Photography courtesy St. Louis CITY SC
For years, St. Louis CITY SC supporters have clamored for a peek at what the team will wear on match days in 2023.
Now, the club’s home jersey is here.
CITY unveiled its first jersey at an event held at Purina's corporate headquarters on Wednesday, marking the latest checkpoint in the franchise's march to its inaugural Major League Soccer season in 2023. Purina is the team's founding partner and jersey sponsor, and its checkerboard logo is featured prominently on the chest. The jersey's primary color is "City Red," one of four shades included on the team's official palette. The sleaves feature piping in "Energy Yellow" and "River Blue."
Photography courtesy St. Louis CITY SC
Fans who purchased the jersey during CITY's blind presale earlier this month can pick up their orders at CITYPARK beginning at noon today.
The jersey features several elements that pay homage to St. Louis and the surrounding region. The phrase "Our City, Our Home" is stitched inside the neck, while the City of St. Louis flag is found on the bottom left of the jersey's front. An abstract pattern symbolizing the Gateway Arch runs down the front right side. Like every other Major League Soccer club, CITY's uniforms are manufactured by Adidas.
"It literally has been a two- or three-year process to get to this point," says Dennis Moore, CITY's chief revenue officer. "... Creating a kit in Major League Soccer is an incredibly collaborative process. Not only with our kit partner in Purina, but Adidas, who manufactures the jerseys, as well as the league office. This was a several-year process of creative that our ownership group was intimately involved with, along with Matt Sebek, who's our chief experience officer. Everything in that jersey is very intentional and well-thought out. There's a lot of symbolism there."
The franchise went through several iterations of the jersey before picking this one. It will be used as the home jersey—and likely worn with CITY Red shorts—for the 2023 and 2024 seasons, according to Moore. MLS clubs typically cycle through new home jerseys every couple of years.
Photography courtesy Purina
Purina is just one of the sponsors included on the kit, which features a logo for BJC Healthcare on the right sleeve, and a logo for Apple TV on the left sleeve. All 29 clubs in the league will wear the Apple patch in 2023 as part of a new broadcast agreement reached by the league and the tech giant earlier this year.
A road jersey will be unveiled ahead of the start of the 2023 MLS season next spring.
Because this is the official jersey of CITY, the CITY2 squad playing in Wednesday's exhibition against German club Bayer 04 Leverkusen will not be wearing these as part of its uniforms.
