AFL backed HoMie first. Then the NFL came calling
HoMie's been dressing AFL fans in heritage knitwear for seasons. Now the LA Rams have picked the same Melbourne label ahead of the NFL's first ever game on Australian soil. What's making a social enterprise streetwear brand the pick for two very different football codes.
Ian Hopkinson
9 September 2026 · 2 months ago
A Melbourne streetwear label that funds work for young people facing homelessness has landed partnerships with two major football codes this year. The AFL came first. The NFL followed.
HoMie and the AFL go way back
HoMie has worked with the AFL for a few seasons now, and this year's drop, "AFL Anywhere," is heritage knitwear across 17 clubs, including the long dormant Fitzroy Lions. Timed for the finals series and the start of AFLW, it's built to be worn well past game day. No stadium branding shoved in your face, just club colours done properly.
Co-founder and creative director Marcus Crook has said the range lets supporters back their clubs while funding HoMie's actual work. Every sale, AFL or otherwise, goes toward training, paid pathways and job opportunities for young people who need them.
Then the Rams came knocking
Ahead of Friday's Rams versus 49ers game at the MCG, the NFL's first ever regular season game on Australian soil, HoMie picked up its second major sports partner. The Rams tapped the label for a limited edition collection, all profits going to young people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Melbourne agency Town Square built the campaign around the Rams' own "Ramily" language, rebranding it "The Extended Ramily" to make Melbourne feel like part of the fold rather than a stop on a world tour.
HoMie CEO Steph Say called it more than a merch drop. The Rams have a real track record backing the communities they play in, and this was them showing up in Melbourne with genuine intent, not just selling a jersey.
Why the same label keeps getting picked
It's not hard to see the pattern. Two football codes, worlds apart in scale and history, both chose HoMie over a standard licensing deal. That's not a coincidence, it's the mission doing the selling. Every purchase funds real programs for young people doing it tough, and that gives a partnership weight a plain merch collab never has.
Melbourne already treats its footy codes like religion. Now the label backing them up with genuine social purpose is getting picked up by the biggest names in the sport, local and international.