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The league once again forgot to post this past weekend’s matchups, but here’s the link to this upcoming weekend’s: https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/what-your-club-is-wearing-for-mls-week-11-x1186 - Portland and Seattle are both wearing their secondaries in their respective home games. The rest of the matchups are pretty much what you’d expect.

Just a matter of time, especially with the overhauled arena

The Timbers haven’t worn dark green against Colorado’s burgundy kits since 2017. As a general rule the league wants dark vs. light kit matchups whenever possible, so they’d view the dark green as more of a clash with the Rapids’ burgundy than the pink is. I actually thought it was a pretty pleasing matchup to watch; the burgundy and light blue of Colorado matched up quite well with the Timbers’ pink and crimson. I do get your point, but I think the pink made for an easier on the eyes matchup than the dark green would’ve. The Timbers could’ve gone with their white alternate shorts with the pink kits, but personally I’m glad they went with the dark shorts since Colorado’s primaries have the light colored shorts.

As far as I know, the home team gets first pick as to what they want to wear, with the away team having to pick something to contrast that. There are occasions where the league has to step in (like the green vs. green Portland/Seattle matchups, for example), but I do not believe it’s true at all that the league makes the uniform matchups instead of the teams. I have heard that Adidas/the league has a rule that teams have to wear each kit a minimum amount of times each year, but 1) I can’t confirm whether that’s accurate or not, and 2) I do not believe the league makes teams wear certain kits in certain situations unless it’s necessary for enhancing contrast or it’s a situation like the Parley kits where obviously everyone wears the same thing. The league has influenced MLS Cup kit matchups in the last, notably back in 2015 when they made the Timbers wear their primary kits instead of the retro thirds that they’d worn throughout the playoffs.

Don’t think it’s the league making them change, just think it’s the Crew trying to sell more of the white shirts (especially since they have the new badge this year).

Here’s the link to this weekend’s kit matchups (the league never posted last week’s): https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/kit-matchups-what-your-club-is-wearing-for-mls-week-8 Of note: - Cincy is wearing navy/navy/orange at Toronto. The orange socks are from their secondary kits and are being used to contrast Toronto’s dark gray socks. - Columbus wearing all-white at home against DCU. - Hoops vs. hoops (sort of) between SKC and Dallas. - Colorado going burgundy/blue/blue against Portland in pink/crimson/pink. - NYCFC/San Jose going city blue vs. royal blue.

This weekend’s matchups: https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/kit-matchups-what-your-club-is-wearing-for-mls-week-7 - Atlanta & RBNY both wearing their secondaries at home (against Cincinnati & Dallas, respectively). - Columbus wearing yellow/black/yellow at home against Orlando.

I’d say there’s a small possibility, but I’d be pretty surprised. They haven’t had special spring game uniforms since 2017, and already for this year’s spring game they’re promoting it as green vs. yellow, which is what it’s been the last few years.

A recruit accidentally leaked part of what appears to be a new black, pink, and volt jersey for the Ducks: This jersey was sitting on Coach Lanning's desk (next to jerseys from last year that all had the #21 on them), and appears to have the #22 on it for 2022. At the very least this could just be a sample, but I’m thinking it will be part of the rotation this upcoming season. I’m assuming it’ll be a breast cancer awareness tie in, which they last did back in 2013 and 2014, but the addition of volt is interesting. Black, pink, and volt has also been a popular color scheme for Nike shoes (especially Air Max models), so that’s the only other theming that I can think of for this one. Will definitely be interesting to see the full package, especially what color the helmets will be.

This weekend’s matchups: https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/kit-matchups-what-your-club-is-wearing-for-mls-week-6-x8812 - RBNY and SKC are both wearing their secondaries at home. RBNY are going red/white/red (their best kit combo IMO) against Montreal while SKC is going all-navy against Nashville. - Columbus is wearing their all-white kit combo for just the second time, this time at Philadelphia. - The Timbers are wearing their white alternate shorts with their primary kits at Vancouver. Definitely their best look, and this’ll be their first time wearing it this season. The white/navy/white vs. green/white/green matchup between the ‘Caps and Timbers was one of the better kit matchups last season, and should be the same this year as well.

Timbers 2 (which was supposed to be rebranded at some point) have new black primary shirts this year with Tillamook cheese as the front sponsor. I don’t want the first team to ever adopt black primaries, but I actually like how the black/green/gold combo looks for the second team. I LOVE the Tillamook sponsor logo, and I would not be opposed at all to seeing the first team have that if they ever lose the Alaska Airlines deal (though I’m hoping that deal keeps going for a long time). I will say, it’s unfortunate that the names/numbers are white as well as the adidas logo & stripes on the socks:

Here’s the link to this weekend’s matchups: https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/kit-matchups-what-your-club-is-wearing-for-mls-week-5-x8378 Of note: - First weekend where all 28 clubs will be using the new keeper kits after they were debuted in the three games last weekend. We’ll see the black, gray, red, orange, blue, and mint color ways in action. - Chicago and Orlando are the only two teams wearing their secondaries at home. - Columbus is at home against Nashville and they’ll (rightfully) be the ones wearing yellow while Nashville is in their indigo secondaries. - SKC is going navy/light blue/navy at Vancouver. Can’t remember if they’ve ever worn that combo before.

Mexico will finally look like Mexico again: The away kit will be cream/burgundy/dark green: These kits will of course be the first their new badge, and you can see the new Adidas logo on the new kit as well. The images of the home kit also provide further confirmation that the World Cup kits will serve as the debut of the new Adidas template that Bayern Munich was spotted testing in training last year:

I think the contrast in each of these cases is good enough but certainly could be better, especially when there are gray, yellow, and red color ways available like you mentioned. I think part of the problem is that a lot of teams do only pick three colors each year and some teams and/or keepers have favorites that they almost always go with unless it’s impossible to do so. For example, Orlando almost always used the black keeper kit last year unless their opponent was in black. They’ve stuck to that so far this year. It does seem like they should have to go with a color that contrasts the purple more, but the league allows it and it’s apparently Orlando’s first choice. Portland’s keepers have worn orange in every game so far this year, even when they’ve been in the pink kits, and I’m assuming it’s because it’s Ivacic’s favorite (their starting GK). Having watched every Timbers game, I will say that there hasn’t been an issue between the orange of the keeper kits and the pink of the rose kits, but of course something like yellow would provide more of a stark contrast.

This weekend’s matchups will at long last feature the debut of the new keeper kits: As you can see, Charlotte will be debuting their black and mint secondaries at home against Cincy and their keepers will fittingly be in the mint colorway of the new keeper kits. The Timbers will also be in their secondaries at home, setting up what I believe will be the first pink vs. purple kit matchup in league history. As much as I love the rose kits, I really don’t want to see the Timbers making a habit of wearing them at home this year. I am glad to see them back in the crimson shorts this time, though.

The Thorns’ new kits may not be all that exciting, but they have a pretty awesome new prematch top: The plaid pattern is definitely fitting for Portland, but the best part is that the lines that make up the pattern have thorns on them just like the stripes on the new black jersey. Nike has made a habit in recent years of creating prematch tops that are more adventurous, if not just flat out better than the actual jerseys, and it appears like they’ve given that treatment to the Thorns as well. I hope they put these for sale because I’d definitely get one.

I’d say this was/is a case where the overall contrast is probably sufficient for TV purposes and for fans in the stands, but for the players and refs on the field the shades of green on the shirts are too close for comfort. Even with how black-heavy Austin’s kit is from the back and from the waist down, the greens could definitely blend in up close, especially with players and/or refs having to make quick movements and take quick glances around the pitch. If one team had white shorts (and even socks as well) then MAYBE it would work because of how stark and immediately discernible the white would be from everything else, but as is I think it’s a no-go.

Week 4 kit matchups: https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/kit-matchups-what-your-club-is-wearing-for-mls-week-4-x8807 Of note: - Four weeks in and still rolling with last year’s keeper kits across the league. - Toronto wearing their white secondaries at home against DCU. - RBNY wearing red/white/red at home against Columbus is yellow/black/yellow. Should be a really nice looking matchup. - Austin is wearing their mint kit at home against Seattle in their Hendrix secondaries. Probably the most sensible choice since the greens in Austin & Seattle’s primaries made for a tough matchup last year. Still unfortunate that a home team is effectively forced to change because the away team doesn’t have a kit combo that provides sufficient contrast. - NYCFC/Philly, Chicago/SKC, and Charlotte/NE are all blue vs. blue. - FCD/Portland will be red vs. pink, but it shouldn’t really be an issue since the Timbers’ kit is such a light pink and they’ll be in their white shorts while Dallas will be in their blue shorts and socks.

The Thorns have officially unveiled both of their new kits: Both shirts feature an NWSL 10-year jocktag, which I assume other teams will feature in some capacity as well: I was really hoping the white kit would have red shorts, so disappointed but not surprised at all to see all-white. The white kit is fine, that’s about all I can say for it. Still don’t like the crest treatment, but the overall package is inoffensive IMO. I’ve come to like the black kit quite a bit, though. Wish the socks had stripes to match the shirt, but overall I’m pretty happy with the black kit.

Random, mostly meaningless observation: none of the socks for this year’s new kits have any team embellishments on them (wordmarks, logos, etc. on the calf). Most of the 2021 kits still had something team-specific on the socks, but it appears like Adidas has scrapped that starting with this year’s new kits. You can see an example of what I mean in the Portland/Austin pictures that I posted above. The Timbers’ socks (from a 2021 kit) have the crossed axes on them, while Austin’s socks (from a new 2022 kit) just have the Adidas logo. I’ve looked at pictures of all of the new kits for this year and I’m pretty sure none of the socks for this year’s new kits have any team embellishments.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much contrast there actually was in last night’s Portland/Austin green vs. green matchup. On TV, Austin’s mint green looked lighter than in these pictures and from afar the overall effect was pretty similar to if the kit was white or grey. In close-ups you could definitely tell it was the more saturated mint color, but there was still plenty of contrast with the Timbers’ dark green. Certainly not the best, but still miles better than the green vs. green Timbers/Sounders matchups from the last two years. Austin hosts Seattle this next weekend, so it’ll be interesting to see if both teams wear their primaries like they did last year in Austin (which worked but was far from ideal with the similarities in green on the shirts) or if both teams wear their secondaries.

I know Crew fans like the full banana look, and it is their traditional look (which they’ve abandoned for two separate seasons), but the black shorts look so much better:

Yep, already posted it a couple of days ago. Also, that’s my tweet you shared haha

We are actually getting green vs. green in Portland this weekend: Definitely interested to see how this kit matchup looks in action. There should be a lot better contrast than the green vs. green Timbers/Sounders matchups from the last couple of years, and should essentially be akin to a navy vs. light blue matchup (except you have to add in the green of the pitch as well). Certainly fitting for a pre-St. Paddy’s Day matchup. Here’s the link to all of this weekend’s matchups: https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/kit-matchups-what-your-club-is-wearing-for-mls-week-3-x5540 Other notable things: -Columbus going yellow/black/yellow against Toronto. - Seattle & RBNY are the only teams wearing their secondaries at home. RBNY are debuting their new secondary, while Seattle is just doing it to do it. - San Jose is debuting their new secondaries at Philadelphia. - Finally, a very European-esque matchup between Colorado and SKC with the Rapids in their first choice burgundy/blue/blue and SKC wearing their primaries with the navy shorts and socks from their new secondaries: Genuinely can’t remember the last time (if ever, actually) that SKC has worn light blue/navy/navy. I also think this’ll be the first time SKC has worn navy shorts with their primary shirts since 2018. Ironically, NYCFC wore this exact same kit combo at Colorado back in 2019.

At least the Reign ditched Zulily with the OL takeover. Agreed, though, sponsorships almost always suck and unfortunately it seems like there’s no going backwards with the prominence or quantity of them.