La Murga de Austin holds last rehearsal before Austin FC’s home opener
Members of La Murga de Austin, Austin FC’s fan band, talk about rehearsing as a group ahead of Austin FC’s home opener at Q2 Stadium.
This story has been updated to add video.
Thanks to Austin FC, wardrobes in Texas’ capital city just got an upgrade.
With the introduction of “The Heartbeat Kit,” Los Verdes fans now have a fresh look. The traditional black stripes on every primary jersey have been replaced with a green-on-green design. The kit, now available at MLS.com, also pays homage to the heartbeat ritual that leads into a popular chant.
“It’s a tribute to our fans, who are the heartbeat of our club, and it pays homage to the heartbeat prematch ritual,” Austin FC President Andy Loughnane said. “It’s the ritual that comes to life with the sound of the drum that is the catalyst for those to call and respond chanting, ‘Verde! Listos!,’ which signals that the match is about to begin.”
The use of greens as an embodiment of Austin is also a testament to how quickly the colors have become synonymous with the city. From ideation to production “The Heartbeat Kit” has been two years in making.
Here’s how the team landed on the design:
A design for the fans, from the fans
Rigoberto Rodriguez Lira, originally from Reynosa, Tamaulipas, grew up in McAllen and moved to Austin in 2012. A lifelong fan of Tigres UANL, Lira started an Austin-based fan group for the team, which helped him adjust to the new city and meet new people.
Already seeing the role soccer can play in his life, Lira was elated when he heard of Austin FC’s arrival in the city and used his previous supporter group experience to help create a similar, larger entity for the new team.
Lira has previously served as an elected leader of La Murga de Austin and Los Verdes, both independent supporter groups for Austin FC. The club has consistently worked with groups like Lira’s to create jerseys that feel true to the fans — something he appreciates.
“I think that’s the main thing, right? Like they’re seeing that there’s a lot of emotional connection from the fan base, and they’re following that and trying to align with what the fan base is doing as well, and that makes all of this mean more,” Lira said.
An anatomically correct heart featured on the bottom left-hand side of the jersey pays homage to the same symbol used on the drum that leads the famous heartbeat ritual. Regarding the shift away from black stripes, Lira mentioned that having stripes, in general, is more important as it is a key part of the team’s identity.
“The first jersey is one of my favorites, it kind of set our identity, but the green is the color that represents us, and so I love how it looks,” Lira said.
The heartbeat tradition before games has become a hallmark of the Q2 Stadium experience, often led by celebrity guests. One such guest, Austin musician Annabelle Chairlegs, noted that the tradition felt similar to the pent-up energy at the start of a concert.
“Tuning in with yourself and your breath before doing anything is so important. The heartbeat is an opportunity for the entire crowd to breathe together and focus the collective energy,” she said. “I think music also has that ability, to bring us all to the same place.”
Annabelle Chairlegs is also prominent in the promo video for the jersey created by the club.
The Heartbeat Kit has been years in the making
Loughnane said that each kit takes at least two years to create, and the club works closely with uniform supplier Adidas. Moreover, the club’s president said he and his team make every effort to involve actual fans in the design process as this creates the most authentic result.
The kit features the new green-on-green stripes, a first for the club, and a heart on the jock tag at the bottom of the shirt. It is finished with a message on the back neck that reads “¡VERDE! ¡LISTOS!,” the chant heard throughout Q2 Stadium on match days.
Given that each new jersey takes so long to create, Loughnane said he and his team want to do as much as they can to perfect each finished product.
One aspect of the new jersey that he is proud of is the introduction of the green-on-green stripes, which maintains the club’s visual identity and helps highlight the strong following the club has built in just five seasons.
“I am proud of the jersey, first because it is aesthetically pleasing to me, also, and I’m creating a weird category, but I think we can say confidently say we are the first team to place an anatomically correct heart on a jersey and the first to do green on green-on-green vertical stripes,” Loughnane said.
Matthew McConaughey, Austin FC’s Minister of Culture, is the centerpiece of the club’s promotional video for the jersey, in which he waxes poetic about what Austin FC means to the city. McConaughey is also a frequent leader of the heartbeat ritual and has shown an almost unmatched commitment to the club.
“We’ve worked hard to create a Club that authentically represents our home, Austin, Texas,” McConaughey said in a news release. “Now in our fifth season, our new jersey pays homage to all of the things that make our city and Club special, and the things that make Q2 Stadium the best damn party in town.”
Austin FC’s passionate fans have driven jersey sales and broken records
In 2020, Austin FC’s inaugural season, the team made a statement when it broke a 24-hour sales record for a first-year team with its original home jersey. The Kelly green-and-black-striped kit also exceeded 24-hour sales for all existing MLS clubs in 2020, as the team and its fan base began to establish a reputation for strong sales numbers.
According to MLS, the jersey of former playmaker Sebastián Driussi was, at one point, the fourth-most purchased in the league, propelling the club towards standout jersey sales.
With the Heartbeat Kit, Austin FC has already reported preorder sales surpassed only by those of the original striped jersey from 2020
Austin FC fans are no strangers to records, having sold out every MLS regular season and playoff home match in each of the club’s first four seasons. This impressive 70-game streak is currently the longest active sellout stretch in the league.
Moreover, according to soccer media outlet GOAL, Austin FC boasts the 11th-best attendance record in MLS, despite many teams having a larger venue than Q2 Stadium.
Austin FC is now one of the most valuable clubs in the world
In a list published by sports finance and analytics website Sportico, Austin FC was ranked as the 21st most valuable club in the world.
With an estimated value of $800 million, Austin FC — about to start its fifth season — is the youngest team on this list by a sizable margin. The team’s success is a testament to how a city hungry for professional sports has embraced its first major pro sports team.
Austin FC continues to grow rapidly as its sixth-place ranking in MLS is three spots higher than Sportico ranked the club last season.
According to the website, the club’s value grew from $630 million to $800 million after the 2023 season — and it excelled in each of the magazine’s core financial measures.
Beck Andrew Salgado covers trending topics in the Austin business ecosystem for the American-Statesman. To share additional tips or insights with Salgado, email Bsalgado@gannett.com.