Yesterday I did a roundup of 13 new MLS unveilings. A bunch of additional teams have done unveilings since then, so here’s the latest batch of new designs, with the accompanying marketingspeak for each one:
Chicago Fire
Quoting from the press release:
The first shirt specifically designed for the club’s new crest, which debuted in 2022, A Kit For All features a centered logo – also a first for the club. Chicago’s city flag is the primary inspiration for the white jersey with Fire red and navy blue trim accenting the sides, sleeves and bottom.
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DC United
Quoting from the press release:
The new D.C. United away kit realizes one of the city’s most recognizable – and natural – landmarks in the cherry blossom trees in their truest form as a patterned design of branches across the front of the shirt. The top features two signature sign-off elements: (1) a cherry blossom branch designed by D.C. United and placed onto the back collar of the jersey and (2) the club mantra, “All are Welcome, All are United” found embossed within the black binding of the body of the shirt, only available on the authentic version of the kit.
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FC Dallas
Quoting from the press release:
The bold uniform pays tribute to FC Dallas’ roots as one of Major League Soccer’s original 10 franchises when the league launched in 1996. The kit takes pride in the contributions and lasting influences that the Dallas Burn, its players and staff have had on soccer in communities across North Texas.
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LA Galaxy
Quoting from the press release:
The LA kit honors the city and its history by embracing the colors of the City of Los Angeles Flag. The LA kit represents the feeling of home, whether you are from the Valley or the South Bay. Coated in the city colors, the kit represents all different Angelino cultures.
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LAFC
Quoting from the press release:
Celebrating the club’s success, Smokescreen pays homage to LAFC’s winning culture and iconic smoke-filled goal celebrations. The “world’s city, world’s game” jocktag signals the Black & Gold’s global aspirations, while the “shoulder to shoulder” necktape shows their commitment to marching united towards uncharted territory.
Nashville SC
Created in collaboration with the estate of Johnny Cash, Sandbox Succession, and Wasserman Music, the Man in Black Kit was inspired by The Backline Supporters Collective, the club’s fans. On Feb. 29, 2020, Nashville SC inaugurated its journey in Major League Soccer in front of 59,069 fans, a state record for a soccer match. Prior to kickoff, The Backline unveiled their first ever MLS TIFO, featuring the Man in Black alongside the Nashville SC logo. Inspired by that moment, Nashville SC and the estate of Johnny Cash began collaborating to tell the story of the life and legacy of Cash.
Real Salt Lake
Quoting from the press release:
A tribute to RSL’s home state of Utah, the shirt encourages fans to “Be Bold. Go Gold” by embracing the local community’s ethos of solidarity and collaboration. Just like bees, Salt Lakers are in it together. If you come for one, you get them all.
Sporting Kansas City
Quoting from the press release:
Dating back some 150 years, hooped soccer shirts are an iconic part of the Beautiful Game, and, over the past decade, the light blue/dark blue stripes have become synonymous with Sporting KC. The Hoops 4.0 Kit continues that tradition. Classic never goes out of style.
Vancouver Whitecaps
Quoting from the press release:
The jersey features a touch of red that symbolizes both the club’s Canadian pride and origins, with the original 1974 red logo featured as a jock tag. Bloodlines are the thread that connect generations of Whitecaps FC fans under a common banner of the beautiful game, supporting Canada’s most history-laden club. The five stripes on the front of the jersey represent five decades of history as the club enters its 50th anniversary in 2024. With a legacy of giving back, the jersey also shines a light on the pressing need for donors to support Canadian Blood Services. Whitecaps FC and TELUS are urging fans to join in giving back to those who need it most. For more information on the new jersey, visit whitecapsfc.com/bloodlines.
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And that’s it — at least for now. I suspect we’ll see more MLS kits later today.
Sorry, soccer fans … kits are simply gross. -C.
100% agree.
Chicago’s isn’t. I love how the logo is the team and not some obnoxious advertiser.
That FC Dallas kit is awesome, love the homage to the Dallas Burn!
KC calling it “The Hoops 4.0 Kit” when the stripes don’t continue around the entire shirt? How is that a “hoop?”
This is a general frustration I have with soccer/football shirts. Continue the design element on the back so the players look the same front and back! If it’s visually necessary, a solid box for the number, but at least try to make the visual elements match.
So the Cats, United and Wizards all did cherry blossoms this cycle. Is that a first? Where the city had so many coordinated alternates?
NATS not cats. stupid autocorrect
Seems like DC is trying to pull a “Pittsburgh”, with a graphic element linking all teams. The US flag doesn’t cut it since it is also a signature of the Nets and 76ers.
On the flag, I think it’s more that the U.S. flag is no more of a locally relevant symbol in the DC metro area than it is in Pocatello or Tucson. As flags go, DC has its own flag, which is universally recognized as one of the best in North America, and it’s widely used by locals to express civic pride. But it’s also DC-specific in a metro area divided among three jurisdictions that each have their own flag and local pride. Cherry blossoms represent a symbol and event that is much more locally specific and meaningful than the US flag, but much more regionally shared than the DC flag. Also, the cherry blossom season occurs at a moment on the calendar when every sport with a DC-based major-league team but one is in season. Cherry blossoms are very nearly the perfect civic symbol for DC teams looking to share a symbol among themselves.
Feels like DC United is the first team to understand the assignment regarding cherry blossom uniforms. The Nats one looks terrible because it is mostly drab gray (amongst other issues), and the Wizards one being hot pink is similarly bad. DC United’s kit being white/light pink manages to capture the actual aesthetic appeal of the cherry blossoms.
It might be irrational but I HATE the centered crest look, especially with an asymmetric pattern.
From an abstract aesthetic POV, I can see a case for centered crests. But culturally, the placement of identifying marks over the left chest is a deeply embedded tradition. That’s not literally where the heart is – the organ is a little left of center, but pretty centered – but that’s where we assign the heart’s location as a matter of cultural imagination. So the symbol of greatest import goes nearest the heart, over the left chest. Swearing an oath or singing the national anthem? Hand over the left chest, not over the clavicle in the middle behind which the literal organ of the heart goes. Uniform shirt has an important emblem? Left chest. I think that’s the basis for why a centered crest on a soccer kit strikes so many as just sort of “off”. It’s like, you’re having a conversation with someone with a thick Minnesota or Texas accent but they say the word “biscuit” instead of “cookie.” Same exact sentence spoken by Paul Hollywood or Mary Berry, you’d understand it perfectly. But pronounced with a Minnesotan or Texan accent, it would take most of us a few moments to have any idea what the speaker just said. Centering the crest has a similar effect; the visual language of symbol placement on the front of the shirt is sort of broken by the centering.
Like the last group unveiled these feel more like retail merch designed shirts (that may or may not even be for a sports team) than an actual uniform. The fine details and sublimation are the sort of things you see when a person next to you is wearing a shirt, but not the things you see when watching a game from the stands or on tv with a wide angle view. If the purpose of uniforms is so that you can clearly tell apart the teams due to simple contrasting designs, and can likewise easily identify which team is which, most of these sets fail that purpose.
What is with all the dark green in this group of uniforms? Did someone declare that Eagles midnight green is the new teal and not alert me?
I don’t know which is worse: the marketing speak or that these are just shirts designed around an advertisement. Also, Angelinos? I thought it was spelled Angelenos.
The demonym is definitely supposed to be “Angelenos.” Spelled with an I is a typo, which looks to this editor’s eye like the kind of thing a person would do who spelled it phonetically and with the model of “Latino” in mind.
For all the nonsense marketing claptrap, the kit we’ve seen so far is, for me, the best-looking in MLS history. It’s like the big league has finally noticed how innovative and visually interesting US minor-league soccer has become.
Those sure are some branded T-shirts.
The difference in response in the Uni Watch comments section on today’s and yesterday’s releases versus the general response on the MLS subreddit couldn’t be more different. Over there this is being lauded as one of the best years for MLS kits whereas over here they’re almost universally reviled. I wonder if this is an issue of demographics or something. I get the impression that many readers of this site are people who are of the generation that just hates soccer and everything soccer related for some reason.
I think they’re all mostly good with a few that are mediocre.
WTF. “In collaboration with the estate of Johnny Cash.” ?!?!?!?!? I’m shocked that John Carter Cash would agree to this. Wow.
Too much like the Nike NBA city garbage, no distinctive color patterns. If I were to flash on a MLS game this summer, how can I tell who is who by just glancing at the screen?. Growing up in the 80’s &90’s, every sports team had a distinct color and theme. These days, it’s just a crapshoot.
That’s what happens when the kits change every year. Originality & tradition is thrown out the window, for greed to sell the next “cool” jersey
Where’s the Minnesota ones?