MLS Beer League [concept series]

[-kj]

Recently, MLS announced that they will allow sponsorships by sports betting and spirits companies.  This gave me an extra spark to finally get around to doing a "fix all MLS kits" series, with a twist:  All the teams (save one; you'll see) will have a local brewery as their shirt sponsor.  (This wasn't forbidden before the announcement, but I thought it would be fun anyway.)

 

The criteria for choosing each team's sponsor was based on a few loose criteria:

 

• Preference was given to independent breweries, not owned by a major conglomerate.
• Preference was given to breweries having partnered with the team or a supporters group to create a team-specific beer.
• If no partnership (or I didn't like it), I looked up local beer rankings.
• In the end, I picked what I picked, so nyah.  

 

I tried to tackle some personal and general complaints about MLS kits:

 

• The lack of patterns and non-monochrome options.
• The glut of all-white kits.

 

I'm not saying I was fully successful, but let's just say I snorted some Cheez Whiz along the way.  However, you'll noticed that I used a rather generic Adidas template for all of the kits, mostly out of laziness.  I am who I am.  I've finished all the existing teams (so please hold your requests and asking when I'll get to certain teams); I might well tackle the incoming teams after those.

 

----------

 

With all that out of the way, let's get into it.  Alphabetically, by city, we start with...

 

Atlanta United FC

 

Primary

 

 

No real surprises with the primary kit.  Black and red stripes, black shorts, gold trim scattered throughout.  I added striped socks to go along with the stripes on the shirt. 

 

The sponsor is Terrapin Beer Co. out of Athens.  I actually wanted to use Sweetwater Brewing, which is a personal favorite, but couldn't find a decent copy of their logo or wordmark.  Besides, Terrapin makes some tasty beer as well.

 

Change

 

 

The change kit keeps the peach theme they've gone with for the last couple of years, but also retains the stripe motif from the primary kit.

[ahowe6464]

Solid start for a team with a solid identity. I'd just suggest continuing that sock-stripe pattern on the clash kit as well

[ThierryH14]

Nice start with the MLS x Brewery kit concept series. You cannot make that Atlanta United kit any better really. Looking forward to this concept series. So much good craft beer breweries throughout USA and Canada. 

 

Question though: will you be ranking the breweries in this concept thread too based on the beer?

[-kj]

24 minutes ago, ahowe6464 said:

I'd just suggest continuing that sock-stripe pattern on the clash kit as well

 

Upon further review, I don't know why I didn't do that in the first place.  So now I have (see the updated original post).

 

19 minutes ago, ThierryH14 said:

Question though: will you be ranking the breweries in this concept thread too based on the beer?

 

Nah.  There are too many breweries in this series that I've never tried.

[-kj]

Chicago Fire

 

Primary

 

 

I went for as close to a classic Fire look as I could, which isn't too far off of what they're currently wearing. 

 

The sponsor is Half Acre Beer Company, makers of the fantastic Daisy Cutter Pale Ale.

 

Change

 

 

Fire fans have clamored for a Chicago-flag-themed kit over the years, so I went in that direction.

[WarriorFight]

ATL looks surprisingly good with that logo. Change is rad, only thing I'd say is the recolored peach crest would fit better imo

[-kj]

FC Cincinnati

 

Primary

 

 

While the current pattern they're using is a little odd, I like the broken-stripe motif Cincinnati is using, so I incorporated it here.  The stripes are made of diagonal lines in the angle of the stripe in the club crest.  I also thought they could use a little more orange overall, so I gave them orange socks.

 

The sponsor is Listermann Brewing who brews Stoppage Time cream ale in collaboration with an FCC supporters group.

 

Change

 

 

The stripe pattern carries over onto the change kit, this time in a more subtle tonal pattern.

[vtgco]

So far looks great!

 

I like ATL's home a lot more than the current one. The gold Adidas stripes make a huge difference. I would make the shorts stripes and the collar strim gold as well.

 

Chicago looks clean, but maybe try to add a hoop on the sleeves? Also, you should change the sponsor logo to red.

 

I like the orange socks for Cincy. Just add back the white trim at home, I think. The away is also a lot better, though I'd go with the sponsor in blue.

 

I look forward to seeing more!

[-kj]

Colorado Rapids

 

Primary

 

  

 

I'm steering into the skid on this one; I previously thought the burgundy and white look was best for Colorado, but I like the direction they've been going with using the light blue more.  I did return to contrasting sleeves, but nothing else outrageous.

The Rapids are sponsored here by New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, makers of the very tasty Fat Tire.

 

Change

 

 

Nothing outrageous about the primary, but then there's this.  I'm calling this the "purple mountains majesty" kit, including a tonal crest in purple and white.

[Silence of the Rams]

Oof

[-kj]

Columbus Crew

 

Primary

 

 

Classic all-yellow for the Crew with a tonal checkerboard pattern.  They should own the all-yellow look until the end of time.

The sponsor is Land Grant Brewing, makers of Massive Juicy Pale Ale and other supporter-themed beers.

 

Change

 

 

The counterpart to the all-yellow primary is an all-black affair which retains the checkerboard pattern.

[-kj]

FC Dallas

 

Primary

 

 

Anyone remember back when FC Dallas rebranded from being the Burn and made a big deal out of their nickname now being "the Hoops"?  It would seem that FCD has definitely forgotten that over the last few years or so.  So here we see a return to the red and white hoops and red shorts which should be the iconic look for the club.

 

The sponsor is Dallas-based Braindead Brewing.

 

Change

 

 

Taking a little inspiration from their recent "stars at night..." kit, this all-blue kit features a fade at the top of the shirt.

 

 

[-kj]

DC United

 

Primary

 

 

Way back in the day, DC United used to have white stripes across the chest.  They disappeared a while ago, but I wanted to pay homage with a tonal version of the city flag across the chest.  Otherwise it's classic United: all black, white trim, and just a touch of red.

DCU is sponsored by DC Brau, who collaborated with the club to create a beer called The Tradition.

 

Change

 

 

Yeah, it's an all-white kit.  Well, at least it has a heaping helping of red trim, including changing the city flag on the chest from tonal to the usual red-on-white.

 

[vtgco]

DC away is quite nice. The home needs a touch more of red somewhere, perhaps with a shorts stripe like NYC or something on the socks?

 

For Colorado, why not go a pale lavender for the whole jersey?

 

Dallas's home looks really good; but I'm worried that a solid white back would ruin it. If you can make sure that it would be red primarily, that would be perfect!

[-kj]

On 7/7/2019 at 3:20 AM, vtgco said:

If you can make sure that it would be red primarily, that would be perfect!

 

In my mind, that would be much more jarring.  I'd probably go with something like this:

 

[-kj]

Houston Dynamo

 

Primary

 

 

I am decidedly not on board with Houston going full orange with black and leaving out white.  In my eyes, orange/white/orange is the iconic look for the Dynamo.  I'm also cool with the way they often use tonal patterns, so I used a sunburst pattern based off of the rays on their logo.

 

The sponsor is local brewer Brash Brewing Company as a nod to my friends in Houston who love Brash and the Dynamo.

 

Change



As much as I dislike the heavy black influence on the Dynamo primary kits, I'm down with the orange-on-black look they've often used for their change kits.  I modified the sunburst pattern from the primaries to use here in "Space City Blue".

[-kj]

Sporting Kansas City

 

Primary

 

 

I considered completely changing KC's colors, because I find the particular blues they use to be drab and lifeless; hell, if I were feeling more ambitious, I'd come up with a completely different logo because there's very little I like about their logo.  But I generally (operative word: generally) didn't redo team logos for this series, so the only change I made to the logo was to replace the pointless silver outline with light blue.
 

I did, however, make a big change:  dark blue base, light blue hoops.  I've been told that MLS doesn't want to allow this look because it's too much a mix of light and dark, but I decided I didn't really care about that.  The hoops cut off in a pattern inspired by the stripes in the team logo.

 

The sponsor is Boulevard Brewing who have done numerous collaborations with the team and its supporters.  (They're owned by a Belgian company--no, not that one--so I thought twice about it, but stuck with it since they're already so tied to the team.

 

Change

 

 

I had trouble coming up with a good change, honestly.  Given the double-blue primary, I didn't just want to use a light blue kit.  Instead, I went with silver. (Yeah, yeah, I chopped silver from the logo then made a silver kit. )

[Silence of the Rams]

4 hours ago, Mockba said:

Sporting Kansas City

 

Primary

 

 

I considered completely changing KC's colors, because I find the particular blues they use to be drab and lifeless; hell, if I were feeling more ambitious, I'd come up with a completely different logo because there's very little I like about their logo.  But I generally (operative word: generally) didn't redo team logos for this series, so the only change I made to the logo was to replace the pointless silver outline with light blue.
 

I did, however, make a big change:  dark blue base, light blue hoops.  I've been told that MLS doesn't want to allow this look because it's too much a mix of light and dark, but I decided I didn't really care about that.  The hoops cut off in a pattern inspired by the stripes in the team logo.

 

The sponsor is Boulevard Brewing who have done numerous collaborations with the team and its supporters.  (They're owned by a Belgian company--no, not that one--so I thought twice about it, but stuck with it since they're already so tied to the team.

 

Change

 

 

I had trouble coming up with a good change, honestly.  Given the double-blue primary, I didn't just want to use a light blue kit.  Instead, I went with silver. (Yeah, yeah, I chopped silver from the logo then made a silver kit. )

Isn't that the whole point of the away kit anyway to be silver or grey

[-kj]

Let's see how posting this from my phone goes...

 

 Los Angeles FC

 

 Primary

 

 

I think LAFC nailed their look from the off, so there's no real reason to reinvent the wheel here: all black with gold trim.

 

The sponsor is Angel City Brewing, a local brewery in the Arts District that has partnered with the team. (I've been to their taproom, which has a cool layout.)

 

Change

 

 

I decided on what was, in my mind, a "double gold" look, but is really just a cream color.

[vtgco]

On 7/8/2019 at 6:55 AM, Mockba said:

 

In my mind, that would be much more jarring.  I'd probably go with something like this:

Yeah, I suppose that could work, with the right number color. I worry about if MLS would let this jersey  be worn against Chicago or Toronto though...

 

I like that KC home jersey a lot!

 

Very appropriate sponsor for LAFC, seems like. Is their logo normally golden too?

 

The Houston home is solid, but the away feels off with the sunburst not centered around the logo.