Sporting Kansas City’s new primary jersey for the 2023 and 2024 seasons – featuring a modern evolution of the club’s classic Sporting Blue and Dark Indigo hoops – was unveiled today.
Fans can place orders online at SportingStyle.com and MLSstore.com, while SportingStyle will also open a pop-up store at Compass Minerals National Performance Center (1913 Pinnacle Way, Kansas City, KS) to offer a first ever retail experience inside Sporting’s world-class training complex to celebrate the release of the Hoops 4.0 jersey. The pop-up store will be open from 4 to 8 p.m. today and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
All fans who order the kit online at SportingStyle.com by Saturday will be able to select a time to pick up their purchase at Compass Minerals National Performance Center and sign up to participate in an exclusive happy hour with a special guest from the team’s 2013 MLS Cup championship season inside the players’ lounge at the $75 million facility. The happy hours will be offered on each day of the event with a limited capacity and will include samples of Anheuser-Busch products.
SportingStyle will also offer free jersey customization – allowing fans to choose the name and number on the back of the kit at no additional cost – for all orders placed online at SportingStyle.com or purchased at the pop-up store through Saturday. In addition, all fans who buy a customized jersey will have the one-of-a-kind opportunity to pick up their personalized kit inside the Sporting Kansas City locker room at Compass Minerals National Performance Center.
"This is a tradition that began in 2014. The inaugural hoops kit was the first place we saw our gold star for the 2013 championship," said Chad Reynolds, Sporting KC Senior Director, Brand. "Almost a decade later now, the hoops kit has become an iconic part of our brand. When you see the Sporting Blue and Dark Indigo hoops, you know it's Sporting Kansas City. It’s who we are."
An iconic look in the sport globally, the hoops design with alternating light and dark blue stripes has become synonymous with Sporting Kansas City in American soccer over the last decade. The new Hoops 4.0 kit expands on a collection of popular hoops kits worn by the team previously with distinct variations showcased in 2014-15, 2016-17 and 2021-22.
Sporting's newest jersey continues the tradition with thin Dark Indigo horizontal stripes - tying back to the memorable kits worn from 2016-17 – and the jersey also includes Dark Indigo trim around the neck, sleeves and sides to complete the clean and classy look. Sporting Blue shorts and socks round out the new primary jersey, which can also be worn interchangeably with Dark Indigo shorts or socks.
Authentic kits are also highlighted by specialized elements emblazoned to both the interior and exterior of the back neck. Above the player's name and number is an interlocking argyle SKC, continuing the custom of including argyle touches in Sporting kit designs. In addition, a neck tape adorned to the inside of the kits is accentuated with the club motto “Paint The Wall” and the year 2013 in honor of the 10th anniversary of Sporting’s MLS Cup triumph and the tradition of painting the championship wall at Children’s Mercy Park.
Major League Soccer's exclusive supplier, adidas has provided the club's uniforms since the inaugural season in 1996 and the adidas Three Stripes run along the shoulders in addition to the adidas performance logo on the chest. Compass Minerals debuted as Sporting KC's official jersey front partner in 2022 and the company’s logo is again prominently displayed on the front of all Sporting KC kits as part of a long-term First Team partnership as the club's official plant nutrition and salt provider.
Sporting Kansas City is the first and only club in Major League Soccer to unveil the team’s 2023 jersey on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, a new subscription service from Apple and MLS that will stream every match of the regular season, Audi MLS Cup Playoffs and Leagues Cup with no blackouts. Notably, all MLS jerseys in 2023 feature the new MLS/Apple badge on the left jersey sleeve to amplify the 10-year partnership.
Sporting is also teaming up with Children’s Mercy Kansas City for a K.I.T.S. (Kindness In The Schools) initiative by delivering the team’s new primary jerseys to students at 30 local elementary and middle schools in conjunction with National Random Acts of Kindness Day tomorrow. Each school will surprise three students on Friday with jerseys customized with “Kindness” above the number 23 on the back as part of the RED CARD anti-bullying campaign.
Led by Manager Peter Vermes, Sporting will begin the 2023 campaign on the road against the Portland Timbers with the earliest regular season match in club history on Monday, Feb. 27. The season opener will air live for free on MLS Season Pass at 9:00 p.m. CT and Sporting will host a Season Kickoff Watch Party at Chicken N Pickle in Overland Park.
The team’s highly anticipated home schedule begins March 11 against the LA Galaxy at Children’s Mercy Park and season tickets are available by calling 888-4KC-GOAL or by visiting SportingKC.com. Additional ticket packages and promotions, as well as single-match tickets for the club's first eight regular season home matches, are also on sale.
