thumb|Enthusiasts wearing Zubaz brand pants at the 2008 Zubaz fan club barbecue in [[Choctaw, Oklahoma]]
thumb|Green Bay Packer and Zubaz enthusiasts at the San Diego Boardwalk before the [[Green Bay Packers and San Diego Chargers game on November 6, 2011]]Zubaz () is a brand of shorts and pants, distinctively patterned with colorful stripes, that became popular during the early 1990s. It was primarily marketed as athletic wear for weightlifting and wrestling but found wider success.
History and description
In 1988, professional wrestlers Michael Hegstrand & Joseph Laurinaitis brainstormed ideas with Bob Truax and Don Stock, managers at gyms the pair owned, for better quality workout pants. Laurinaitis said, “We need to come up with an idea for pants that we can make for big guys for leisure, sporting events, working out or whatever.” Truax and Stock developed a comfortably baggy pair of shorts with an elastic waistband. Zubaz was registered as a trademark in 1989. Initially, they were marketed as a comfortable, functional pair of shorts for weightlifting. and Truax and Stock bought back the trademark rights. In 2007, Zubaz resurfaced, offering a limited production release of the original classic Zubaz patterns. In 2014 the brand fully resurfaced with a wider selection on its Internet storefront. The revived brand opened its first storefront in Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls, a mall in Niagara Falls, New York, in November 2016; Zubaz chose Western New York as its first brick-and-mortar location because of the brand's particular association with the Buffalo Bills, as fans of the franchise have consistently been one of the brand's most loyal customer bases.
On July 16, 2008, the Saint Paul Saints independent professional baseball team wore Zubaz pants during their game against the Sioux City Explorers. The bases were also painted in a recognizable Zubaz tiger-striped pattern. On the December 6 edition of professional wrestling TV show TNA Impact, Christopher Daniels and Kazarian wrestled the main event in pink and black Zubaz pants. The Russian curling team wore Zubaz pants in the 2014 Winter Olympics. The Detroit Tigers also wore Zubaz pants in 2017.
Minnesota Vikings mascot Viktor the Viking usually wears team-colored Zubaz pants.