MLS Kits 2022

[WBeltz]

7 hours ago, tigers said:

When's the contract up?

You'll see improvement then.

I've kinda been on the fence about it. I always thought that if adidas ended the contract, or the league negotiated something to allow clubs to pick their suppliers that it would be fine. My fear is you have a couple of teams sign with an outfitter that isn't as well known, or are able to get products as easily, and you'll have a mishmash of clubs with stuff that they can actually provide their product because they signed with an adidas/Nike/Under Armour/Puma, and then a group of clubs that signed with a brand that doesn't get their stuff put out as easily.

[Digby]

There are a lot of nice, small-brand kits in the USL Championship, e.g. Hummel and Hartford, Charly and San Diego, whomever makes those wacky Las Vegas kits. But I can't speak to how well they work as suppliers in getting merch sold compared with a big, leaguewide Adidas contract. Of course lots of MLS teams seem to run out of fan replica jerseys halfway through the season and never restock, too, and the overall MLS merch game is pretty weak IMHO outside of the top clubs anyway.

[AnPheitseog]

9 minutes ago, Digby said:

There are a lot of nice, small-brand kits in the USL Championship, e.g. Hummel and Hartford, Charly and San Diego, whomever makes those wacky Las Vegas kits. But I can't speak to how well they work as suppliers in getting merch sold compared with a big, leaguewide Adidas contract. Of course lots of MLS teams seem to run out of fan replica jerseys halfway through the season and never restock, too, and the overall MLS merch game is pretty weak IMHO outside of the top clubs anyway.

It's not even good for the top teams. I'm a galaxy fan and have been unable to buy adidas polos for the past couple years for them.

[gosioux76]

1 hour ago, BltzW said:

I've kinda been on the fence about it. I always thought that if adidas ended the contract, or the league negotiated something to allow clubs to pick their suppliers that it would be fine. My fear is you have a couple of teams sign with an outfitter that isn't as well known, or are able to get products as easily, and you'll have a mishmash of clubs with stuff that they can actually provide their product because they signed with an adidas/Nike/Under Armour/Puma, and then a group of clubs that signed with a brand that doesn't get their stuff put out as easily.

 

Would a league that's single entity like MLS, where the league owns the teams and governs most of its commercial contracts, even consider doing something like this? I mean, as far as I understand, the local operators aren't even the ones negotiating TV packages anymore. That whole thing is out to bid right now, led by the league office. 

 

 

[Digby]

8 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

 

Would a league that's single entity like MLS, where the league owns the teams and governs most of its commercial contracts, even consider doing something like this? I mean, as far as I understand, the local operators aren't even the ones negotiating TV packages anymore. That whole thing is out to bid right now, led by the league office. 

 

 

I don't think the single-entity TV plan is going to happen and never really made that much sense anyhow. Wishful thinking from MLS.

 

I believe the A-League in Australia used to have all teams kitted out by the same manufacturer, but has since moved to each team striking their own deals, which is interesting.

[MJWalker45]

Double Post

[MJWalker45]

18 minutes ago, Digby said:

 

I don't think the single-entity TV plan is going to happen and never really made that much sense anyhow. Wishful thinking from MLS.

 

I believe the A-League in Australia used to have all teams kitted out by the same manufacturer, but has since moved to each team striking their own deals, which is interesting.

I think the closest they can come to this is the ESPN+ deal, but I think they expected a lot of networks to decide they needed to fill in programming during the summer when those networks seem content to through these games onto streaming networks and pay less than they would if they didn't have that option. 

 

Yup, originally Reebok was the kit provider for the whole league.  Then they spread the wealth at the same time US pro leagues across the board went with one uniform provider. 

[MJWalker45]

9 hours ago, tigers said:

 

There have been a few close calls in the MLS so far.

 

 

When's the contract up?

You'll see improvement then.

2026. We thought that when the first contract ended too. I'd rather they allow multiple manufacturers like they did in the beginning rather than go with one for the whole league.  We've come to expect poor uniform design in World Cup or Euro years because that's what adidas focuses on in those years. 

 

@AnPheitseog same here. I found my polos, team shorts and practice tops through Poshmark or eBay because they're never available in MLS stores.  And I don't think they're even available at teh stadium unless it's when they're having garage sales during the year. 

 

[Digby]

17 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

I think the closest they can come to this is the ESPN+ deal, but I think they expected a lot of networks to decide they needed to fill in programming during the summer when those networks seem content to through these games onto streaming networks and pay less than they would if they didn't have that option. 

 

And it seems the big flaw is... who produces all these games for television, if not a local partner? Centralizing kit and merch design doesn't require that sort of distributed infrastructure, the way that centralizing TV production/distribution does.

[MJWalker45]

MLA Next have a better number font.

 

 

[4_tattoos]

On 3/25/2022 at 1:05 AM, tigers said:

 

There have been a few close calls in the MLS so far.

 

 

When's the contract up?

You'll see improvement then.

But what company would realistically outbid Adidas for MLS at this point? If Nike, Puma, Umbro, etc didn't do so the last time around what reason do we have to believe they do it next time?

[MJWalker45]

55 minutes ago, 4_tattoos said:

But what company would realistically outbid Adidas for MLS at this point? If Nike, Puma, Umbro, etc didn't do so the last time around what reason do we have to believe they do it next time?

Nike could have submitted a bid in 2020 I believe, but Adidas extended the contract until 2026. 

[TaylorMade]

On 3/24/2022 at 10:05 PM, tigers said:

 

There have been a few close calls in the MLS so far.

 

 

When's the contract up?

You'll see improvement then.

 

We heard the same thing about adidas and the NBA and look where we are now

 

[MJWalker45]

51 minutes ago, TaylorMade said:

 

We heard the same thing about adidas and the NBA and look where we are now

 

At least we don't have sleeved jerseys anymore. I will say it's confusing with so many uniforms per team. Nike's recent designs were supposed to allow greater sleeve and collar options. Adidas' need to have the stripes be seen have inhibited designs as well. 

[tigers]

4 hours ago, TaylorMade said:

 

We heard the same thing about adidas and the NBA and look where we are now

 

 

There are still some that could be burned.

[Digby]

The MLS Next Pro league typeface is a disaster. Assembled by masking tape. 

 

 

[MJWalker45]

27 minutes ago, Digby said:

The MLS Next Pro league typeface is a disaster. Assembled by masking tape. 

 

 

Yeah, when getting a look at the whole font set, it's not good. I don't like that the have the 7 with that second cross on it either.  I take back what I said earlier. 

[gosioux76]

On 3/25/2022 at 9:55 AM, Digby said:

 

And it seems the big flaw is... who produces all these games for television, if not a local partner? Centralizing kit and merch design doesn't require that sort of distributed infrastructure, the way that centralizing TV production/distribution does.

 

This is a really good point. I've been keeping an eye on these TV negotiations because I'm curious as to how the league is going to work around all of the troubles with regional sports networks' inability to work out deals with popular streaming services. I noticed how this year, the Timbers reached a deal in which all of their home games will be broadcast by the Fox affiliate but will be produced by the RSN, which then has rebroadcast rights. I thought it was a clever way to keep doing business with the RSN while not limiting access to the telecasts. 

 

Here in St. Louis, where I live now, I've been wondering whether the expansion team would attempt to do something similar. (As it is, I can watch every baseball game using MLB.tv except for the Cardinals, and as a Hulu+ subscriber can see almost every NHL game via ESPN except for the Blues.) But then I came to learn that MLS was shopping the whole thing out as a single package, so now I have no idea what the outcome might be. 

[upperV03]

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.  

[upperV03]

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.