- New Era launched its 2026 NFL Sidelines Collection on August 3, fronted by a campaign video starring Josh Allen, Matthew Stafford, and Micah Parsons.
- The line splits into a Warm Weather drop (out now) and a Cold Weather drop landing September 28, spanning silhouettes from the 59FIFTY to new Balaclava and Quilted Hood styles.
- Allen is New Era's longtime "Director of Billustration" and an equity-holding ambassador since 2018; Stafford and Parsons are newer faces on this year's roster.
- The campaign lands weeks after Stafford's 2025 NFL MVP win and while Parsons recovers from a torn ACL suffered late last season.
New Era kicked off football season the way it always does: with caps. The Buffalo-based headwear brand launched its 2026 NFL Sidelines Collection, fronted by a 30-second campaign video starring Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, and Green Bay Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons.
The spot opens tight on each player battling his own weather extreme (snow, rain, blistering heat) before pulling back to reveal all three trading jokes together in a studio.
“This campaign captures the energy of the sidelines while adding a layer of humor that reflects who we are,” Allen said.
He’d know: Allen has repped New Era since his 2018 rookie season, and last July the brand made him its first-ever “Director of Billustration,” handing him an equity stake on top of an existing slate that includes Nike, Gillette, and Cash App.
Stafford and Parsons round out this year’s ambassador class as newer faces. Stafford arrives fresh off the biggest honor of his 17-year career, edging Drake Maye for 2025 NFL MVP at February’s NFL Honors, and he’s stayed busy off the field since, becoming Johnnie-O’s first pro football brand ambassador back in March.
Parsons, meanwhile, is rehabbing a torn ACL from Week 15 of last season, months removed from his blockbuster trade from Dallas to Green Bay; his primary apparel deal still sits with Adidas, making this his first known tie to New Era.
The collection itself splits into two drops. Warm-weather pieces, including the 9FORTY Apex and Casual Classic, use lightweight, water-resistant builds with moisture-wicking sweatbands and are on sale now at neweracap.com and NFLShop.com.
Cold-weather styles, among them a new Quilted Hood and Balaclava, add insulation for the late-season stretch and launch September 28.
This is New Era’s biggest NFL push of the year, and it lands in a stretch where the brand has stayed busy elsewhere too, recently teaming with MLB and BLACKPINK on a K-pop crossover cap line, while rival PUMA just wrapped its own athlete-driven content series during WNBA All-Star Weekend.
Takeaways
Pairing two reigning MVPs with one of the league’s most bankable defenders is about as strong an ambassador trio as a headwear brand can assemble, and it signals New Era is leaning on star power this cycle rather than a wide roster.
Allen’s growing equity stake also shows how brands are increasingly willing to trade cash for ownership once a partnership has years of built-in trust behind it. Parsons’ inclusion, injury aside, reads like a bet on his long-term value in Green Bay rather than his week-one availability.
Could Allen’s equity-and-title model become the go-to blueprint other brands use for long-tenured ambassadors? With Stafford now an MVP, does his growing off-field portfolio hint at a bigger late-career endorsement wave?
