Juventus ditched stripes to appease American fans, reports claim

Juventus have ditched stripes for a half-and-half pattern

Juventus and adidas unveiled the Bianconeri's new strip for next season on Sunday morning, which moves away from the traditional pattern of black and white stripes. The new home shirt features a half and half pattern, with one singular pink stripe down the middle as a nod to Juve's first ever kit. The decision to ditch the stripes has caused some discontent among fans and football purists, but there is of course a reason behind it, which seems be Juve wanting to appeal to more football fans in the United States. Reports have emerged claiming the new design came about as a result of research which showed that American fans associated black and white stripes with a referee's uniform, as worn in American football and baseball. Therefore, to distinguish their kit from that of match officials, Juve have opted for a new design, if reports are to be believed. Given the level of influence that appealing to a global audience has in modern football, it sounds very feasible that this was the main motivation behind breaking the long held tradition of wearing black and white stripes. https://twitter.com/juventusfcen/status/1127483550469586944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1127483550469586944&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.football-italia.net%2F137956%2Fjuventus-launch-2019-20-kit