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Power Ranking: NWSL Team Jerseys

In which we rate the 2015 jerseys for all 9 NWSL teams

By Susie Rantz and sidereal

The Seattle Reign kick off their season this weekend (Sunday, 4 p.m., Memorial Stadium), and we can barely contain our excitement! With a new season comes new players, new coaches, and ... new kits. We got a preview of the Reign jerseys last week. We're big fans, but how do the Reign jerseys compare to the rest of the league? Here's our power ranking of all 9 team kits. We also graded the layout, colors, and sponsor logo for each team, using the time-honored boom-to-poop emoji scale.

#9: Boston Breakers

Boston wins worst kit by a long shot. Can we please ban the gradient look on all jerseys? Also, I think a Tetris piece escaped and found its way onto the front of the jersey. The shorts look like something I wear for co-rec soccer matches, and let's just say: I'm not known for my style on the field. Fans apparently like the kits, and that's all that matters ... I guess.

Pattern:
gradients = no
Colors:
oh, blue and white. why has no one thought of that before?
Sponsor:
I keep trying to rotate it clockwise. But the color works.

#8: FC Kansas City

This team might have won the NWSL Championship last year (which I refuse to re-watch), but they sure don't come in first in the jersey department. The sponsor logos are a bit distracting — on both the front and back of the jersey — and the design is underwhelming.

Here's a closer look at the kits we will be using throughout the 2015 National Women's Soccer League season. #OnePassAtATime

Posted by FC Kansas City on Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Pattern:
Yep, that is a square of fabric and it has a color.
Colors:
Blue and white, you say?
Sponsor:
Two logos? What is this, Nascar? And one of them is a cartoon cow..

#7: Western NY Flash

Western NY has not released or teased any photos related to a new kit this year, so we'll have to assume they are repeating last year's design. And last year's jerseys are just so ... blah. Tweets below feature their home and away kits. I'm so bored by them I don't even know what to type.

Pattern:
A solid block of color is a kind of pattern, I guess
Colors:
Solid red. I mean, at least it's not blue.
Sponsor:
The Sahlen's logo is iconic and it adds some color variation.

#6: Sky Blue FC

UPDATE: After posting this, Sky Blue unveiled their 2015 home jersey. OMGradient seems to be a trend for new jerseys, although it works a bit more with a name like "Sky Blue." Last year's primary kit was light blue with white vertical stripes along the sides, while their away kit replaced the light blue with orange. I'm a sucker for the orange-blue combination, and liked the thick strip of color down the sides. We haven't seen any away jerseys yet, so we bumped Sky Blue back to #6 for the time being. We want orange and blue!

Pattern:
OMGradient; also, are players wearing denim!?
Colors:
OMGradient; also, we need more orange-and-blue combos
Sponsor:
Another subtle white wordmark doesn't cause problems.

#5: Washington Spirit

The Spirit haven't released official photos of their new kits, but did "regram" this photo on Facebook (is it truly a regram if you aren't posting to Instagram? Semantics ...). Equalizer Soccer has a few higher quality photos on their website (which reveal that the back of the jersey is blue). The jersey is not bad, but I'm not a huge van of the v-line that ends at the sleeves. Until I see more, the Spirit are in the middle for me.

A great shot showing off our new uniforms for the 2015 season! (Regram from @nairnchristine) #washingtonspirit

Posted by Washington Spirit on Saturday, March 21, 2015

Pattern:
The chevron gives it a little distinctiveness
Colors:
The red and dark blue set these kits apart from other teams
Sponsor:
Inoffensive wordmark is fine, not great.

#4: Houston Dash

The Dash joined the NWSL last season, so new jerseys are probably not on the table this year. And that's not a bad thing. While I do have a bias toward blue-orange combinations, I think these kits deserve their #4 ranking for other reasons: they are clean, modern, and feature a sponsor logo that is not too distracting. I also give the Dash two thumbs up for a design that includes bright colors, something that was lacking with most jerseys in 2014.

Pattern:
Arm stripes don't add much to the block-of-color look
Colors:
Orange and light blue all day. Bonus point for featuring the orange.
Sponsor:
Clean sans-serif wordmark reads well in multiple colors

#3: Portland Thorns

Portland fans probably think the Thorns deserve a #1 ranking, but we're not convinced. I'll admit, the jerseys look pretty sweet in the image below. But when I clicked to the store to get a closer look, here's what I found. That's a few too many thorns for my liking. Still, a great overall design that really represents the team's brand.

We are the Rose City. Our new 2015 kits, featuring the primary red kit, which is the first fully custom jersey in the...

Posted by Portland Thorns FC on Monday, April 6, 2015

Pattern:
Custom thorn pattern is unique and bold, but a little busy.
Colors:
Team Evil plus a little white
Sponsor:
Hey, another white wordmark. No harm, no foul.

#2: Chicago Red Stars

The only thing I don't like about these Red Stars jerseys is that darn sponsor logo. Not only does it look like a sticker randomly slapped onto a jersey, the colors don't match the full kit. Unless the Red Stars are booting their sponsor, there's not too much they can do about that logo. As for the kit design, the light blue and white hoops jersey includes four red stars to replicate Chicago’s city flag, which is an awesome touch. The team added two jerseys this year: a new alternate jersey with pinstripes and the bold black third kit. The small red and blue against the black jersey really make it pop.

Pattern:
The hoops around the 4 stars of the Chicago city flag is still the best design in the league. Pinstripes are a questionable addition.
Colors:
Light blue and white is a good combination that lets the red stars stand out. Team Evil third kit.
Sponsor:
This is awful. Looks slapped on (on the stomach, no less) and hugely distracts from the kit

#1: Seattle Reign

Are we biased? Maybe. But we think the new Seattle Reign jerseys deserve to be at the top of this list for a number of reasons. First, the Moda logo is the cleanest sponsor logo in the league. Unlike almost every other kit, the sponsorship logo isn't the first thing you notice on the Reign jerseys.

There wasn't a big reason to change the home kits (we are big fans of the thick blue stripe on the side), and the new away jerseys are just beautiful (BRB, purchasing a Fishlock away jersey). For those who want to "be bold," the UltraViolet kit is an awesome option. The team should get some major kudos for being willing to take a risk with this third kit. We think it will pay off and predict a lot of brightly dressed fans this season.

Pattern:
Home jersey is still great. Alternated shoulders on the two new kits is simple, but nice
Colors:
Blue and black primary still great. For a 'white' there's a lot of color in the away. And UltraViolet is the first true standout third jersey in the league.
Sponsor:
Best-looking sponsorship in the league. Moda is a simple, distinctive logo that works in any color.

What do you think? Agree with these rankings? Vehemently disagree? Let us know by ranking the jerseys below (hit the "thumbs up" icon to give that jersey an up vote; hit "thumbs down" if you don't like the jersey. If you're impartial, don't hit anything).

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