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Wrapping up MLS Jersey Week

MLS Jersey hed 550

By Phil Hecken

As you guys are likely aware, in the build up to the kickoff of its 2015 season, MLS (Major League Soccer) holds “jersey week” in which new jerseys for its clubs are introduced. They come out piecemeal, and we really haven’t had any extensive coverage of the jerseys except for a few slots in the ticker.

If you don’t (or haven’t been) following MLS recently, 2015 is the league’s 20th season. New for this year are two clubs: New York City FC and Orlando City SC will begin play in MLS in 2015. An expansion club in Atlanta will join in 2017. And there are additional plans for an expansion club in Miami. If you’re into soccer, particularly US soccer, it’s a pretty big time.

The league also introduced a new logo for 2015 — I happen to like it a lot — and each team will wear a variation of that logo (with team colors swapped in the for MLS logo) on their kit. It marks the first time in the league’s history they haven’t used a logo with some type of boot kicking a ball.

The season began last evening — but it almost didn’t happen. Labor strife had threatened to halt some or all of the season, but the teams and players union agreed on a deal. Everyone’s happy.

I hadn’t planned on doing a post on the new jerseys, but Paul received an e-mail during the week from Harrison Hamm, which simply asked:

I have another story idea for Uni Watch: A recap of MLS jersey week. There are so many new jerseys unveiled for jersey week, instead of just having them appear day-by-day in the ticker, why not have them all in one place, in one article?

Paul asked if I was interested and I said, “Sure.” So I contacted Harrison and asked if he’d like to show off the new jerseys (or kits) and give us a brief description. There are a lot of them, so he was very brief.

Here we go (click on any images to enlarge):

. . .

Full recap of MLS Jersey week
By Harrison Hamm

MLS jersey week is something that the other major professional sports don’t have. All teams unveil new uniforms for the upcoming season. It is very interesting to see the new designs, so I decided to put them all in one place.

. . .

Portland Timbers 1

Portland Timbers:


This is Portland’s beautiful new primary kit. The gold stripe across the chest is a very nice new addition. (More information here.)

. . .

Seattle Sounders 1

Seattle Sounders:


The Sounders new home kit adds some not-so-good white pinstripes, and the new away jersey went GFGS with gray pinstripes. More.

. . .

Real Salt Lake 1

Real Salt Lake:


RSL’s new away kit adds blue sleeves with yellow stripes across the top. More.

. . .

Houston Dynamo 1

Houston Dynamo:


Houston’s new home jersey has their signature creamsicle orange fading to white on the bottom, revealing a new checkered pattern. They also add the Texas flag to the bottom. More.

. . .

Columbus Crew 1

Columbus Crew:


The Crew have similar kits to last year, but add the checkered pattern to their away uni. More.

. . .

LA Galaxy 1

Los Angeles Galaxy:


The reigning champions Galaxy unveiled a new “blue on blue” jersey. More.

. . .

DC United 1

DC United:


DC United’s new secondary kit features red on top and white on the bottom. On the neck tape, they have the fan’s favorite chant: “Vamos United Esta Noche Tenemos Que Ganar” (Let’s Go United Tonight We Have To Win). More.

. . .

Sporting KC 2

Sporting KC:


Sporting KC have a new light blue jersey with this checkered design. More.

. . .

FC Dallas 2

FC Dallas:


FC Dallas gets new secondary kits, with blue stripes. More.

. . .

Philadelphia Union 2

Philadelphia Union:


The Union will have the “We Are One” slogan inside the collar. More.

. . .

Toronto FC 1

Toronto FC:


Toronto has a new red home jersey for the upcoming season. More.

. . .

Chicago Fire 1

Chicago Fire:


The Fire have a new secondary kit that includes the addition of light blue for the first time. More.

. . .

Orlando SC 2

Orlando City FC:


The newest MLS team added a white alternate jersey. More.

. . .

Vancouver Whitecaps 1

Vancouver Whitecaps:


The Whitecaps have a white jersey that includes icy blue at the top. They also have 1974 on the back to celebrate the team’s founding. More.

. . .

New England Revolution3

New England Revolution:


The Revs have a new secondary jersey that was inspired by the Flag of New England, which is on the back of the jersey. More.

. . .

Montreal Impact 1

Montreal Impact:


The Impact have a new white jersey that was seen in action at a Champions League Match. More.

. . .

Colorado Rapids1

Colorado Rapids:


The newest team to unveil a new jersey, the Rapids have a new state flag themed away gold jersey. More.

. . . . .

And that’s going to do it for this review of Jersey Week. Big thanks to Harrison for the suggestion to review all the kits, and for his writeups. OK readers, what do you think? Do you guys like the idea of an entire league releasing jerseys in a one-week span? Does that maintain (or encourage more) interest?

I know I will have increased interest in the League and in the beautiful game this year. I’ll also (hopefully) be taking in my first-ever MLS game, as Chance Michaels and Conn Nugent promised to include me in at least one of the new NYCFC games in Yankee Stadium this year.

And as an added bonus (h/t to Paul), here is a SUPER HI RES image of the new MLS kits. If that’s “too big”, here’s a smaller version. Neat.

Looking forward to the 2015 MLS Season!

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colorize this

Colorize This!

Occasionally, I will be featuring wonderful, high-quality black and white photographs that are just begging to be colorized.

Back today with our good friend and long-time colorization expert, George Chilvers, who has another set of new colorizations for us, including one he alluded to during the comments earlier this week. And we also have a great one from Bruce Menard, our baseball historian and old photo master. So it’s a fantastic set today. Enjoy!

We’ll start with George (click to enlarge):

. . .

Spurs Tealadies colour - George Chilvers

>

Hi Phil

This picture dates from the 70s, a game between Tottenham (in white) and Man United. I love the way the focus is on the crowd (and the ladies) and the players are slightly out of focus, and in the crowd not one replica shirt is to be seen.

The picture appears regularly on football message boards and Facebook groups – usually with a caption competition.

So I’ll start off with “Here, Edith. I told you we should have turned left not right”

George

. . .

Of course, one is good and two is even better. Here’s the second:

Mackay and Bremner colour - George Chilvers


Mackay and Bremner

Hi Phil

No – I haven’t completed this between this afternoon’s comments and now – I have had this on my partially completed file for a while, and decided the time was right to complete it. Proof that you don’t need a ball in view for a great football photo.

The protagonists in this are Dave Mackay of Tottenham in the white shirt, who died this week, and Billy Bremner of Leeds. Another iconic image (at White Hart Lane, home of Spurs, just like the other photo of the two ladies), Dave Mackay actually hated this photo as it shows him at a point he “lost it” with his Scottish team-mate Bremner. Billy is looking angelic and innocent of course, but in fact he was one of the hardest players round at the time. This was an era when I first watched football live, late 60s and into the 70s, when “men were men”. I’m not at all sure what today’s prima donnas who fall over and roll around in agony if you just look at them wrong would make of being tackled by Bremner or Mackay.

RIP Dave Mackay.

George

. . .

And next we have Bruce with a colorization for an old baseball card.

1909 T-204 Ramly Wee Willie Keeler NY AL (edit)Color2BrdW - Bruce Menard


1909 T-204 Ramly Wee Willie Keeler NY AL (orig)

Hey there Phil,

Here’s that 1909 T-204 Willie Keeler card that I colorized.

I attached the original for comparison.

Let me know what you think….

Cheers!

~Bruce

. . . . .

Thank you gentlemen! Tremendous work, as always.

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all sport uni tweaks

Uni Tweaks Concepts

We have another new set of tweaks, er…concepts today. After discussion with a number of readers, it’s probably more apropos to call most of the reader submissions “concepts” rather than tweaks. So that’s that.

So if you’ve concept for any sport, or just a tweak or wholesale revision, send them my way.

Please do try to keep your descriptions to ~50 words (give or take) per image — if you have three uniform concepts in one image, then obviously, you can go a little over, but no novels, OK? OK!. You guys have usually been good with keeping the descriptions pretty short, and I thank you for that.

Like the colorizations, I’m going to run these as inline pics — click on each one to enlarge.

And so, lets begin:

~~~

First up today is Cole Hammers, who has an idea on how to “fix” the New York Football Giants:

Giants Away Fix - Cole Hammers

Hi Phil,

My edit on the Giants uni is to remove the gray from their uni entirely and replace it with blue.

Thanks!

Cole

. . .

And we close today with Bobby Tighe who has some new looks for the Lions:

Lions-Blue-Nike-Flex-Template - Bobby Tighe

Lions-White-Nike-Flex-Template - Bobby Tighe

Lions-Gray-Nike-Flex-Template - Bobby Tighe

Hi Phil,

I am a huge Detroit Lions fan, but the fact that their uniforms are better suited for NFL Europe has finally pushed me to the brink. So, I decided to take measures into my own hands and spent the weekend learning how to make my own concepts in Photoshop. Huge shout out to Chris Creamer’s forum, btw.

Anyways, the gist of my concepts are as follows:
1. Ditch the black completely.
2. Go back to Honolulu Blue
3. Add white as a team color
4. Make the retro blue and silver striping a focal point

I think the white helmet looks great and really makes the blue and silver striping pop. I would not want to see the Lions don the all-silver alt, but I like the versatility to mix and match. I also figure people might be partial to the silver helmets since they have been around since the beginning.

Regards,
Bobby Tighe (Chicago)

. . .

And that’s it for today. Back with more next time.

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Uni Watch News Ticker:

Baseball News: SI’s Headline: “Justin Verlander and David Price wore cartoonish golf outfits.” The real headline: JV & DP wore OUTSTANDING gold outfits (although Price really should be wearing a shirt under that vest). Nice spot by Jeffrey Sak. … The Vols went with a combo never worn before last night: Orange tops with the throwback stirrups (via Riley Clem). … This is a disturbing trend. … Beautiful photo of the 1906 Cubs (via The Skimmers). Also from The Skimmers, check this neat shot of Jack Chesbro of the NY Highlanders. And here’s one of Addie Joss. … Fantastic article on Baseball Propsectus by Jeff Long, “Pitching Backward: In Search of the Winningest Logo”, which is definitely worth your time (thanks to Jonathan Daniel for the spot). … Great photo from Bruce Menard of Babe Ruth resting on a Rubbing Table after a Spring Training workout (March 6, 1930). Interesting the caption reads “The Bam” (obviously short for “Bambino”). …The New Mexico Lobos are wearing at “TG” sticker on their helmets in honor of Tony Gwynn (thanks to Greg Williams). … “Great to see a young kid knowing how to blouse” says Steven Robinson. “Nats’ Wilmer Difo. He’s even going wool socks.” While I wouldn’t say that is a great example of textbook blousing, it’s still great to see sock. … Check out this very cool old cigar box picture taken at “The mistake by the Lake” (from Christopher LaBella). … Tough to tell from these screen grabs, but what was up with David Price’s pants yesterday (from Bronson Marlett and Nicholas Schiavo respectively). … When SF’s first ballpark opened in 1868, the SF Eagles faced the Oakland Wide Awakes. A sack race got equal billing. Submitter Hugh McBride notes, “The OAKLAND WIDE AWAKES #BestTeamNameEver.” … Fansided has taken a look at Paul’s MLB uni rankings, and the author has a bit of a disagreement on the Orioles ranking, and specifically the white-panel cap. Hmmm. Does Jim Vilk write for them under a pseudonym? … Here’s a neat article from Jim Romenesko with a cool anecdote about a guy who wore a Yankees cap to a job interview. And that interview just happened to be with the BOSTON Globe. … Whoa — check out the all new, black & gold pinstriped numbers Vandy broke out last night vs. UCLA (h/t Trés Lawless). Here’s a full length look (via Sporting News Baseball). … Yesterday, the Cubs paid tribute to Ernie Banks by cutting the #14 into the outfield grass & wearing these hats (h/t JBott32). … Hey, here’s one time a Met gets it: Jay Horowitz wearing last year’s BP cap (which looks about a million percent better than the new pieces of shit). Thanks to Steve Dodell.

NFL/College/Other Football News: Reader Alex Sinclair has done a full league redesign of the old NFL Europa teams, and it’s pretty neat. You can check them all out at his Revisit Europa site. … Aram Gyan came across the epic drawing by Mad Magazine’s Jack Davis showing the AFC in all of its 1970s glory. … “I think this link to this video shows Otto Graham wearing a Brown facemask in the 1955 NFL Championship v. the LA Rams,” writes Kevin Whisman. If you recall, Paul recently uncovered the fact that some Browns did have Brown facemasks back in the 1950s. Graham, of course, was also famous for wearing a clear faceguard. … This is neat: American football “scrimmage aprons” from 1941, designed to lessen injuries during practice sessions (from Graham Clayton). … Great observation from Benjamin Thomas, who writes, “I never noticed how, at least this barefooted kicker, wore the sock tops. This is Rich Karlis. Ever notice that before?” Paging Jim Vilk.

NBA & College Basketball News: Last night, the Wizards became Los Wizards for the first time. According to this article, “Each year a few teams in markets with significant Hispanic populations have participated and worn special bilingual jerseys to commemorate the event. This season the program is referred to as ‘Noches Éne Bé A’ and the Washington Wizards will take part for the first time.” Here they are in action (more photos here). … Akron wore purple & PETERS on back to honor late Bearcats coach Dan Peters (via Doug Smith). … “What should we call this? EOB (Eyes on Back)? Any other suggestions?” asks Alex Hider. That’s Paint Valley High School in Bainbridge, Ohio. Fitting they poach Cincinnati’s eyes logo when they’re nicknamed the Bearcats. … Speaking of the Bearcats, the Adidas March Madness shorts UC “supposedly” turned down are now at outlet stores (via Nick Walter). However, a little birdie told me, “Just as a heads-up. Those Bearcats adidas post season uniforms are very real and very much happening. The fans saying they were rejected don’t know what they are talking about. adidas just didn’t put them in the release after UC signed with Under Armour. But they are planning to wear them in conference tourney and NCAA. Jerseys have sleeves.” … Oooohhhweee — check out what the Atlanta Hawks were wearing last night. Lots more photos here. They were worn for Dominique Wilkins, who was honored at last night’s game. … On the opposite of the spectrum were the Spurs, who wore their sleeved G.I. Joe unis last night. … Georgetown will wear these new uniforms today vs. Seton Hall (h/t Georgetown Hoyas). … This is pretty cool: Deron Williams supports the #EndItMovement with the Red X on his shoes (via Sole Collector).

Hockey News: I’m not quite sure of the provenance of this graphic, but it looks like the St. Louis Blues will have black jerseys, probably for warmups (graphic from Joseph Beckerjeck). … Last night the AHL Icehogs wore jerseys in support of local Rockford youth hockey (via Brant Hulsebus).

Soccer News: Check out Pele’s shirt from the 1970 final. An Umbro piece (thanks to Nile Smith). That sure is a beaut. … Here’s a ranking of the best Airtricity League of Ireland kits as they begin their Premier League season. … Interesting crossover here: Apparently the paramedics in the EPL are NFL fans (via Nicholas Moe).

Grab Bag: Binghamton “was named 6th most intimidating logo by some website, looks New York based,” writes Bob Nolte. “The inclusion of Monmouth makes me question their understanding of intimidating.” … In Thursday night’s installment of At Midnight on Comedy Central, comedian Nick Thune wore a personalised Dodger jersey with no. 22. Submitter Ferdinand Cesarano notes, “Unfortunately, host Chris Hardwick didn’t make any mention of it.” … Here’s a look at Colorado State’s lax helmets for this year (from Helmet Guy). … Interesting NC State University themed helmet that Harrison Rhodes will wear for NASCAR Xfinity series (h/t Tweety McTweets). … “And you though ads on UNIFORMS were bad,” writes Terry Corby. “Apparently celebrities can get free tickets to Pacquiao/Mayweather by wearing advertising.” … Here’s a tremendous photo (thanks to Mike Styczen) from the 1980 Brier (now the Tim Hortons Brier). Love those jackets. … Here’s one from Brinke: “‘Supergirl’ Costume Revealed: First Pics of Melissa Benoist in Full Super-Suit” … “Did you know Mario, the Nintendo franchise, has a pretty specific style guide with PMS colors and specific application instructions?” asks Mike Engle. “My favorite piece: don’t just flip Mario and think you’ll get Luigi–that’s unacceptable and the fact that L isn’t vertically symmetric like M is will out it as wrong.”

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And that will do it for today. Thanks to Harrison, George, Bruce and the concepters, and of course everyone who submitted for the ticker. I’ll catch you guys tomorrow — everyone have a Super Saturday.

Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.

Peace.

.. … ..

“(T)hat new Twins home uniform is godawful. Ugliest thing the team has ever worn. And the gold isn’t even an issue: It’s completely invisible, even in batter or pitcher closeups on a large HD screen. … I love the Twins, and I really want to like anything the Twins do, but man, I’d take Miami’s unis over this garbage.”

–R. Scott Rogers

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Comments (69)

    I like the idea of jersey week, but the fact that it’s every single team, and they all have the 3 stripes on the shoulders makes it feel like it’s just Adidas advertising itself again, and not really about the teams or the league.

    Also, I think Team Xbox should have a black alternate, since that’s the color of the game system they’re representing.

    And why the heck don’t they show any numbers? I’d think that the choice of font could easily make or break a few of these designs. Team Barbasol looks pretty good, but what if the numbers are in some goofy unreadable font?

    “Team Xbox” aren’t Team Xbox nor are they “representing Xbox, they are the Seattle Sounders merely sponsored by Microsoft’s Xbox division.

    link

    As long as the real team logo is smaller than the sponsor, I’m calling them by the sponsor name. Advertisements don’t belong on sports uniforms.

    being a non-soccer fan.. .i am in agreement with Jeff.. Soccer makes it near impossible for non-fans to know who’s playing if you just looked at the jerseys

    Soccer shirts with sponsor names front and center are no more difficult to identify by team than American football jerseys with big ol numbers instead of team names or logos front and center. You recognize the team by color and pattern, not the writing on the front.

    Still, I wish soccer teams would structure their merchandise such that cheap replica jerseys came without the sponsor logo and high-price “authentic” jerseys have the logo.

    I think The is on to something. I’m calling them Team Xbox, Team Barbasol, Team Quaker, etc. If people don’t like those names, then take them off the jerseys, or at least make them smaller than the team logo.

    Meanwhile, I’ll continue to root for the sponsor-less Earthquakes and Rapids.

    By the way, I really like Team Alaska Airlines’ jersey. But I wouldn’t buy it.

    Couldn’t agree more about the sizing issue on those MLS jerseys. Having the sponsor name so much larger than the team nickname makes the MLS look minor league, even if they have good logos. If you must put advertisers on the uniform, at least make it much smaller than the team logo. Not a big soccer fan to start out with, but this was a mistake from the get go for the MLS.

    What do you mean “get go”? When the league started, sponsor logos were link or link.

    Trouble is, people weren’t really seeing the logos and teams weren’t getting much value out of them.

    At least in the early days, the jerseys actually *looked* like sports jerseys, instead of just shirts that corporate booth people wear at some kind of trade show. Seriously, put a collar on these things, and it might as well be casual Friday.

    Does Adidas even give a %@#& anymore?

    MLS teams all have the same font. It’s a new one this year, evoking the new league logo

    As a Revs fan since the New England Tea Men left town (i.e. before MLS was dreamt of) I enjoy the New England Flag jersey.

    (Plus anything which gets rid of the memory of those grey tricep patches from a few years ago helps.)

    Also, Binghamton’s Bearcat reminds me of a clean-shaven, green “Wolverine” (claws aside).

    That website had to be put up by a Binghamton alum, I went to a rival Uni, and we used to make fun of their logo (It is an excellent school though, so no hate from the Bing alumni, lol. Go Seawolves!)

    That Rapids jersey is proof that YFYS has hit American soccer. It’s official, we’re going full Europe. What’s next, Balotelli comes here and plays?

    I’m banging my head trying to come up with a caption for the two sexy ladies at the Tottenham-Man U game…

    Yes, looks like they are on their way to a reenactment of the battle of Pearl Harbor and wound up in the wrong place.

    “Edith, I’d have a better per-minute goal ratio than Falcao.”

    But seriously, both photos look amazing. I can’t imagine how much work it takes to colorize the spectators.

    I talked to that Yankees cap-wearing reporter outside of the City Museum in 2004 after the “Baseball is back in DC” press conference that I crashed. He didn’t use my quote though.

    Someone in the Colorado Rapids ‘paint by numbers’ department forgot the numbers in the white outlined areas and failed to explain this to the flunky they got to complete their job.

    Weren’t the Vancouver whitecaps founded in 2009? Was there some other Vancouver whitecap team before the current one?

    Was there some other Vancouver whitecap team before the current one?

    They probably have one of the more complex histories in North American soccer. The 1974 version link folded in 1984. Then another one popped up in 1986, initially named the 86ers, renamed the Whitecaps in 2000, played in like 20 different leagues before being “promoted” to MLS in 2010.

    Bob Lenarduzzi played for previous incarnations of the Whitecaps / 86es and is president of the current Whitecaps. Best Canadian soccer player ever and synonymous with Vancouver. Everybody knows its a different team but they’ve got more “continuity” than most discontinuous teams because of his presence.

    link

    those soccer jerseys should echo the alarm paul has been sounding for years to the other sports and that is PLEASE, NO ADVERTISING ON UNIFORMS.

    Seriously, you want to pay $200 for a shirt that reads Barbasol? Pardon my french but g*d d*amn everyone of those is just trashy. Not to mention why do I pay Barbasol to advertise for them.

    I bought a new car and the dealership had their name plate on the back of it. I asked to have it removed at the signing. The dealer told me there “would be a charge for labor and it would take half a day they would need to schedule”. I wish I had a picture of their faces when I whipped out a screwdriver and pried it right off myself. I even told them the scratch I made prying the damn thing off looked better than the dealer’s name. I offered to sell it back to them but they balked at my asking price of $20, but I bet they still tell that story!

    Great observation from Benjamin Thomas, who writes, “I never noticed how, at least this barefooted kicker, wore the sock tops. This is Rich Karlis. Ever notice that before?” Paging Jim Vilk.

    Always noticed it with Karlis. Not so much with Tony Frankilin, but apparently he did.
    link
    link
    So did Paul McFadden,
    link
    and Mike Lansford,
    link
    and punter Jim Miller.
    link

    Speaking of Tony Franklin, his holder was John Sciarra.
    link
    A while back we were discussing 80s British rock/pop stars who wore American football jerseys, and someone reminded me that Mick Jagger wore Sciarra’s jersey during a concert.
    link

    That must have set off a weird chain of events in my head, because the next morning I had an odd dream. I was watching highlights of an old Cowboys/Eagles game, and Franklin was trying a short field goal. The snap was low and bounced off the holder, who was not Sciarra…rather it was Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. For some reason, she was not in uniform, but attired as one would expect when picturing a female prime minister. Anyway, she recovers the ball and starts crawling with it towards the end zone. A Dallas linebacker assumed she would get up, and flew in to make a high tackle. He whiffed, and the Iron Lady rolled in for the score…a little disheveled but no runs in the stockings. I was laughing so much in my dream that I woke up at that point.

    “New York City FC and Orlando City SC will begin play in MLS in 2015”

    Think it should be Orlando FC, to match with the kit description a few paragraphs down.

    The Orioles’ white panel cap doesn’t bother me…but seriously, does anyone really think their current script is an upgrade link

    You’re absolutely right. The current script smacks of a clueless CEO saying, “Can’t you make our logo bigger?” The original capital “O” had so much more character.

    Love the new Georgetown uni’s. Anything old school is a huge plus over the usual clown suits, sleeved tops, etc so many schools are opting for.

    Minor quibble, but I kinda wish they’d gone all out and used the link for the full throwback effect.

    Love Bobby’s Lions concepts, they all look great.

    Whitecaps will be looking good this year, the gradient diamond pattern is really nice.

    1) Eyes on Back = S T U P I D
    2) Hardwick on @midnight didn’t mention it cause he’s not a sports guy. Plus they edit that show so he could’ve mentioned it in a cut out bit.

    Re: soccer sponsorships and the comparison that football uniforms don’t have team name. Football teams do wear a very recognizible part of their uniform with just team logos, just on their head.

    All the company names look terrible. Look at a jersey. See quaker. Look at the text next to the jersey to figure out the team. Then comparing them to the older soccer photos below. They just look bad.

    when soccer fans look at a jersey do they ignore the company logo. Or is the company logo part of the identity. Do they feel they are rooting for philly+quaker? If they say they are just rooting for philly, how would they feel with a different company? Philadelphia Union brought to you by Tampax.

    what if a company they have a problem with starts supporting, do they not root for their team? Say you strongly dislike Walmart and they go that direction.Philly+Walmart. Do you care?

    Sorry couldn’t figure how to reply in the thread on the phone.

    how would they feel with a different company? Philadelphia Union brought to you by Tampax.

    At least they wouldn’t be Bimbo!

    No, the serious answer is that Tampax wouldn’t sponsor Philly because no company is going to throw $500,000 minimum, likely more, knowing it would alienate a group that’s pretty vocal, if relatively low in number. Likewise, you wouldn’t see Viagra sponsor a women’s team because where’s the value in that?

    the first time I saw someone wearing a galaxy jersey I thought they were someone who sold herbalife. I understand a sponsor’s logo is common in soccer today, but I could never purchase and wear one without feeling like a walking advertisement.

    I also dislike MLS forcing their clubs to change jerseys every two years just to sell more jerseys and I really dislike how adidas designs all the jerseys with some of the same elements appearing in multiple jerseys making them look cookie cutter.

    No one’s forcing them to change every two years – they’re doing it because it sells.

    At least it’s every other year, instead of every season like it is in Europe.

    Nope, MLS mandates the longest a team can keep a jersey is 2 years. I’m sure there are no objections from the clubs, but if they did want to have a jersey design longer than 2 years they can’t.

    I like how the soccer teams without sponsors actually have normal names. Geographic area represented, nickname ending with an S. It’s how we do it here.
    Also kudos to Orlando for correctly using SC .

    Was wondering why S.C. is right and not F.C. in your opinion the words are interchangeable as its all a code of Football. If that’s the case wouldn’t every NFL team need to use G.F. or A.F. if we want to use the “proper” terms in America we play gridiron football or American Rules Football. Just like Australia has their own code so do we their is no argument its just a different word. Plus teams like the Sounders, Timbers, and Whitecaps are all “normal” names and have sponsors plus the Earthquakes currently looking for a sponsor and will have one some time this season and the only reason the Rapids don’t have a sponsor is because they are currently in a lawsuit for missed payments with sponsor currently under contract with them. link

    Neither F.C. nor S.C. nor any other abbreviation should be necessary. We don’t talk about the New York Mets B.C. or the Detroit Red Wings H.C. That sort of thing just isn’t part of American sports culture, and I haven’t a clue as to why Major League Soccer feels the need to imitate foreign conventions.

    And can one seriously argue that “Real Salt Lake” or “Chivas U.S.A.” are anything remotely appropriate for American professional sports teams?

    Actually when clubs were founded way back teams were Hockey clubs. Then people started calling them by just the nicknames. It is the same thing in Europe no one is writing Liverpool F.C. It would simply just be Liverpool or in some cases the reds. But then you run into teams with the same name which needs the distinction because they are run by the same company or club. I agree then Real is not a thing and is stupid but Chivas U.S.A was owned by Chivas Guadalajara so its just brand recognition like with Red Bull but Chivas is gone for good. What determines appropriate sports names Teams move and keeps the same name as before. What kind of names are Jazz for a team for Utah Or all those roaming grizzlies in Tennessee

    They play in a league called major league soccer. Soccer. We call it soccer.FC Dallas, that’s the Cowboys.
    As to the other question,an appropriate team name was already discussed. Geographic area,nickname ending in s.That’s not an opinion. It’s fact.

    Every Major soccer team has the sponsor logo on the chest while the crest is over the heart(mostly). No fan cares who is on the kit sponsor hell the red bulls are owned by their sponsor with the entire kit being a billboard. Its the club that matters! Some teams offer jerseys without sponsors Celtic F.C. being one.
    And Seattle does not have a gfgs kit its white but they do wear a black jersey its their third.
    Orlando is S.C. as they are Orlando City Soccer Club Unlike NYC which is New York City Football Club.

    Yeah I know but on the Celtic Shop you are able to buy a Jersey without the Sponsor on it link
    I like the Magners logo so I own a Hoops jersey with no logo and their third kit this year with the Magners logo

    That’s likely a special case because it’s sponsored by a spirits company. Aston Villa does something similar – its link instead of the club’s online bookie sponsor.

    I’ll never take soccer seriously because of all that “Chico’s Bail Bonds” crap they humorously refer to as a uniform.

    I realize this is a troll comment, but it speaks to a certain degree of privilege that fans of Big 4 pro leagues enjoy. It’s easy enough to mock others when your favorite sports leagues basically print money and insulated from any outside competition.

    It’s whole another matter when you support a league that’s still growing and has to compete for talent with the world outside North America.

    You don’t see ads on NFL, NHL, MLB or NBA (not yet anyway) isn’t because the leagues care any more about the sanctity of overpriced polyester. It’s because it doesn’t make sense to the bottom line. Whatever millions they’re leaving on the table by not advertising on jerseys is more than made up for by making ad space more scarce and getting more sponsorship monies elsewhere.

    On the other hand, MLS needs every dollar it can generate (and it helps that its fans are used to sponsored jerseys elsewhere, so they don’t freak out about it). It also has to generate said revenue without the benefit of a huge TV deal, and use that money to compete for talent with teams from around the world. And it also helps to keep in mind that sponsorship money isn’t solely for profiteering – without salary caps or revenue sharing, every dollar made is a dollar that can be used to improve talent.

    Plus, why mock jersey sponsorships when advertising is everywhere else in sports? Why single out polyester?

    MLB teams don’t talk about the sanctity of the uniform when they go on Japanese tours and have ads on their batting helmets:
    link

    link

    RSB

    The actual “Chico’s Bail Bonds” look could be made to be better than the MLS current ad look. Move down the bell and ‘let freedom ring’ and stick a number in the middle, or enlarge the bell a lot and put the number inside that. Either way at least the front of the jersey could have the team logo be most prominent item.

    Learned to live with some jersey advertising in sports/leagues outside of the big four but for me in any professional sport, no matter what their financial reality is, at the very least the most prominent area has to be reserved for the team logo.

    Phil,
    Binghamton has no P in it. Growing up here, I always hated when people, usually from downstate, put a P in.

    Huh, I live in Mass and never knew New England had(has) a flag. My neighbor across the street flies that flag in the summer, never knew what it was until now.

    I don’t know how last year’s Mets batting practice cap can be a million percent better; both this year’s with the orange front panel and last year’s are more appropriate for a minor league team. Just as long as the Mets don’t intend to use them in a real game…

    The “pinstripes” in the Seattle Sounders jerseys aren’t actually differently colored stripes – they’re a texture woven into the fabric. So it’s the same color, just a different thickness/texture so they catch the light differently. Same with the Colorado “flag” and some others.

    The white Seattle jersey actually looks surprisingly sharp in person – from behind it could be a sweater you’d wear to work.

    Loving the commentary on jersey ads. They’re coming to your sport, everyone!

    L.A. Kings will be wearing their gold throwbacks tonight. I believe this is the last time they will wear them this season.

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