The New England Patriots are going with white jerseys for Super Bowl LX, and you have to ask if there’s more at play than just replicating their look from their Super Bowl XLIX win over the Seattle Seahawks 11 years ago.
After all, 16 of the past 21 Super Bowl winners wore white, and the Pats lost to the New York Giants in their past two Super Bowl appearances donning the blues.
Of course, New England also lost Super Bowl LII wearing white, so this jersey-color trend catching headlines is surely more coincidental than predictive … right?
Let's look at how this trend can help decide your Super Bowl picks.
Super Bowl jerseys: Who decides what jersey colors are worn?
Even with the Super Bowl played at a neutral site, the NFL designates a home team, with the AFC Champion designated in even-numbered years.
The home team receives the luxury of selecting its choice of uniform color, which traditionally has been its primary color, with the opponent wearing white.
The New England Patriots have opted to buck tradition for Super Bowl LX, just like the Broncos did en route to winning Super Bowl 50 while wearing white.
How many Super Bowls has the team wearing white jerseys won?
The team wearing white jerseys has won 37 of the 59 Super Bowls (62.7%), with the trend even higher (76.2%) over the past 21 years.
Super Bowl winners who wore their primary color the past 20 years
Here are the five most recent Super Bowl winners who wore their primary colors:
- Super Bowl XLV: Green Bay Packers
- Super Bowl LII: Philadelphia Eagles
- Super Bowl LIV: Kansas City Chiefs
- Super Bowl LVIII: Kansas City Chiefs
- Super Bowl LIX: Philadelphia Eagles
Is there an edge to betting on the Super Bowl team wearing white?
While the recent and long-standing trend of the Super Bowl winner wearing white uniforms is considerably lopsided, I’m chalking it up to being more coincidental than predictive.
Though there’s no denying the statistical gap between Super Bowl winners wearing white compared to their primary colors, it isn’t a statistic I’m looking to bet on in the biggest game of the year.
