The University of Houston officially announced the return of its ‘Luv Ya Blue’ uniforms for this month’s college football game against Houston on Nov. 23. In doing so, the Cougars told Roger Goodell and the NFL to kick rocks.
They will not adhere to the cease and desist letter presented to them by the league.
Houston first debuted its alternate kits during the 2023 season-opener against UTSA last September. They are a tribute to the Oilers and they are absolutely beautiful. It is impossible to dislike them.
However, the NFL technically owns a trademark on the ‘Luv Ya Blue’ look because it first originated with their former Houston-based organization. There is no way to deny the likeness. They are, at their core, the exact same uniforms.
As a result of “blatant copying,” the NFL sent a cease-and-desist letter to the university. It threatened legal action if the Cougars did not immediately stop using the Oilers-inspired blue.
Houston initially considered shutting it down.
Upon further review, the athletic department chose to continue forward with its use of the alternate uniforms. Former athletic director Chris Pezman told the Houston Chronicle that he was not afraid of any legal challenges.
We literally have a story we can show the city uses it. This isn’t a reach. This is a layup. We’ve got a very defensible position.
— Chris Pezman
The Cougars only used the alternate blue for football, women’s soccer and golf in 2023. They decided to push forward and roll it out for all sports in 2024 after weighing their options. Pezman gave the NFL a few weeks to respond to the announcement back in May.
We’re doing it. We’ve reviewed everything and came to the conclusion that we are going to proceed […]
We’re giving [the NFL] two or three weeks to respond. We’re waiting on a response to see if we get one.
— Chris Pezman
Either the league never got back to Houston and quietly moved on, they came to some kind of agreement, or the latter chose to ignore the former’s wishes and moved forward without care. The football team revealed the new-look alternate uniforms on Friday for its game later this month.
Slight modifications were made to less-closely resemble the Oilers’ exact look, but it’s still the same at its core.
Reppin' for the city 🌃
— Houston Football (@UHCougarFB) November 1, 2024
Debuting 11.23#GoCoogs pic.twitter.com/aZAk4e2PWd
Should the NFL choose to go after the Cougars, first-year AD Eddie Nunez is fully prepared to fight after Pezman was fired in June for unrelated reasons. Pezman gave the green light and his successor will not back down from what the university believes is an extremely solid case.