Islanders announce winner of inaugural fan-designed jersey contest
The Navy Lighthouse uniform was selected as the winner of the Islanders' fan-designed third jersey contest on Thursday night. Credit: NY Islanders
Forty-three days, 80,490 submissions and an eight-jersey bracket later, the Islanders finally crowned a winner in their first-of-its-kind fan contest to design their third jersey for the 2027-28 season.
And it will showcase a new primary logo: the lighthouse.
A navy lighthouse-themed design edged out a navy design with “ISLANDERS” across the chest to officially become the team’s new third jersey, the Islanders announced in a video posted to social media Thursday night.
“Can’t wait to see all the fans in the jersey. Can’t wait to wear it. Let’s go!” said Mathew Barzal, who revealed the winner in the video.
The creator of the winning design, who has not yet been revealed, will receive a team-signed third jersey and tickets to the game in which it makes its on-ice debut. The contest marked the first time in NHL history that a franchise allowed its fans to create an official team sweater.
“The Islanders would like to thank every fan who contributed a design, shared their feedback, and participated in the voting process to help shape the future of the franchise’s visual identity,’’ Islanders president of business operations Kelly Cheeseman said in a statement. “This contest was launched to break down traditional barriers, giving the fans a direct voice in shaping our new look. We are excited to move forward and create the full uniform that our fan base will be proud to call theirs.”
The Islanders said in a news release that the team and Fanatics will “begin the collaborative process of refining the digital submission into a full NHL-ready kit. During this stage, the team will review the additional design ideas submitted by fans during the voting process to continue to refine and enhance the 2027-28 official third jersey.
DRUMROLL PLEASE 🥁🥁🥁
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) August 20, 2026
The winning Third Jersey Design Concept is the Navy Lighthouse!
Stay tuned for the final kit design. pic.twitter.com/WE5PdM4QWZ
Take a closer look at the 27-28 Third Jersey Design Concept.
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) August 21, 2026
Be sure to tell us what you would like to see in the final jersey kit design: https://t.co/7w9bxDA3YW pic.twitter.com/LtNeB4uBU0
“The final version of the uniform will maintain the integrity of the winning design while meeting all league standards for its debut on the ice at UBS Arena during the 2027-28 season.”
The Islanders initially planned to have an early-August online fan vote for five finalists, but the number of designs submitted led the team to change the format to an eight-jersey bracket with three rounds of fan voting. A committee that included Islanders players and members of hockey operations selected the final eight designs.
In the semifinals, the navy lighthouse design overwhelmingly defeated a navy design with the controversial fisherman logo. The navy sweater with “ISLANDERS” defeated another navy design with a “NY” logo, with the “Y” in the shape of a hockey stick.
The four designs that lost in the first round of fan voting were an orange lighthouse-themed jersey, an orange fisherman jersey, an orange jersey with a “NY” logo (with the “Y” in the shape of a hockey stick) and a navy jersey with “ISLES” across the chest.
Islanders fan Joe Cascardi of Sound Beach told Newsday after the two finalists were revealed that he hoped the lighthouse design would win. He recalled it being used as a secondary logo when the Islanders had fisherman jerseys in the 1990s and believed it should have been the primary logo at the time.
He said: “I’ve been an Islanders fan since longer than I can remember . . . To have a primary logo that there has never been before, I think [that] would be a step towards maybe doing something different in the future.”
The contest was the brainchild of Cheeseman, who executed a similar contest with Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy in 2013. The contest opened on July 8 and about 37,000 designs were submitted in the first 30 hours. The Islanders stopped accepting submissions at 11:59 p.m. on July 24.
The Islanders’ design tool website — islesjerseybuilder.com, which still is active for fans to craft jerseys — allowed fans to choose from 15 striping options, 53 color options, nine Islanders logos and eight different fonts for the nameplate and numbering.
The Islanders will be adding a separate alternate jersey this season when the NHL and Fanatics release “Hometown Remix” uniforms for each of the 32 teams.
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
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