Every year, the MLS has placed the reveal of new team kits in this single few day period at the end of February. Great for fans and the league, MLS Jersey Week gets soccer fans excited as the opening games are nearly here. The season is about to kick off and there are new looks to grab fans attention.
First off, I have to feature the Philadelphia Union's new 3rd kit. An all black, with the red Bimbo bread logo, it’s great in itself. But that is just the start. The Union logo on the chest looks fantastic, and then there’s the giant B toward the bottom left. It's a throw-back jersey. To who you may ask? Non other than the very old Bethleham Steel FC (Company) Team, a pedigree championship winning team.
On the rear of the jersey is the old Bethleham logo and a team history dedication. It's very cool.
Then on to the New York Red Bulls. They decided to simplify a bit going for an all white, with the Red Bull logo front and center, featuring the newest Addidas super light weight fabric. This new Primary Jersey really helps with their highly commercial team identity. All five globally sponsored Red Bull named teams have similar looking jersey kits now. Something to help with MLS world recognition. Not a bad thing for the Red Bulls as their star, Thierry Henry, demands for a much higher team salary cap to allow better overall team talent in the MLS. He wants more world talent to increase the depth of the game on every team in the league. I tend to agree. With huge company sponsorships and massive growth, it may be time to give a bit more for more big name players.
Their secondary or away Jersey is the dark blue and white striped kit that they have had, except it feature the new material and it’s a cleaner design. The Red Bull team logo on the chest is looking good while the huge team sponsorship Red Bulls are not too gaudy.
But nothing touches the new Colorado Rapids primary kits. The Jersey over a 1,100 names printed into it. That's right! Every one of the team's season ticket holders have their names on the team's kit. Very cool idea for fan support.
However, that isn't the biggest change. Their secondary kits are a huge departure. They are blue, red, and yellow, featuring everything Colorado. The team logo on the chest is the Colorado state flag. And there is that same huge C from the state flag embossed in lighter blue across the entire front of the jersey. It really is an interesting idea, all about the home for the team, the state of Colorado. And it’s a great design. It really makes you think of some great European team kits.
Which brings me to a team who already had highly visible and unique kits. The Houston Dynamo got new primary and secondary kits. And they are so awesome. They really make the team look impressive. And they might be a real contender for this year's league cup, so it is great timing. They are building a brand of winning in Houston.
The primary kits are now white with orange trim, the secondary are all orange with some white trim. They have large orange bands on the primary jersey that totally change the feel of the kits from last year. The opposite is the case for the secondary kit. An identical white band contrasts the bright orange of the kit. They are a much better overall design, using 100% recycled polyester fibers. A nice touch for the sustainability of the world. RIGHT! They now have the Texas state flag as the chest logo instead of a Houston Dynamo logo. And to top that off, they have the team motto "Forever Orange" stitched above the Texas flag. Not bad! But that still isn’t it, they placed these little triangular shapes on the neck line of the jersey to reflect the design of the new BBVA Stadium, the freshly constructed stadium for the Houston Dynamo.
Toronto FC revealed a new primary kit, all about Canada. The jersey has a bunch of smaller geometric shapes that together form a large maple leaf, on the rear of the jersey, on the neck line, it reads “All for One” in stitched white letters, and the colors are deep red, and a dark gray black. The team logo has been refreshed a bit too looking great on the chest area. This is a update to what the team had been using for official colors but it was worth it to give them a much better team identity.
But hey MLS fans, this is just half the announced new kits. We still have a lot of new gear being released.
Here is the full schedule so you can find your favorite team, find out when they are making their announcement , and check them out. Judging by these few, they are really doing something special this year.
2013 JERSEY WEEK SCHEDULE
Monday, Feb. 25
New York Red Bulls (Primary Kit) @ Pier 59 Studios [PRIVATE EVENT]
Colorado Rapids (Primary & Secondary Kits) @ Brown Palace [PRIVATE EVENT]
Houston Dynamo (Primary & Secondary Kits) @ House of Blues [PRIVATE EVENT]
Tuesday, Feb. 26
Colorado Rapids (Primary & Secondary Kits) @ Lodo's + Jersey Caravan [PUBLIC EVENT]
Philadelphia Union (Third Kit) @ Xfinity Live [PUBLIC EVENT]
Toronto FC (Primary Kit) @ The Berkeley Church [PRIVATE EVENT]
Wednesday, Feb. 27
LA Galaxy (Secondary Kit) @ The Grammy Museum [PUBLIC EVENT]
Montreal Impact (Third Kit) @ New City Gas [PRIVATE EVENT]
Seattle Sounders (Primary & Secondary Kits) @ Cinerama [PRIVATE EVENT]
Sporting Kansas City (Primary Kits) @ The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art [PRIVATE EVENT]
Vancouver Whitecaps FC (Primary Kit) @ Rocky Mountaineer Train Station [PRIVATE EVENT]
Thursday, Feb. 28
Portland Timbers (Primary & Secondary Kits) @ Last Thursday on Alberta Street [PUBLIC EVENT]
Friday, March 1
Chivas USA (Secondary Kit) @ Home Depot Center [PRIVATE EVENT]
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