The Bent Musket roundtable: Grading the Revs 2022 primary kit

Over the weekend, New England Revolution fans got a look at what the 2022 primary kit will look like.

After images surfaced on social media, The Bent Musket’s Seth Macomber was able to confirm that the image was in fact a replica of what the Revolution will wear in the 2022 MLS season.

So since we got our first look, the staff of The Bent Musket gave their grades.

Sam - C+

Compared to the travesty of the 2021 away kit, this kit is decent. The bar was set pretty low with this kit simply needing to be better than a white t-shirt.

The nicest thing about this kit is the jock tag as it is a cute nod to the club’s history. I also think that the new logo looks good on this kit. It’s a clean kit.

But that’s really about it. The design isn’t anything special and the embossed textures could use some work. They look much better in the mockup that was spread around Twitter.

So similar to the rebrand, the Revs didn’t mess up, but they didn’t hit a home run with this new kit. Fans still have to dream of New England having a unique kit.

Seth - B-

The new navy blue jersey is reminiscent of the one worn in 2014, which is a favorite of mine. The major difference is the embossed texture, which is fine.

In fact, “fine” is probably the word that I would most use to describe the new top. It’s nothing revolutionary or defiant. Rather, it’s a—wait for it—clean and simple design that matches looks we’ve seen in the past. My favorite element is probably the jock tag, which says, “EST 96.”

I am curious to see what the final authentic version looks like, as it’s expected to include more red. Even then, my guess is that it looks fine.

Jake - F

Usually, there’s not a lot to dislike about simplicity but when you’re rebranding your team, you should be taking far more risks with your shirt. There should be a strikethrough sash to match the new badge and maybe some of that bunting trim in red or white somewhere on the shirt. The jersey seems very Adidas and not in a positive way, as the consistent league branding overshadows individualism for the teams that would be more identifiable.

The main reason this is a failure, besides the obvious lack of the rebranding elements, and we’re going to repeat this every year until the team (or the league who might also be responsible for this horrid policy) learns, is that these jerseys should be launching well before preseason in February or in this case well before your actual season opener in the CCL.

A Crayon Flag on the shirt might have brought this up to a D, but even that couldn’t save this shirt which I had incredibly high expectations after supposed years of rebrand planning.

Josh – C

To me, the new Revolution primary kits are the definition of mid.

With the rebrand introduced this offseason, the primary kit gave the club a chance to set and form a new identity going into the future but going back to a design used by the old brand seems strange.

While I am a fan of the pattern, I wish it was more prominent. You don’t want it to be overpowering, but making it a tad more visible would have upped the grade in my book. I will say I do like the inclusion of the red. It’s the perfect amount of color to make the kit pop. I will tip my cap to that.

However, with the scares visibility of the logo and the timidness of going bold, I can’t give a grade above a C. They did enough to prevent a PR disaster, but there’s no denying they had the opportunity to do a lot more with this.