# Nordstrom Sports League Field Guide

> Indicates the sports league name associated with the product.

**Sports League** is an optional text field on Nordstrom Marketplace that names the league a licensed sports product belongs to. It applies to fan apparel, team headwear, licensed accessories and similar items where the shopper is looking for a league as much as a brand. The value shows on the product detail page and is set once for the whole style group.

Leave it blank on anything that is not licensed sports merchandise. A generic baseball cap has no league.

## The rules

| Rule | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Required | No |
| Level | Parent listing, shared by every colorway and size |
| Maximum length | 255 characters |
| Content | The league name, spelled the way the league writes it |
| Characters to avoid | Trademark and registered symbols, en and em dashes, the middle dot, the letter ø |

Osello's recommendation: use the league's common name or standard abbreviation ("NFL", "Premier League", "NCAA") without a trademark symbol, and keep the team name in the Sports Team field rather than here.

## Examples

| Value | Verdict | Reason |
| --- | --- | --- |
| "NFL" | Good | Standard league name |
| "NCAA" | Good | Collegiate products take the governing body |
| "NBA(R)" or with a registered symbol | Weak | Registered symbols are not allowed |
| "Los Angeles Lakers" | Weak | That is the team; the league is "NBA" |
| "Basketball" | Weak | A sport, not a league |

## Common mistakes

- Putting the team or player here. Nordstrom has separate fields for [Sports Team](/marketplaces/nordstrom/fields/sports-team) and [Sports Player](/marketplaces/nordstrom/fields/sports-player).
- Pasting the league name with a trademark symbol from a licensing sheet.
- Naming the sport instead of the league.

## How Osello fills this field

Osello treats Sports League as a parent-level text field, set once per style group. When a listing is created, its AI fills the value only when the source product clearly identifies a league, in the title, description, tags or a metafield, and leaves the field blank otherwise. Trademark symbols and other disallowed characters are stripped. Add [custom instructions](/help/ai-prompts/custom-instructions) if your catalog stores licensing data in a specific place. Other Nordstrom attributes are in the [Nordstrom field directory](/marketplaces/nordstrom/fields).

## Frequently asked questions

### Do I fill in Sports League for every hat or jersey?

Only for licensed products tied to a league. An unbranded cap or a jersey-style top with no league affiliation leaves the field blank.

### Should I use the abbreviation or the full name?

Use the form the league itself uses most, which for US leagues is the abbreviation ("NFL", "NHL"). For leagues known by a full name, write the full name.

### Can I add the trademark symbol?

No. Trademark and registered symbols are among the characters this field rejects. Write the name in plain text.