St. Louis CITY SC unveils their first MLS kit: Our review of it

The newest MLS club, St. Louis CITY SC (yes, officially they capitalize the entire word CITY) has released their first ever kit, a bold magenta number that will certainly stand out.

The organization is set to debut in 2023, though they did field a reserve team in MLS NEXT Pro this season. But that team wore relatively plain gear for their campaign in the third tier. This new shirt certainly has more of the pizzazz you’d expect from an expansion team’s debut design.

Released to coincide with the opening CITYPARK, the club’s new stadium, the shirts were unveiled prior to a match featuring CITY2 vs. Bayer Leverkusen – making them the first 2023 MLS kit to debut.

City means CITY

The shirt is primarily what the club is calling its signature “CITY Red” color, a magenta shade that is certainly bright and bold. It’s trimmed in dark navy blue with highlights in bright yellow, colors pulled from the flag of the city of St. Louis. Notably, yellow is not an official part of the club’s standard badge, but it really pops against the red and blue of the shirt.

Down the left side is a stylized geometric pattern meant to evoke the steel plating of the Gateway Arch, St. Louis’ iconic landmark. Sponsor logos are all rendered in white, including the addition of the Apple TV logo under the MLS patch on the left sleeve. This is a preview of looks across the league as every team will feature the Apple logo starting next season, as part of the league’s 10-year streaming deal with the company.

Grading the St. Louis CITY SC Kit

Overall, this is one of the better debut efforts from recent MLS expansion teams. They didn’t play it safe and really leaned into their bold color scheme, with some additional civic flavor on top. The yellow highlights work great, and really the only critique might be to tone back the “steel” plating effect a bit more into the background.

Grade: B+

St Louis City’s debut kit is available for online ordering via World Soccer Shop and other stores.

Images: Adidas / St. Louis CITY SC