Hoosier Made: The Super Bowl Volunteer Uniform

You know Hoosiers—we’re a friendly lot. So Super Bowl volunteers probably won’t mind if you ask to check out their official volunteer jacket. And you should. The black Gore-Tex coat is a thing of beauty, sporting a subtle tone-on-tone pattern that’s almost like houndstooth. It’s warm and substantial without being bulky. Even prettier are the arctic-white parkas that some volunteers get to wear. Underneath the jacket, most volunteers will be wearing a long-sleeved Dri-Fit shirt with a zipper at the collar. And yes, volunteers get to keep the swag.

Lids Sports Group, an Indy-based apparel giant that runs retail stores with the same name (and used to go by Hat World), designed and manufactured the uniforms—enough for nearly 9,000 volunteers. It’s one more local connection woven into the story of the volunteer uniforms to go along with the Super Scarves aspect. 

Lids is also opening Lids Locker Room at Circle Centre, a retail store on the second level of The Huddle, which will take over the vacant Nordstrom space during the Super Bowl. The company says it’s the largest pop-up store in the country to date, and in addition to apparel and Super Bowl souvenirs, it’ll have interactive elements and host autograph sessions. “I don’t think we realized how much work would go into it in the beginning,” says one insider. “Come Super Bowl day, though, it will all be worth it! It’s definitely nice to have our hometown host an event that is so heavily intertwined in ouir business, and to be able to be part of showcasing Indy to the world.”

Super City will get a sneak peek of the Lids Locker Room today.

Photos, left to right: Connie Israel, vice president of volunteers for the Super Bowl Host Committee, models the official volunteer
uniform; that uniform’s pieces, laid out.