FC Cincinnati's 'River Kit' jersey pays homage to Ohio River, Roebling Suspension Bridge

FC Cincinnati on Wednesday unveiled the sixth primary jersey in its history, and the new shirt pays homage to some of Greater Cincinnati's iconic landmarks.

FC Cincinnati fans can now purchase the club's "River Kit," which has design elements calling upon the Ohio River and Roebling Suspension Bridge, and will be worn in the Feb. 25 season-opening match at TQL Stadium against Houston Dynamo FC.

Authentic-style unisex jerseys are for sale at the TQL Stadium team shop (northeast corner of the stadium at 1501 Central Parkway) for $150. Customized names and numbers can be added for an additional $30. Replica-style jerseys will be made available at a later date.

"Every year, when we unveil a new kit, it's pretty exciting," said Co-Chief Executive Officer Jeff Berding. "It's thrilling to see what our team will wear on the field. This year's kit takes inspiration from where the City of Cincinnati began, the river. It runs through our city, runs through the region. It unites us all. With this inspiration, we think it's pretty sharp and we think it will look great on our players and our fans ahead of what we expect to be a pretty exciting and successful season for the Orange and Blue."

The River Kit

Here's the explanation of the features via the club's news release: "Across the chest, tones of blue work together graphically utilizing organic shaping and variable-width lines to illustrate depth and light reflection of water.

"A Cincinnati wordmark is displayed on the back neck and represents the bridges that connect our communities and our region.  

"Located on the jock tag is an illustration of the Roebling Bridge, which is not only an iconic Cincinnati landmark, but a symbol of FC Cincinnati’s identity as a progressive, forward-thinking club."

Critics of MLS jerseys might describe FC Cincinnati's full, new primary uniform is monochromatic from top to bottom as it features navy-blue shorts and socks, too. The shirt features multiple shades of blue, though.

There are standard features, too, including the classic Adidas "three stripes" on the shoulder, FC Cincinnati's team crest over the left hem and the Adidas "EQT" logo above the right hem.

A new standard jersey feature for 2023 is an Apple TV logo pressed onto the left sleeve, just under Major League Soccer's league badge. This is intended to bring a little extra attention to the new, $2.5 billion broadcast deal between MLS and Apple TV.

"The guys, when they saw it for the first time, and I think one of them took a picture of it and leaked a little bit of it on social media, but that's how excited they were to see them," said Tommy Gelehrter, the head broadcaster for FC Cincinnati games.

Gelehrter recounted a conversation he had with Brandon Vazquez before Vazquez left to train with the U.S. National Team.

"I was catching up with him and talking about being on the national team, and he told me how excited he was to wear this kitand how much he loves it," Gelehrter said. "So the guys loved this."

Why change the jersey?

In modern soccer, changing kits frequently is the norm. That's a stark contrast to some North American sports where some franchises go decades without major alterations to their uniforms.

In MLS, most clubs have two jerseys – a primary and a secondary – that are revamped and replaced in staggered, two-year cycles by Adidas, which produces the jerseys for all the league's clubs. The outgoing "Dynamic" kit being replaced by the River kit was first introduced in 2021. It paid homage to the opening of TQL Stadium through its design elements and was used during the 2021 and 2022 campaign.

Last year, FC Cincinnati introduced it's orange, "Juncta Juvant" kit, which will be worn again this season but swapped out for another new design next year.

From start to finish, the custom design process with Adidas takes years. That's why, when FC Cincinnati entered MLS in 2019 without much lead time, the team ended up with what were essentially plain jersey templates that didn't display much more than the club's crest.

The process of changing the jerseys is widely accepted as an opportunity to refresh the club's look while also telling a different aspect of its brand story. And, of course, it's an opportunity to sell more jerseys, but the club does get significant say in the final product when it engages with Adidas in an appropriate amount of time.

In European soccer, most leagues see clubs of all sizes change their primary and secondary jerseys annually.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 2023 MLS jerseys: FC Cincinnati unveils home 'River Kit'