I’ve been pretty vocal on Twitter about not having a new kit out for the 2018 season for a week or so. Thankfully, the club didn’t wait until March 15 to release the new strip!

TO THE PRESS RELEASE:

LOUISVILLE (March 6, 2018) –Louisville City FC and GE Appliances are pleased to announce a two-year extension to the presenting partnership that teams the appliance giant with the current USL Champions through to at least the end of the 2019 season.

Extending the deal as the club’s primary presenting sponsor from March 2017, the GE Appliances logo will continue to feature prominently on the front of all LouCity team jerseys and replica shirts through the next two years. Authentic kits featuring the GE Appliances brand will soon be available for purchase as the club also unveiled the updated design of its new 2018 season kit ahead of the new USL season.

LouCity will continue to don all-purple home kits with the white GE Appliances logo and the new addition of gold trim from the adidas Tiro label. The updated away strip features a white and gold hoop design with gold shorts and gold trim, with a black GE Appliances logo spanning across the front. The third kit, selected by the club’s supporters via an online poll last season, features a black and purple “championship” design with gold trim from the adidas Squadra line, and a bright gold GE Appliances logo in the center – referencing LouCity’s first USL Championship won last year.

“We’re proud to have GE Appliances continue to be on the front of our jerseys,” said midfielder Paolo DelPiccolo. “Especially as a leading Louisville brand, it was great to have them last year and we’re excited to have them back for the next two seasons.”

In addition, GE Appliances will feature as the official Presenting Sponsor of the 2018 & 2019 seasons as well as the leading partner of the club’s official website, LouCity.com.

“We are thrilled to extend our partnership with GE Appliances for at least the next two seasons,” added LouCity Chairman John Neace. “They have been and will continue to be tremendous supporters of our club and our city, and we look forward to delivering great brand exposure and partnership for the GE Appliances brand as we continue to grow.”

My quick take: It’s pretty much the same kit as last year, plus a start and some extra gold, and minus a sleeve sponsor. I wonder if that’s coming later? Or is it coming at all?

Which leads me to this: I’ve been critical of the lack of news or engagement from the club (on Twitter, anyway) for a while now. There hasn’t been much in the way of a public appeal to people to buy tickets or get excited about the season opener outside of Soccer City Radio and maybe a daily Twitter post. I’m a loyal listener to SCR and an overenthusiastic Twitter user, so I see and hear that stuff, but a lot of people aren’t and therefore don’t.

I’ve heard rumblings that the front office was more focused on putting together sponsorships and partnerships during the offseason rather than worrying much about spreading their brand to the general public. I get that those sorts of deals probably mean more for the bottom line – a $10,000 sponsorship deal obviously matters more than a season ticket sale. But does it matter more than ten season ticket sales? Why focus on what you don’t have yet (sponsors/partners) to the exclusion of what you have already (fans) and probably should attend to? I get that you need both, but the perception is that the latter has been ignored since November.

Yes, there was the store opening at Fourth Street Live. I hear it was fairly well attended. There was also an event over at Baptist Health out near the industrial park. Who goes there? Why wouldn’t you hold promotional events of those ilk in places where there are likely to be more people, or where more people can go? Most people aren’t driving out to an office park behind Sam’s Club on a Friday night without a compelling reason.

I’m glad we finally have a 2018 kit. I’m not a jersey guy, but these are pretty simple, which generally fits my aesthetic. I’m starting to calm down. Announce the signing of Trialist One tomorrow and I might actually feel good.

VAMOS MORADOS.