Puma kicks off the AI ​​generation and lets fans design Manchester City’s 2026 kit

Puma is giving Manchester City fans the chance to design the team’s third kit for the 2026 season, using artificial intelligence to bring their creative visions to life.

The initiative allows fans to generate custom designs, with the final kit selected through a mix of fan votes and expert judgments. The winning design will be worn by the team.

“AI has become a buzzword, but [there’s] there are not many examples of using AI,” said Ivan Dashkov, head of emerging marketing technologies at Puma. “The way we think about AI is how we put it in the hands of consumers and let them co-create. [jerseys] with us. »

Even if a good part of the efforts in terms of AI were carried out in 2024 backlashbrands are increasingly tapping in AI and fan engagement to reshape the future of sports merchandising.

The competition begins today and will continue until December 20. In January 2025, the top 10 designs will be revealed, followed by a new round of voting. The final winners will be announced in 2026, with the winning jersey becoming Manchester City’s third official jersey for that season. This AI-designed kit will join the home and away kits.

This isn’t Puma’s first foray into Generation AI. In September, the German sportswear brand used the technology for its branding and online sales, focusing on improving its “AI-driven personalization capabilities,” CEO Arne said Freundt. The Wall Street Journal.

A YouGov investigation conducted in July across 17 markets, with samples ranging from 505 to 2,001 per market, found that 32% of consumers now have a more positive view of generational AI tools like ChatGPT compared to last year. However, this sentiment varies considerably by region, with only 17% of Americans reporting a more favorable opinion.

Yet consumer-facing AI in marketing can be unpredictable, biased, and prone to hallucinations.

Kit creation gets a makeover with AI

Once people enter a prompt, the AI ​​generates a kit in 60 seconds, offering four variations to choose from. Users can further personalize by adjusting designs, collars and the Manchester City logo.

Fans can then share their creations on Instagram, Instagram Stories or X.

The initiative builds on the passion of Manchester City fans, who are already sharing their own jersey designs online.

“If you go to Instagram and search for Man City kits, you will find hundreds, if not thousands, of illustrators and designers creating their own kits,” Dashkov said. “Everyone always has an opinion on these kits.”

For fans, designing a jersey provides an accessible and exciting way to bring their ideas to life with the help of AI. “AI gives them a chance to do it,” Dashkov added.

Puma spent over a year developing the AI ​​jersey design project with FTR Studio and Deep Objects, using a basic Stable Diffusion template.

“We are studying how to extend this project [concept] but we need to learn from the first before making concrete plans,” Dashkov said, adding that other football teams or other sectors of their business could benefit from similar AI-based experiments, but would not share further.

AI safeguards take the field

To ensure responsible use, Puma has layered multiple levels of content moderation for the AI ​​tool.

“There is a standard list of things you can’t ask for – certain topics, like bad language or restricted content even on platforms like Midjourney,” Dashkov said. The company also screens competitors’ intellectual property and brands it does not own.

An AI program reviews all generated images for security, and any flagged content, such as humanoid figures like robots or aliens, is automatically replaced. Finally, all contest submissions undergo human moderation before being approved.

However, like many hallucination-prone AI models, early testing revealed a few quirks: a prompt asking for a “repeated image of Batman, Batman, and Superman” resulted in a jersey depicting those characters, highlighting the potential of issues related to intellectual property.

After the voting process, a shortlist of the best entries will be reviewed by a panel of experts, who will ensure that the designs comply with FIFA regulations. The final 10 will be selected and fans will vote again for the winner, who will become Manchester City’s official third kit for 2026.

Participants start with 10 AI generations (prompts) and can submit up to three designs. Voting daily (20 votes per day) unlocks more builds and submissions.