Rays' uniform choices in postseason could hint at a full rebrand

When the Tampa Bay Rays took the field on Monday night, they opted once again to go with a retro look. They donned the Devil Rays' modern throwbacks for their first World Series game at Tropicana Field since 2008.

Coincidentally, that last World Series game in St. Pete was during the first year they had dropped the “Devil” from the name. Oh, how times have changed. For the longest time, they were trying to stay as far away from that branding as they could.

Since 2018, they have slowly incorporated it into the wardrobe. 

However, this new ownership group has taken it a step further than ever could have been imagined over the the last 18 years. 

Just over one month ago, the permanent road uniforms where changed to the Devil Rays themed “Tampa Bay” uniforms. They went to the lengths to make the change with one week left in the regular season. 

Now, they’ve worn the home Devil Rays uniforms for key games. When they clinched the American League Pennant, they wore the modern retro look. 

It’s almost unheard of for a team to make this type of change during a regular season. Of course, they didn’t decide the night before to make this switch. A long process went into it, and they didn’t even bother to wait until the offseason. 

Perhaps this could be a sign. 

A Rays rebrand could be on the way

Think about it. They’re already halfway there. As said before, the away uniforms have already been switched to different branding. 

It’s not as simple as switching the home uniform, of course. The main logo has to change, as well as all the marketing and promotional material. They’d have to make a lot of changes to the branding at Tropicana Field.

They would still have to decide if they want to stay the Rays with Devil Rays branding, or if they want to fully commit to going back to the old name. 

With that said, making this switch still wouldn’t even be that hard. All those logos are already in place. All they would have to do is make it official. No big unveil is necessary compared to what was done ahead of the 2008 season. 

It still wouldn’t be a full switch back. The colors are still in the spirit of what the Rays have worn since 2008. The original Devil Rays uniforms were black, green and purple. The ones they wore in the 2000s were strictly green. 

This version is still primarily blue. It’s a good compromise of sorts that helps weave the original look with the longest-tenured look. Yes, they’ve been the Rays now nearly twice as long as they were the Devil Rays. It's crazy to think. 

It’s been long enough that people may prefer something else, and in the era where nostalgia is in, this is the time to give it a go. 

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