All the New 2023 MLS Kits Ranked

With the 2023 MLS season on the verge of starting, all the teams in Major League Soccer have been releasing their new kits over the last few weeks. The truth is, you probably don’t care what I think the best and worst kits are. However, if nothing, at least this is all the jerseys in one place for you to weigh in on your own.

On the whole, I love the ambition of some of the teams this year (even though some of them miss badly). There are a lot less plain white and black t-shirts going on though, and that’s a win. And even though it’s better, there are still a bunch of bad kits!

Let’s go worst to best (with 30 kits because St. Louis have two) to build a little suspense (like you didn’t just scroll straight to the bottom of the page).

30. CF Montreal

They don’t have a new kit... so they lose. The leaks look fine, but I won’t rate a leak.

29. St. Louis City - Secondary

From a distance it’s a white t-shirt. Up close... a white t-shirt. Up really close, there are pinstripes, but I don’t know why. Aren’t the St. Louis Cardinals rivals with the New York Yankees who wear pinstripes?

28. Toronto FC

I’m a sucker for hoops, but this just looks awful. Too much is happening.

27. Nashville SC

Call it the Johnny Cash kit all you want, it’s plain black. Nashville have some of the worst kits in the league. I don’t think they’ve ever had a good one in all their years of existence. And that is an awesome town full of creative people. At least they are pretty good at soccer.

26. Real Salt Lake

I’m an RSL hater, but this is just boring. It’s in honor of Utah being the beehive state, but it’s basically plain gold. The only credit they get is that gold is one of their colors.

25. FC Dallas

I like that it pays homage to to the Dallas Burn, but it’s terrible looking. The Allocation Disorder guys says the flames look like cheap clipart and I agree.

24. St. Louis City - Primary

While it’s marginally better than their secondary kit, I don’t care for the color (is it pink? is it red?) and it screams a rushed job template from adidas as the team was on a short timeline. Hopefully they’ll improve on their debut attempt next year.

23. New York Red Bulls

It’s just kind of ugly. It looks like it’s stained.

22. Los Angeles FC

Why do they have a smoke jersey? I don’t get it and it also seems a bit like a stain.

21. Charlotte FC

This one is getting a ton of praise and I don’t understand it. The crowns are cool, but you can’t see them. And why is it purple? I still love their primary. One of my favorites from last year.

20. Columbus Crew

It’s fine. It’s vaguely Columbus. Very much feels like a template.

19. LA Galaxy

It’s getting a lot of love as a retro look, but I don’t care for it. It’s basically just a forrest green jersey with a fun collar.

18. Houston Dynamo

Houston has such a great and unique color with their orange, but this is boring. From any distance it’s just plain orange. I probably only put it this high because the Swope Park Rangers wore orange and my daughter’s club team does too. Otherwise, they are missing a chance to do something great!

17. New York City FC

It’s ambitious to an extent, so that gives it some weight, but it has tire tread vibes for me. And if NYCFC don’t make some signings soon, they are going to get run over.

16. Inter Miami CF

It’s going to look plain black at a distance. Up close it looks pretty good though (and I’m a sucker for hoops).

15. Austin FC

I don’t hate this as much as most people, but their identity seemed like it was going to be vertical stripes. No need to make them seizure inducing.

14. Vancouver Whitecaps

It’s sort of boring, but it’s Vancouver’s identity. Kudos for sticking to it, though now both of their kits have this wide “hoop” in the middle.

13. Chicago Fire

I’m not sure it makes a ton of sense, but it’s different and it’s in their colors. I don’t hate it, which is more than I can say for most of the first chunk of this list.

12. Colorado Rapids

I like it even though it makes no sense as a Rapids jersey. At least it’s unique. Also, New Day is a wrestling reference, so that wins a bit of points (though admittedly I stopped watching WWE long before they were a thing).

11. Philadelphia Union

It’s unique. It’s in their alternate color scheme and it’s definitely going to be visible on TV. Not sure what this vaguely camo look has to do with Philly, but it’s better than the (admittedly ambitious) lightning bolts.

10. Orlando City

It’s subtle, but this has a brick look to represent the purple wall behind the goal for the supporter’s section. Plus, Orlando sticks to their classic purple and gold color scheme. Orlando is purple, not Charlotte.

9. D.C. United

This may be number one if the cherry blossoms weren’t so subtle. It’s definitely going to just look like plain white from any distance. Great homage to a tree that is very associated with Washington DC.

8. FC Cincinnati

It’s something different but it’s still firmly in Cincy’s colors.

7. San Jose Earthquakes

It may be a template, I’m not sure, but it’s in the Earthquakes colors and I think it’s fun. Supposedly those are fault lines... whatever. Marketing nonsense. It’s a definite improvement over their old jerseys and their black and white t-shirt they still have as a secondary.

6. Seattle Sounders

This is really fun. The “Bruce Lee” kit with a freakin’ dragon... come on! It only loses points for being in RSL coclors.

5. Sporting Kansas City

I can hear your hate right now, but if the 2021-22 primary didn’t look so similar, it wouldn’t be getting as much vitriol. I’m a homer, sure, whatever. But I like the hoops look. They are among my favorite Sporting KC kit’s ever and making it their identity is a move I’m behind (I was on the record as wanting this before I knew it existed). It seems I’m in the minority (or maybe the minority is just really vocal online that hate it), but I’m fine with that and I think this look is going to age really well.

I stand by next year’s secondary needs to be fun though! I’ll be upset right along with you all if it isn’t.

4. Atlanta United

This is instantly identifiable as Atlanta. I’m not checked into Atlanta fans, but I bet they didn’t have a negative reaction SKC fans did. This is their identity and I bet most fans know that. Simple, but effective.

3. New England Revolution

I love a good sash. If the USMNT look isn’t the Waldo jersey or the bomp pop (which they should definitely have an identity), it should be their sash look. It’s relatively simple, but I really like it.

2. Portland Timbers

It has those traditional Portland colors and what says lumberjack more than plaid? I know we are supposed to not like the Timbers as SKC fans, but this is well executed.

1. Minnesota United

I just think this jersey is really fun. And who doesn’t love the Northern Lights?

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The real problem that MLS and adidas need to solve going forward is that the back of all these jerseys are plain. It’ll make the very cool fronts look very lame when you see them from behind.

What are your thoughts on the 2023 kits? Give me a top 3-5 and most hated in the chat. Feel free to everserate my opinion, style is way more personal than almost anything else we discuss on this site, and no one would accuse me of being stylish!