MLS kits 2023

[4_tattoos]

5 hours ago, upperV03 said:

New England has looked good in white and red secondaries in the past and I really like the stylized sash. I hadn’t realized previously that the side/back hem stripe on New England’s shirt is a red/white/blue stripe:

 

Why the heck did Adidas create that armpit panel? Were teams required to make the armpits contrast from the rest of the shirt? Really seems like the armpit here coulda/shoulda been white instead of red.

[SSmith48]

After the snoozefest of kits from the last few years, I'm very much pleased with what we got out of this crop. For the most part, there were a lot of big swings, and they didn't always hit, but those that did were home runs. Glad to see the MLS getting some more color back into it again.

[dannykraft]

I feel like we're so close to each team having a  home kit that has a style that could be carried over seasons/templates and is different from the rest of the league.

My ideal looks for each, I bolded the teams that went away from their "look"

ATL- Red/Black stripes

ATX - Green/Black stripes

CF MTL(Should be impact) - Blue/black stripes. Sort of going back to it this year but not great

Charlotte - Carolina Blue with white sleeves

Rapids- Marron (would love the white sleeves again)

Crew- All yellow

Chicago - Red with white chest band

FC Cincy- This one is hard but I guess a mix of royal and navy (I would prefer royal and orange)

FC Dallas- Red and Navy hoops

DC - Black w/ red shorts

Houston - Orange shirt/ white shorts

Miami - All Pink

Galaxy - All white with the navy sash back

LAFC- All black

MNUFC- All grey with the wing. I don't mind the black but doesn't look like MNUFC

Nashville - Yellow (I would like navy shorts to be different than the crew)

NE - Navy with Red shorts

NYCFC - Light Blue with Navy shorts

NYRB- White with red sleeves and shorts

orlando- all purple

Philly - Navy with center gold stripe

Portland - all dark green

RSL- This is tricky but their dark red with navy sleeves would work

SJ - Blue with heavy black details

Seattle- Rave Green with blue shorts

SKC- Light blue and Navy hoops

STL City- All "City Red"

Toronto - All red

Vancouver - White with Navy chest band

 

[Digby]

On 2023-02-18 at 3:00 PM, upperV03 said:

Still waiting on Orlando to officially reveal their new primaries, and who knows what’s gonna end up happening with the Montréal primary kit. That said, which teams are we thinking have the best set of kits for this season? 

 

I'd say Portland do the best job of being variations on a theme, in this case gaudy fabric patterns from the 80s which is somehow fitting.

 

Revs will be up there for me if they're willing to make the shorts interchangeable, because I think both of their kits would be improved with contrasting shorts.

 

Otherwise, I guess I'd say Colorado (like that the away is team colors but variations on them), and then maybe RSL or Columbus. As much as I like this year's crop of new jerseys overall, there aren't too many teams where I like both sets. 

 

Toronto is definitely last. All grey all the time? Bizarre decision-making.

[4_tattoos]

1 hour ago, Digby said:

I'd say Portland do the best job of being variations on a theme, in this case gaudy fabric patterns from the 80s which is somehow fitting.

I'm not sure where you're from, but plaid has been fashionable in my entire 37 year old life. And not just in the fall and winter.

[hereandthere]

I have only now realized that quite a few teams have customized side hems, a nice little detail that basically no team even advertised. Most appeared for the first time on the adidas website. 

 

New England: Tricolor (@upperV03 already pointed this one out)

Orlando: Man every wall

Toronto: soundwave of the drum beat at the stadium

Vancouver: dark blue hem with light blue pinstripe inside

Minnesota: L'ETOILE du NORD

DC United: ALL ARE UNITED - ALL ARE WELCOME

Chicago Fire: CHICAGO FIRE FC

Philadelphia: Liberty bells

Columbus: NEVER STAND STILL

 

Of course, all these are missing in the replica version, and that's a shame, as usual.

 

 

[MJWalker45]

On 2/19/2023 at 4:59 PM, 4_tattoos said:

 

Why the heck did Adidas create that armpit panel? Were teams required to make the armpits contrast from the rest of the shirt? Really seems like the armpit here coulda/shoulda been white instead of red.

I can see adding it if you want to place some patterns in there, but other than adding random bits of color for most of theses teams, and every other adidas team that uses them, it's just something to take up space. 

[aawagner011]

When I saw the customized side stripe a few MLS teams had, I wished Atlanta went with a red and black striped design instead of the gold. I like the gold on the collar and cuffs but it sticks out too much on the sides. It bothers me how the gold doesn’t match with the red trim on the shorts. Those two elements look like they are supposed to match. It would make things much more cohesive and wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb when viewed on TV.

 

 

The 17/18 design that this is trying to emulate let the stripes be the focal point with minimal gold details. By contrast, the design above has a bit too much visual clutter. The eye doesn’t know whether to look at the stripes or the gold. It’s still a nice shirt, but could have been a touch better.

 

[Digby]

The trade off, I guess, to a renewed spirit of bespoke design for individual teams is a return to the obnoxious templating that does nothing but scream “ADIDAS” that had been somewhat toned down in recent years.

[WestCoastBias]

I think this is the best Adidas has done in quite a long time.

[upperV03]

Speaking of Adidas… they’re sticking around through 2030:

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/02/22/adidas-major-league-soccer-renew-deal.html

 

Quite frankly, I would’ve been shocked to see any other outcome. 

[Digby]

Yeah, I always assumed this was most likely, though I did sorta wonder if given that Adidas didn't renew with the NBA or NHL, if they had an eye toward exiting the leaguewide outfitting business. 

 

[tBBP]

20 minutes ago, upperV03 said:

Speaking of Adidas… they’re sticking around through 2030:

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/02/22/adidas-major-league-soccer-renew-deal.html

 

Quite frankly, I would’ve been shocked to see any other outcome. 

 

Fantastic news. I for one am ecstatic MLS is sticking with them... and I'm still holding out hope that somehow, some kind of way, adidas and the NHL will work out an extension, as well. 

[MJWalker45]

27 minutes ago, upperV03 said:

Speaking of Adidas… they’re sticking around through 2030:

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/02/22/adidas-major-league-soccer-renew-deal.html

 

Quite frankly, I would’ve been shocked to see any other outcome. 

With the World Cup coming to North America in 2026, I'm not surprised to see them extend this. Disappointed though. 

[SSmith48]

19 minutes ago, Digby said:

Yeah, I always assumed this was most likely, though I did sorta wonder if given that Adidas didn't renew with the NBA or NHL, if they had an eye toward exiting the leaguewide outfitting business. 

 

Nike was bound to get the NBA contract at some point. Apparently, even with the contract, Adidas couldn’t catch up to them in the basketball market. Hockey isn’t a traditional/signature Adidas sport either. The NHL was really the first time they did something at a large scale with hockey. I’d imagine that this is also not quite as beneficial as they hoped it would.

 

Meanwhile, soccer is right in Adidas’ wheelhouse. It’s the sport they are known for. Losing the contract now would be a bad look. I still hold on to the hope that it one day, we will have a multitude of brands in the MLS for teams to pick from.

[AnPheitseog]

If we are to have a league wide deal, I'm glad it's adidas.

[rcgray]

Philly's side hem is snakeskin pattern and not liberty bells according to their jersey annoucement. 

[McCall]

40 minutes ago, rcgray said:

Philly's side hem is snakeskin pattern and not liberty bells according to their jersey annoucement. 

Zooming in on it, it almost looks like a snakeskin pattern roughly shaped like Liberty Bells (not sure if that was the intention). Or at least generic bell shapes.

[4_tattoos]

My only issue with Adidas being the supplier for MLS has been their requirements for thirds. If they got rid of that or at least set a more reasonable bar for MLS clubs to get thirds, I'd have no issue with them. Although the big shoulder striped jerseys a few years ago were pretty bad.

[infernoqueso]

45 minutes ago, 4_tattoos said:

My only issue with Adidas being the supplier for MLS has been their requirements for thirds. If they got rid of that or at least set a more reasonable bar for MLS clubs to get thirds, I'd have no issue with them. Although the big shoulder striped jerseys a few years ago were pretty bad.

Ironically, as a DC United fan that was the best kit in recent memory IMO.  But agreed, but if teams don't sell enough shirts in the Adidas deal, I doubt teams would reach enough sales to warrant enough creativity or money from individual kit deals.