Major League Soccer
Capelli Sport releases its second iteration of MLS referee kits, after an extensive planning process led by MLS officials themselves. The colourways mirror those of Macron’s first UEFA kit of 2019, and the designs themselves are simple with minimal accent colours.
Whether pre-ordained or reactionary, Capelli Sport releases an orange kit mid-way through the 2021 season, which takes care of the many pseudo-colour clashes that had arisen with the original three colour choices.
PRO signs a deal with Capelli Sport to become the new referee kit supplier, replacing Adidas. The colour choices of the new designs are a little ill-fated, however, with a whopping 22 out of 27 MLS teams having at least one kit that’s primarily green, blue, navy, or black.
When MLS returns in earnest, the blackout PRO badges are replaced again by the normal versions. The black jersey returns, but is only seen very sporadically – most likely due to a large majority of MLS teams using predominantly black or very dark kits themselves.
For 2020, matching socks are added, the sleeves are now sponsor-less, and two jerseys are put to pasture – the black one temporarily, and the red one for good.
After playing out a normal first two weeks of the season, MLS, like all other professional sports leagues, is put on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the league returns in a ‘bubble’ format for the MLS is Back tournament, officials wear a blacked-out PRO badge (even those with a FIFA badge) in honour of the emerging Black Lives Matter movement.
The black kit is added to the collection for the 2019 season, and more referees are seen with the ‘official’ logo-less black socks.
Referees upgrade to the Adidas 18 line. The black kit, as has been the case for the past four seasons, is not used, while a majority of officials still use socks with an Adidas logo.
Officials switch to the Adidas 16 line, with many opting for socks that feature an Adidas logo – despite the official set being plain black. The jerseys gain a sponsor logo for the first time, with the Tag Heuer mark found on both sleeves.
After returning from a two-week strike to start the 2014 season, MLS referees return and become some of the first to don the Adidas 14 set, wearing all colours bar the monochrome navy look.