MLS Shakes Up Soccer Scene with Bold Kit Revolution Coming in 2026
Major League Soccer's chief revenue officer Carter Ladd has announced that team uniforms will display sponsorship logos on the jersey's lower back area for the first time during the upcoming season.
This additional advertising real estate, scheduled to debut after the 2026 MLS All-Star break, will provide clubs with four jersey locations for commercial partnerships, marking substantial expansion from the front-of-shirt sponsorships that were the sole option prior to 2020.
MLS presently allows sleeve sponsorships on both arms, with the new lower-back area following a popular practice in the league's main North American rival, Mexico's Liga MX. Nevertheless, uniforms are expected to remain less cluttered than those seen on some Liga MX teams and other clubs throughout the Concacaf region.
This development will enable franchises to establish an additional revenue source, potentially crucial for organizations facing uncertainty about their operations, particularly the Vancouver Whitecaps—currently on the market and confronting relocation possibilities—and the San Jose Earthquakes, who are pursuing ownership restructuring.
Simultaneously, this represents part of what veteran MLS commissioner Don Garber has termed "MLS 3.0," which encompasses new venues, an overhauled player development framework, and the transition of the league's schedule to a fall-to-spring format, synchronizing it with Europe's top competitions.
"We believe this is the optimal time to introduce a new revenue opportunity for our franchises to capitalize on the momentum following the World Cup," MLS chief Ladd stated in a conversation with Sportico. "The upcoming chapter for our league is approaching."
The area that franchises can now market will rank as the second-largest on the uniforms, behind only the front-of-shirt sponsor. Based on the report, branding will have a maximum width of nine inches and maximum height of four inches, potentially generating up to $1 million for some of the most valuable organizations.
Beyond their main club's uniforms in MLS, organizations will also have the opportunity to market bottom-of-shirt sponsorships for teams in MLS Next Pro, a competition that currently includes 27 clubs, with two operating independently of a parent MLS franchise.
Uniform Sponsors Grow in U.S. Sports
Jersey Advertising Expands in American Sports
When MLS launched in 1996 with minimal shirt sponsorships, advertisements on game uniforms in American professional sports were uncommon. Since that time, as MLS advertising space has expanded, other leagues have adopted the financial opportunity, with the NHL, MLB, NBA, WNBA and PWHL all incorporating sponsors on official competition attire in 2025.
MLS, currently, has not extended sponsorship to features beyond the uniform, unlike the NHL and PWHL, which display helmet advertisements. Other leagues also incorporate multiple sponsors across the official playing field, a strategy MLS has avoided, keeping its clean fields consistent with the world's premier soccer competitions.
It remains unclear whether the new advertising additions will appear on consumer jerseys in 2026, or if that implementation will be postponed to the 2027 14-game condensed season, which earlier reports have indicated will not include a league-wide uniform launch.
Rather, the new collection of uniforms will not be revealed until the 2027-28 season, the inaugural campaign under the revised calendar.