Every year, as the nation gears up for the Super Bowl, fans admire the iconic helmets that symbolize grit, pride, and team identity. What most people don’t realize is that behind those gleaming decals and vibrant colors is an incredible amount of craftsmanship—and a partnership that spans decades. We caught up with one of our favorite customers, Athletic Decals, to get a behind the scenes look at just how essential ink performance and production perfection is to create a professional football helmet.
Athletic Decals produces helmet decals for about half of all Division I NCAA programs, 30/32 NFL teams, much of the Canadian Football League, and has many retail partners that make fan-wear. For Chris Willis, a co-founder, consistency is everything: teams depend on exact color matches year after year, especially when leftover stock is carried into the next season. In his words, Nazdar’s System 2 inks deliver exactly that kind of reliability—offering repeatability from batch to batch, quick drying capability, and the durability required to withstand the intense wear of high‑impact play. Whether printing surface graphics on vinyl or subsurface decals for maximum longevity, Chris emphasized that Nazdar’s opacity and performance allow his team to print bold, accurate colors without compromise.
That durability matters more than ever in today’s football landscape. Many NFL and college teams swap helmets frequently—sometimes weekly—thanks to alternate uniforms, throwback games, and rivalry matchups. Add in the heavy impacts on the field, and equipment managers need decals that can stand up to constant cleaning, reuse, and replacement. Chris shared that offensive and defensive linemen may see their helmets refreshed weekly, while skill positions rotate slightly less often—but across the board, the demand for dependable decals is nonstop. It’s why Athletic Decals has trusted Nazdar inks for many of its production needs.
As we head into the excitement of the Super Bowl, we at Nazdar couldn’t be prouder to support the teams behind the scenes—the printers, artists, and creators who help bring the sport to life visually. Athletic Decals is one of those exceptional partners, and Chris’s decades of expertise highlight what happens when craftsmanship meets chemistry. So when fans tune in on game day and see those helmets shining under stadium lights, they’re witnessing the result of innovation, quality, and a whole lot of passion. And we’re honored that Nazdar inks—and our partnership with Athletic Decals—continue to be part of that magic.