Yo people recently I've started a logo critique section on my blog specifically talking about the MLS team logos, names, colors, history and so on. Of course it is completely biased as to what I think looks good and doesnt but that doesnt mean people cant agree or disagree. The plan is to talk about the evolution of the identities of each MLS team and so far I'm up to four.

You can find that here (shameless self promotion I know )

but I guess we can talk about it here to, what do you think of the MLS identity? has the league finally "gotten it right" by shifting to more soccer based names, badges and practices (like the advertising on shirts) or did they have it right when the league began with team names based on the four major American sports?

Which identities work? which dont? did Red Bull begin a trend? will we ever see a name as horrid as New York/New Jersey Metrostars? ah so many things to discuss...

Starting out with my favorite logo in the league always gets you bonus points in my book. I think the MLS is moving in the right direction, I can't really point to anything in 1996 and say "they were doing it better back then."

Good work on the blog!

I disagree. MetroStars is a unique name, and one of the best names in professional sports (well to me it is anyway). It is not the least bit horrid. I believe that New York/New Jersey MetroStars was too long, which is why I liked it when they removed the New York/New Jersey tag and simply became MetroStars.

One of the greatest logos ever.

that is terrible! it looks like a piece of clip art from MS Word.

yeah, my main problem was that it was too long. I didnt have a problem with just metrostars, but the new york/new jersey bit had a bit of a los angeles angels of anaheim feel. I should probably save it for the entry but that metrostars logo reminds me of the comedy central logo, the shield was much better.

Shortly after I joined this forum, I perfected the logo by removing the word MetroStars, leaving behind the bare image of the skyscrapers. I then began using it as my avatar, and my avatar has remained unchanged since then.

There is also another logo which I like a lot.



I don't like the shield at all. To me, it is looks extemely plain, and is quite boring to look at, thus the reason I would never use it as an avatar, nor wear it on my clothing.



The best MetroStars uniform ever designed was worn by the team in 2002, and I almost never tire of looking at it, because it is (in my opinion) one of the best football uniforms ever. The road version was the same, except that it had black and white stripes, instead of red and black stripes. I am still very unhappy that they got rid of it before the 2003 season started.

I do agree that the shield is somewhat plain but I'm a minimalist so thats probably why I love it. I guess thats what shields should be, otherwise you get the Baltimore Ravens crest which is pretty ghastly (though I understand the meaning of it) The one thing that bothers me is the soccer ball as its the same damn soccer ball that appears in other MLS logos such as the old (but not the oldest) Rapids logo, the DC logos, RSL, Dynamo, and Earthquakes logo. I know its a soccer ball but you would think someone would use the old leather "volleyball" or some other variant.

Those uniforms are great, I can just imagine them playing against a purple clad Jorge Campos in what would be a 90's uniform lover wet dream. I do miss them though, the standardized cookie cutter adidas uniforms they have now might be easy on the eyes but they completely lack character. I say let the teams tough it out for uniforms, in the Mexican league the top teams wear Nike, Adidas and Reebok while the lower teams are relegated to Voit, Atletica, Concord and Pirma Brazil. Nothing says "class warfare" better than that, I'd like to see that in MLS.

This uniform is a good case in point.

1990's MLS uniforms you say...



Believe me there is an upside to the Adidas cookie cutter uniforms, anyways MLS is tied into Adidas until 2014 so don't expect to see that happen any time soon, the deal has done the league a massive amount of good, $150m at that time of it's development was a godsend and Adidas has been a good partner for the league. By 2014 I expect the league will have grown massively, and MLS will open uniform manufacture up to competition given the expiration of the Adidas deal.

I think the LA Galaxy uniform is the best in the league though, it's minimalist and evokes Real Madrid's and looks especially good in the blue variant version, it's a hell of a lot better than that awful Metrostars kit which looks like it was designed by a four year old with a box of crayons.

I actually believe that the MetroStars uniforms used from 2003-2005 were downright awful. Seeing them get rid of the wonderful 2002 uniforms was bad enough for me as a fan, and seeing my favourite team wear ugly shirts that were poorly designed did nothing but add insult to injury. I would have rather seen them wear hot pink uniforms with bright orange polka dots.

Where can I get me one of those Wiz jerseys?!?!

Thats the thing though, and its not just with MLS, in retrospect the 90's jerseys were nothing to look at but at least they werent generic. Of course the entire football community went retro-minimalist in the '00's and it is better but damn if those 90's shirts dont have some charm to them.

I guess thats what commercialization ultimately does, every major sport in the U.S now has an exclusivity contract with a manufacturer:

NHL - RBK
NFL - Reebok
NBA - Adidas
MLS - Adidas
MLB - Majestic

allowing these companies to have such a huge say on what the look of the league is ultimately creates the cookie cutter problem. Just look at the new NHL jerseys and the fan and player backlash that followed their unveilings. I just wish we can have the best of both worlds: classy shirts that look different with different manufacturers. Probably not gonna happen though.