I attended my first Sounders match of the season last week with a friend and noticed the front of the Sounders’ jersey now prominently features the logo for new team sponsor and women’s online store Zulily.
And — according to me and pretty much all Sounders fans — that is perfectly fine, honestly.
Zulily’s sponsorship replaces longtime previous sponsor Microsoft Xbox. Nothing wrong with that!
“Zulily is a brand that everyone should be fine with seeing on a dude’s jersey,” said Sounders FC majority owner Adrian Hanauer when he announced the partnership.
I couldn’t agree more!
And if the Sounders players’ arms folded tightly across their chest on this season’s posters are any indication, they are just as on-board!
I’m so happy to be among the thousands of Seattle Sounders fans who are so progressive and woke in today’s age that the change in sponsorship totally didn’t even phase us.
I struggled with zero residual implicit gender biases or efforts to shut the fuck up when we first saw a brand primarily known for selling maternity and baby products on the jerseys of a professional male sports team. Same goes for most fans.
I’m so proud of us!
The change was met with some backlash from fans who thought the brand was too feminine to be associated with the Sounders, but like, fuck them, y’know?
Most fans, like my friend and Sounders superfan Jason Stadt, had nothing but positive things to say.
“Yeah, it’s pretty neat,” said Stadt, head to toe in last season’s Sounders gear. “Now, please, ask me about something else.”
