Would you like to play a game? Rank all 30 new MLS kits

Before we get into the fun part, let me soapbox for a bit:

Every team should have a primary kit that instantly identifies them to casual and core fans alike. That means it should be iconic and distinct and iterated upon only marginally – add a collar one year, an extra stripe on the trim the next, change the jock tag the third year, etc. etc. Stuff that makes it so sickos can instantly say "oh yeah that's the Atlanta 2024 kit" and casuals can instantly reply "...wait, what? How do you know that? It's just an Atlanta kit, how do you know what year it's from?"

And then there's, like, a few seconds of awkward conversation that ends with the people involved being 2% less friends. That's what this stuff is for.

Some iconic kits from MLS history:

• D.C. United's 1996 & 97 primaries and secondaries (and their 1997 thirds were incredible, too).
• Sporting KC's 2013 & 14 argyle third kit. These should be their primaries. Period. Mess around with the colors to make a secondary version as well.
• Houston's 2018 & 2019 away kits. These should be the secondaries, with the colors inverted for their primaries.

There are plenty more to choose from, but those are the three that pop in my head when people start talking about/complaining about MLS kits. Every MLS team should strive to create something like this and stick with it, but too few have done so.

Now, for third kits, or special editions? Go absolutely nuts, and be as creative as possible. Just don't wear them out and lose sight of who you are as a club.

Ok, I'm down from the soapbox, and ready to talk about last week, when MLS and adidas dropped their 2026 updates. Some of them showed a clear understanding of the assignment: classic kits (like the Galaxy with their sash, or the Sounders with their Rave Green) that were modified only slightly. I turn that game on, and I know who's playing.

Others lost some of their best features. LAFC should always have golden pinstripes, while the Crew's Charlie Brown kit from the past couple of years should've been their primaries forever. A++ look. The 'Caps, meanwhile, no longer fully look like the 'Caps, and I find that upsetting. Bad juju to start the year.

A bunch of others – New England, San Jose, RBNY, Philly to name a few – went buck wild in producing, essentially, third kits. There are more misses than hits here, but I love what the Revs and Quakes did, in particular.

How much? Well, it turns out I had them both in my top 10. And how much do you actually like them? Well, it turns out you can find out by using this fun new toy, the Full Kit Ranker:

That's all! No skin in the game here for me, I just thought this was a fun way to spend a few minutes and wanted to platform some good work from a guy whose shitposts I've really enjoyed over the years. Plus it gave me a chance to launch my "iconic kits only!" screed.

Back tomorrow with my 2026 Tiers. In the meantime, here's some reading to get you ready for the season:

• Joe Lowery solo'd season previews for every freaking team on Backheeled. Incredible work.
• It took a whole team of nerds from American Soccer Analysis to do the same.
• The army of volunteer superfans at /r/MLS did their annual Countdown to Kickoff season previews.