But poor quality control isn’t limited to the Eagles, with fans of other teams adding photos of their own off-sides gear.
Fanatics, the officially licensed vendor for NFL gear and other major league sports, quickly apologized for the mistake with a post on X from CEO Michael Rubin saying, “One bad product and one unhappy customer is one too many.”
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in business – own your mistakes.
Anytime we let any fan down, it’s a failure on our part and that’s on me.
Last year we sold nearly four million units of Eagles merchandise. That’s just Eagles products, which shows Philly fans truly are the… pic.twitter.com/Fegqd2bRJm
— Michael Rubin (@michaelrubin) September 19, 2023
Still, failure to perform basic quality control is no way to treat one of their most loyal customer bases, as the Eagles are “on pace” to set the record for most team jerseys sold in a year according to a Fanatics spokesperson. (Not to mention that Eagles fans are a famously vocal bunch.)
The company says it has been contacting fans who ordered the kelly green Eagles gear to offer restitution. They have also paused future shipments of that colorway, although some kelly green items still appear for sale on the site.
But this isn’t the first fumble for the major sports merch retailer. The virality of the misprinted Eagles jersey has drawn attention to other apparent mistakes by Fanatics, such as a Miami Dolphins hat printed with the Washington Wizards logo.
Ummm @Fanatics what’s wrong with this purchase?? @WashWizards @MiamiDolphins pic.twitter.com/KvDgCriGyx
— Paige Fadden (@PaigeFadden) September 9, 2023
Another scorned Dolphins fan posted a Jaylen Waddle jersey that defies explanation.
I purchased a waddle jersey and this is what I get. Wtf is this lmfao. I’ve never seen something like this. It’s so preposterous it’s kinda funny. @Fanatics @FanaticsSupport pic.twitter.com/e1MZS3HP8C
— REID GILLIS (@DannyGarcia126) August 24, 2023
And one Indianapolis Colts supporter wasn’t sure which authorities in Flavortown he should contact about the weird coloring on his t-shirt.
@GuyFieri @Fanatics Just wondering my my lettuce is red and my tomatoes are green???? pic.twitter.com/cmkZWggRPs
— Jeff Snouffer (@primedowntime) September 19, 2023
Fans of various sports and teams have complained about the poor quality of apparel before, and Eagles fans in particular were irked by the company’s failure to make Super Bowl jerseys available for the Eagles and Chiefs in time for the big game.
“Why is it so hard to buy an Eagles Super Bowl jersey?” wrote Shamus Clancy of PhillyVoice this past February, adding that “Philadelphia is always glad to gobble up any Eagles merchandise that it can” and lamenting that just days before the Super Bowl, the Fanatics NLF Shop offered only “terrible” gray jerseys (which have their own Reddit thread).
Most fan posts make it clear they want their money back, but sometimes merch mistakes make a splash with collectors on the secondary market. Will anyone want a crooked Jalen Hurts jersey? Ask eBay in a few weeks.
