Reaction to Riverhounds SC new kit release highlighted by return of ‘bumble bees’

Photo courtesy Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

Riverhounds SC introduced brand new home, away and goalkeeper kits for the 2025 USL Championship season on Thursday.

As part of the festivities, the Hounds enlisted help from some of the city’s brave first responders — the firefighters of Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire’s Station #4 in Uptown — to unveil new kit.

According to the team’s release, they describe the kits as ‘both traditional while having bold, new flair to create uniforms that are undoubtedly Made for Pittsburgh.’

Gone for this year from the Charly collection is the home black kit with bridges that drew mixed response a year ago.  This season, the team’s home Hounds Heritage jersey is a throwback to the black-and-yellow hoops worn by the team during some of their most successful seasons, most recently their 2023 Players’ Shield-winning campaign.

Joining the Hounds players and firefighters in the special launch video were children who represent the next generation of fans and the connections that have grown between the city and its professional club in more than a quarter-century of Hounds soccer.

Fans will see some familiar design elements when they see the 2025 kits, as well as some new additions. Among those are the distinctive “412” and “PGH” markings on the back collar, and a visual nod the checkered pattern in the municipal coat of arms featured on the city’s flag, which served as a launching point for this year’s designs.

Reaction to Hounds New Kits

Pittsburgh Soccer Now’s Mark Goodman: 

“I really like all three. It doesn’t feel like a radical departure from past kits – it fits an overall vibe. I love the home black and gold hoops, AKA the bumblebee kit. The light grey and yellow 84 lumber away kit has that cool yellow box panelling thing that feels sleek and modern without trying too hard.”

“This ticks all the boxes for me.”

Pittsburgh Soccer Now’s Colton Coreschi: 

Checkers in the hoops!

After a year in the wilderness, we're back.#UNLEASH https://t.co/UwjsSHJ5ip

— Steel Army (@SteelArmy) February 27, 2025

Nice to see the Riverhounds are keeping the spirit of the Bumblebee uniforms alive. I miss them ngl https://t.co/geAgJHJ4QV

— Colin Rhodes (@colin_c_rhodes) February 27, 2025

Exclusive first look 👀

Don’t tell @JeffGarner23 I showed you. pic.twitter.com/SI9G64olLR

— Matt Grubba (@Matt_Grubba) February 27, 2025

I HATE YOUR KIT
Hounds
Bumble bees are back baby! Look at this beauty. Here’s a kit that says ‘yeah I got stripes, but i got checkers too, you can’t put me in a box’ and that’s a sexy attitude for a kit to have. Black and gold with no white in sight, that’s the shit I like
8.6/10 pic.twitter.com/BNrxMWWpso

— I Hate Your Club (@IHate_Your_Club) February 27, 2025

 

More About the Kits (from Riverhounds SC media release)

The team’s home Hounds Heritage jersey is a throwback to the black-and-yellow hoops worn by the team during some of their most successful seasons, most recently their 2023 Players’ Shield-winning campaign. But more than simple stripes, the jerseys carry a subtle checkered pattern on both the front and back, with two tones of yellow and black meshing to form a uniquely Pittsburgh look.

The away kit maintains the yellow and gray coloring of recent seasons, but now those shades are incorporated into a full-jersey checked pattern that is unique to any kit of the Hounds’ previous 25 seasons.

The goalkeeper kits boast the most Pittsburgh-exclusive element — actually picturing the city itself in the form of an aerial map that provides the decorative lines on the front. The Hounds’ goalkeepers will sport the map designs on red, blue and green kits during the 2025 season.

All of the kits are made with CHARLY’s DRYFACTOR technology with micro-vent side panes for breathability and ease of movement. They feature the Hounds logo on a raised, full-color silicone badge on the chest, a “1999” pawprint silhouette on the bottom right side, and the authentic, licensed product verification with QR code on the bottom left.