Abercrombie’s new NFL partnership shows how the brand is using sports to cement its place at the intersection of fashion, fandom, and culture.
Abercrombie & Fitch is officially in the huddle after recently announcing a multi-year deal naming it an official fashion partner of the NFL, marking the first time the league has granted a sponsor that designation.
The partnership goes well beyond slapping logos on hoodies. Abercrombie will roll out custom styling for NFL athletes, player-designed apparel, and in-store and on-site activations at NFL tentpole events, including select international games. To kick things off, the brand unveiled a national “Style Concierge” campaign featuring San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. Each athlete will also co-design limited-edition apparel launching this season.
This is Abercrombie’s most significant advertising investment in sports to date, running across broadcast, streaming, and social channels, including Meta, TikTok, and HBO Max, as well as NFL-owned platforms. Fans can already shop licensed apparel for all 32 teams at select Abercrombie stores and online.
This NFL partnership isn’t just a marketing splash; it’s the culmination of years of reinvention and a signal of where Abercrombie is steering its brand: toward the cultural crossroads of fashion, fandom, and everyday lifestyle.
A Reinvention Years in the Making
Abercrombie’s latest move comes after one of retail’s most dramatic makeovers. In the 2000s and early 2010s, the brand was a polarizing mall staple, defined by exclusionary marketing and over-sexualized branding. That era came to a close in 2014 when longtime CEO Mike Jeffries stepped down amid sinking sales and mounting backlash.
The reset began in 2017 under Fran Horowitz, who has steered Abercrombie’s shift from teen bravado to versatile wardrobe staples designed with millennial women in mind. Her strategy focused on listening to customers and delivering elevated basics instead of logo-heavy apparel. Under her leadership, Abercrombie doubled down on digital innovation with revamped e-commerce, sharper social storytelling, and data-driven decisions around sizing and inventory. Inclusivity became a priority, with extended sizing and Curve Love denim expanding the brand’s reach, alongside a new ethos built on authenticity and everyday lifestyle moments.
That vision crystallized with the announcement of the Always Forward Plan in 2022, which set revenue goals of $4.1–$4.3 billion by 2025 and long-term ambitions of $5 billion. The plan hinged on three priorities: focused brand growth, a digital-first approach, and disciplined operations. Or as the company put it, the aim was to know its customers better, wow them everywhere, and fund growth through more thoughtful execution.
The results speak for themselves. In fiscal 2024, Abercrombie blew past expectations, with net sales up 16% to $4.95 billion and operating income hitting $741 million. It was proof that the company’s strategy is working and that Abercrombie has gone from mall-era cautionary tale to one of retail’s most unlikely growth stories.
Why Sports and Why Now?
Abercrombie is now looking to sports to fuel its next chapter. The NFL deal builds on a growing portfolio of sports partnerships, including a 2024 collaboration with McLaren Racing around U.S. Formula 1 events. That activation gave Abercrombie a foothold with F1’s younger, global audience and a playbook for athlete-led storytelling.
The NFL partnership significantly expands that approach. Sports provide a year-round cycle of cultural moments — from kickoffs and rivalry weeks to the Draft— that Abercrombie can use to refresh product lines and seed social content. The Style Concierge program, which pairs players with Abercrombie stylists to create curated looks, is designed to blur the lines between game-day tunnel fits and everyday fashion.
“We’ve been working with the NFL and premier NFL athletes for several years, so officially becoming a league sponsor is a natural progression,” Horowitz said in an official statement. “This partnership goes beyond licensing. It is about meeting the needs of an expanding audience and building fandom through fashion.”
For the league, the deal doubles as a way to deepen its relationship with female fans, who now account for nearly half of its audience. Offering apparel that feels like fashion, rather than oversized merchandise, is an obvious growth driver.
“Style has always been part of the NFL’s DNA, from the history of the game to modern game day arrivals,” said Kyle Smith, fashion editor at the NFL, in a press release. “Partnering with Abercrombie lets us honor that legacy while introducing fans to looks that are timely, versatile, and connected to the culture of football.”
The NFL partnership positions Abercrombie not just as a retailer, but as a lifestyle brand sitting at the crossroads of sports, fashion, and culture. Athlete collaborations, co-designed collections, and curated styling programs give the brand cultural credibility that licensing alone cannot buy.
By betting on female fandom, Abercrombie is tapping a segment long underserved by traditional sports merchandising. And by weaving licensed product into its lifestyle assortment, the company ensures that a game-day hoodie can live alongside a work blazer or a date-night dress.
The strategy is clear: Win over consumers not only when they shop for basics, but also when they express fandom. That approach keeps Abercrombie in the feed year-round and in the closets of customers who want sportswear that feels like part of their personal style.
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The Bigger Play
Abercrombie’s NFL deal is less about selling team hoodies and more about owning the lifestyle conversation at the intersection of sports and fashion. After rebuilding its reputation with everyday essentials and a millennial-friendly aesthetic, the brand is now embedding itself into rituals that drive what people wear, post, and share.
With F1 already under its belt and the NFL now in play, Abercrombie is making a deliberate push to stay relevant at the cultural center of sports, fashion, and fandom.
If the company can replicate the same precision it brought to denim and dresses, its new era as a sports-fashion authority is just getting started.
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Michelai Graham
Michelai Graham is a tech reporter and digital creator who leads tech coverage at Boardroom, where she reports on Big Tech, AI, internet culture, the creator economy, and innovations shaping sports, entertainment, business, and culture. She writes and curates Tech Talk, Boardroom’s weekly newsletter on industry trends. A dynamic storyteller and on-camera talent, Michelai has covered major events like the Super Bowl, Formula 1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, and NBA All-Star. Her work has appeared in AfroTech, HubSpot, Lifewire, The Plug, Technical.ly DC, and CyberScoop. Outside of work, she produces the true crime podcast The Point of No Return.