No one should be surprised at the Seattle Sounders' official revealing of their new third kit. Photos were first leaked a couple weeks ago and no one from the team bothered to deny their legitimacy. Really, the only "news" in Friday's release was the name of this color: "Super Cyan."
It's an audacious name for an audacious choice, but is hardly shocking. The Sounders entered the league with an outrageous color scheme and have continued to push the envelope of taste basically every year. After opening with a lime green color they called "Rave Green" and following that up with a yellow kit they called "Electricity," this is merely a continuation of that theme.
The reaction from around the league has been entirely predictable. Almost no one outside of the Sounders fanbase seems to like it at all. Heck, even Sounders fans are pretty well split on whether this is an acceptable move or one that makes them want to hide their heads in shame.
But let's be honest: This is exactly what the Sounders wanted. People are talking about these jerseys. The good news is that they apparently heard the criticisms of the straps on last year's kit and got rid of those. Whether or not the collar will prove popular is another issue.
The color really doesn't seem so bad. Blue is at least part of the team's established palette, even if it is an entirely different shade of blue, and this overall design does seem to be a slight nod to the NASL-era Sounders.
Love them or hate them, though, people are going to pay attention to these jerseys. While a classy white jersey may have appeased a certain segment of fans, there would have been very limited appeal beyond the Sounders fan base. And let's be honest, you don't release a third kit just to sell a few extra jerseys. You do it to grab the public's attention, which is exactly what the Sounders have done.