On Wednesday morning, the Sounders officially released the new primary kits that will be worn in the 2026 season, where the team will seek to add a third star to the shirt. Branded as the Evergreen State Kit, the Sounders will also defend their 2025 League Cup title in these updated threads, alongside playing for a second CONCACAF Champions League/Cup title. The kit is inspired by the balance between the natural wonders of Washington State and its local soccer culture embedded in the community, emphasizing the important link between nature and society.
Specifically, the Sounders described the kit inspirations in the news release as the Rave Green anchoring the kit, with subtle blue and aqua accents paired together that reflect “Washington’s forests and waterways.”
A significant emphasis on the Evergreen State Kit is the honorable recognition it gives to the club’s own charity, the RAVE Foundation, where the Sounders will donate up to $50,000 from kits sold within the first thirty days of release.
While Obed Vargas will not play in these new threads, Paul Rothrock, whose future faced a period of uncertainty during the offseason, will play in this kit since he re-signed for the Sounders. See photos of the players wearing the Evergreen State Kit below.
Photos Courtesy of Sounders FC Communications
Similar to the Anniversary Kit, the shorts and socks are primarily aqua with the blue as a contrasting accent. Since the club’s rebrand in 2024, the Sounders dropped the Eternal Blue shorts and socks for Heritage Aqua to pair with the Rave Green shirt. The club’s ‘Next 50′ vision aimed to bring back aqua as one of the club’s primary colors, as it served as a primary color prior to the Sounders’ MLS era. It looks like the Rave Green-Heritage Aqua combination will be the new long-term aesthetic.
The front shirt sponsor is set to change from Providence in 2027, following the conclusion of the 14-week mini-regular season and its corresponding playoffs. While the league-wide kit release cycles are not yet officially detailed, the Sounders have made the intent known to align their future branding with the incoming ‘new era’ of the 2027/28 season. Therefore, it is plausible that the Sounders will move away from the Evergreen State Kit at the same time the Providence sponsorship ends.
In general, since MLS primary and secondary kits have been on a two-season cycle for the previous ten years, it will be interesting to see how MLS and Adidas will approach new kit releases after the MLS calendar shift.
Photo: MLS
The kit itself aims for a relatively simpler design compared to the previous kit releases the club made this decade, with a subtle mesh-like design in the Rave Green and an accent of Eternal Blue along the sleeves and neck that dissolves into Heritage Aqua. The Adidas stripes and logo will incorporate aqua, though at certain angles they can appear white.
The jock tag follows with the branded name of this kit, featuring “The Evergreen State” in cursive-style text at the bottom left of the shirt. A design of Washington State consisting of white four-pointed stars is placed at the yoke of the shirt, with five-pointed stars illuminating within the Sounders crest.
The minimalist look the Sounders took is a change of course from the previous primary and secondary kits, making the shirt in particular look like something that can be worn to almost any occasion. Featured below are the details of the Evergreen State Kit.
Photos Courtesy of Sounders FC Communications
While it’s unknown if the Sounders will give a dry run in the Evergreen State Kit in the final preseason friendly against Louisville City FC, we will likely see the team debut the new kit on MLS opening day against Colorado Rapids.
The MLS season is less than two weeks away at the time of posting, with the FIFA World Cup a few extra months away to add to the anticipation of 2026. The execution of the Evergreen Kit is particularly important, as it will be on prominent display as the representation of Seattle’s professional soccer team. This Sounders shirt will be seen by a mass volume of traveling soccer fans from around the country and world, as a global audience is introduced to Seattle. In the bigger picture, 2026 presents the largest opportunity for both the city of Seattle and the Seattle Sounders to have their soccer culture on display to the world.
Cover Photo: Sounders FC Communications
