Sporting KC
Sporting KC unveils new 18th & Vine secondary jersey
Inspired by the the 18th & Vine district
Sporting Kansas City unveiled their new jersey for 2026. The club’s new secondary jersey, the 18th & Vine kit, is inspired by Kansas City’s historic 18th & Vine Jazz District. That part of Kansas City is famous for Jazz and Blues, musicians like Count Basie and Charlie Parker, and is the home to the American Jazz Museum.
The kit is designed to tap into that legacy of Kansas City as the cradle of Jazz with neon-inspired script, rhythmic patterns and bright, glowing accents that evoke the images of the lights that were part of 18th & Vine. The kit incorporates sheet music from the iconic song “Kansas City (Here I Come)”. The Wilbert Harrison hit is showcased inside the collar.
The kit is a departure from previous kits, adding neon colors to their secondary jersey. The design echos the diamonds of the argyle pattern the team has adopted over the years. Sporting KC is a team looking to set a new direction this year. New management, a new coach, a new primary owner, and a team that is being rebuilt. They will hope the new kit can start a new era for the club.
SKC’s crest features stars as part of a league-wide initiative recognizing the FIFA World Cup 2026 host countries. All of the MLS clubs based in the United States will feature stars in their crests. The league’s three Canadian clubs will display maple leaves.
The stars in the crest can be seen below.
Credit: Sporting KC
The new neon colors are subtle but add a little pop.
The normal adidas Three Stripes on the shoulder and the logo on the chest are in place as well as the Compass Minerals logo in the center as the official jersey front partner. New this year is the Saint Luke’s logo worn as a patch on the right sleeve of Sporting KC’s primary and secondary jerseys on gamedays. The Major League Soccer crest and Apple TV logo adorn the left sleeves of all team uniforms.
Credit: Sporting KC
All kit/jersey/crest/rebrands must come with explainers now. SKC’s is pretty straight forward.
Credit: Sporting KC
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I’m not a jersey guy, but that might just be one I buy. I’m not even sure I like it for SKC. But the homage to the blues/jazz history and the notes from Kansas City are pretty cool.
I always caution that I want to see the full kit and in person on a player before I decide. That is especially true for ones I do not like but even ones I like. I have been shown a full kit on a player and I think it didnt make it better or worse in this case.
I also want to see how it shows up when I shoot at night or day.
With that said, I really like it.
The colors are great. The design looks really nice. But, and I know this is nitpicky, I really dislike how the diamonds on the body don’t line up with the diamonds on the sleeves. It looks sloppy and takes away from what’s a really great color scheme. Maybe I’ll stop caring about that, but the little details count and it feels distracting to me.
Now I can’t unsee that!
Haha oops…not to pour kerosene on the fire, but they don’t even match up in the same spot on both sides of the jersey.
That’s jazz man, it’s not meant to fit your norms 🙂
I am really not a fan. It has the same design language of, like, a mobile game from last decade.
Im not saying it doesn’t look cool but the explanation of using colors that have nothing to do with the club or this city is pretty weak. It looks like an Orlando/nyc mashup shirt
I normally do not like it when teams use colors that are not part of their primary color scheme but I thought this one works well. Fits the theme well and not overpowering.
I don’t know, I feel like it made sense to me. That’s probably what I like best. I actually get tired of seeing the same colors run out with a slightly tweaked design.
The away kit is when you get to do something fun. Most clubs around the world have a signature primary and then experiment with the secondary.
it’s very American to just have the same away jerseys every year.
This touches on a constant tension in MLS: how to balance emulating European/global standards vs. following local cultural norms. As an American, soccer’s constantly changing kits is one of my least-favorite things about the sport (along with giant corporate sponsors on said kit). Others are welcome to feel differently, but the tension is there.
I love having a signature primary look. I’m a New York Yankees fan. The pinstripes are iconic.
but I’m totally fine having a rotating experimental kit as a secondary one for fun. Primary is the brand. Secondary is an homage to someone or something important in the city or a love letter to the city. It’s fun.
id hate to see it like the NFL where the chiefs jerseys have remained virtually unchanged for 60 years. It’s boring.
Yeah, see, I like that historical continuity. I’m a Canadiens fan in NHL and I love that my 20+ year old jersey still feels fresh with today’s team. I’m not a Yankees fan but I respect their iconic and unchanging look. And I like that to be true for both home and away jerseys. When I go to see my team away, I want them to look like my team.
As fan merch, I think these creative designs are fun. Not as a big fan of them on the field as the team’s visual identity. But I get that others’ mileage may vary.
And just to show that I’m a hypocrite, I love the Royals’ City Connect jersey, and in fact own one rather than a standard Royals jersey. But I like that the Royals have a standard home and away look that’s reasonably consistent, then wear the City Connects on a limited and known schedule.
I’m so with you on jerseys. I love the Chiefs unchanging look. In fact, somewhere toward the end of the season my kids and I were watching a Chiefs game and I said, “Hey, you know what the Chiefs uniforms looked like during the first Super Bowl,” and pointed to the screen.
I am also a huge antagonist toward the preponderance of black jerseys. KU has taken to wearing that black home jersey in football, and, I will admit that it looks bitchin. But I still don’t like it.
Old man rant over…
I really can’t make up my mind on this.
Negative: Not a big fan of off-color schemes. I like my teams to have a clear visual identity. I like that I can recognize “normal” SKC on the field instantly. Up close, the details are very cool and KC-related, but from any distance they blend into (as another commenter said) the bastard child of Orlando and NYCFC. This is the problem with a lot of “special” kits; the design looks good on paper and up close but doesn’t work at fan distance. In other words, better as fan merch than as an actual jersey.
Positive: As a former college/amateur jazz musician and KC/MO history buff, the idea behind this is amazing. If done right, this theme could be (or could have been) the basis of a really cool primary branding. Take that, St. Louis Blues. Now I’m dreaming of an urban stadium in this area, doubling down on the jazz-themed rebrand. It’s certainly better than many of the admittedly tired retread jersey tweaks (double pun intended) we’ve been saddled with lately.
That’s kinda where I am. I’d love to have one, but note particularly jazzed to see it on the field.