Vancouver Whitecaps to unveil new brand on June 8th

[BrySmalls]

Tuesday will also be a landmark day in the history of the Whitecaps, as the club will make two important announcements regarding their inaugural season in Major League Soccer (MLS). The first is the unveiling of the new brand that will lead the 36-year-old club into a new chapter as an MLS outfit, with the new logo being presented to the local media at the Vancouver Convention Centre at 8:30 a.m. PT. Tuesday's brand launch and media conference will be broadcast live online at vancouvermls2011.com/announcement. The Whitecaps will also announce important information on the availability and pricing of MLS season tickets for the 2011 season.

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The club is VERY tight lipped about the sponsor, but it appears to be a MAJOR Canadian based company. The colours will be traditional Whitecap colours, Blue, Light Blue, and possibly a 3rd as well.

Source

[NEW.ERA]

I expect a traditional look but with the waves still intact.

[Lee.]

Beer or lumber, that is the question.

[Mac the Knife]

How the sponsor's paying for its branding...

[scarsofthumper]

With the colors , the first thing I think of for a shirt sponsor is Bell

[OMMF]

Whatever it is, I'll be close to the front of the line for a swea...jersey.

[Droost]

I would have to go w/ a big name like EA Sports. I believe they are based in vancouver and would go w/ the traditional MLS wide sponsor theme.

[Gothamite]

I would have to go w/ a big name like EA Sports. I believe they are based in vancouver and would go w/ the traditional MLS wide sponsor theme.

You mean choosing shirt sponsors which already have sponsorship deals with the league?

[Lee.]

I would have to go w/ a big name like EA Sports. I believe they are based in vancouver and would go w/ the traditional MLS wide sponsor theme.

You mean choosing shirt sponsors which already have sponsorship deals with the league?

EA Sports has an office in Vancouver (near my house, actually, in Burnaby), but they are not a MAJOR CANADIAN COMPANY.

I'm gonna go with one of Molson, Rona Lumber, or Telus. Money's on Telus.

[caperlogo13]

They could also go with Shaw Cable.

[scottyvoodoo]

They could also go with Shaw Cable.

I really hope they don't, if for no other reason than I don't want to watch Shaw's butchered broadcasts

[CC97]

My (fake) money's on

[Lee.]

I really don't think it'll be either major beer company, mainly because 1. Budweiser's a pretty big sponsor of the MLS, 2. I think they want to be family friendly and avoid an alcohol sponsorship, and 3. They have a pretty good relationship with local brewers as is (I believe Russell brewing, but it might be Granville Island).

I'm avoiding Rona because again, Home Depot is a pretty big sponsor of the MLS; this leaves, for all intents and purposes, telecommunications; Rogers and Bell are both centered in the east, leaving Telus as, to me, the most likely candidate.

Of course, I'm probably wrong on all counts, so really, what do I know. All's I know is, if the pricing for MLS is worse than the pricing for USL, I'm still not going to a game.

[Beantown77]

I really don't think it'll be either major beer company, mainly because 1. Budweiser's a pretty big sponsor of the MLS, 2. I think they want to be family friendly and avoid an alcohol sponsorship, and 3. They have a pretty good relationship with local brewers as is (I believe Russell brewing, but it might be Granville Island).

No so. Back in the 90's when teams had sponsor patches on the back of their jerseys, the Galaxy had Budweiser ones.

[OMMF]

I really don't think it'll be either major beer company, mainly because 1. Budweiser's a pretty big sponsor of the MLS, 2. I think they want to be family friendly and avoid an alcohol sponsorship, and 3. They have a pretty good relationship with local brewers as is (I believe Russell brewing, but it might be Granville Island).

No so. Back in the 90's when teams had sponsor patches on the back of their jerseys, the Galaxy had Budweiser ones.

I believe he was speaking of the Whitecaps specifically.

I see them taking the Milwaukee Admirals route and getting the Canucks as a sponsor.

[docrocket]

I really don't think it'll be either major beer company, mainly because 1. Budweiser's a pretty big sponsor of the MLS, 2. I think they want to be family friendly and avoid an alcohol sponsorship, and 3. They have a pretty good relationship with local brewers as is (I believe Russell brewing, but it might be Granville Island).

Mmmmm...beer.

This could be interesting, as Labatt produces and distributes Budweiser up here, and Granville Island (I do hope they are making their Ginger Beer again this summer...looks like a go for June) was recently purchased by Creemore Springs, a subsidiary of Molson Coors.

Telus makes good sense...are there any of the Jim Pattison-owned businesses that might work?

[Lee.]

I really don't think it'll be either major beer company, mainly because 1. Budweiser's a pretty big sponsor of the MLS, 2. I think they want to be family friendly and avoid an alcohol sponsorship, and 3. They have a pretty good relationship with local brewers as is (I believe Russell brewing, but it might be Granville Island).

Mmmmm...beer.

This could be interesting, as Labatt produces and distributes Budweiser up here, and Granville Island (I do hope they are making their Ginger Beer again this summer...looks like a go for June) was recently purchased by Creemore Springs, a subsidiary of Molson Coors.

Telus makes good sense...are there any of the Jim Pattison-owned businesses that might work?

Doubt it. Pattison's more of a BC-centric entity, I doubt Save-On Foods will mean anything to anyone east of Fernie.

[OMMF]

Just looking through a list of companies of Canada, lots of big names jump out:

• Air Canada
• CN
• CP
• Canadian Tire
• Esso
• Molson
• Roots
• Tim Hortons

I'm assuming that any government entities cannot be sponsors so that rules out CBC and VIA Rail and I'm also guessing it won't be another bank sponsor so no RBC, TD, VanCity, or Scotiabank.

Not saying it will be any on the list but if you are talking about big companies in Canada, this is a place to start. Knowing how I am at predicting things, it will end up being WalMart Canada.

[Lee.]

I never thought about Tim Hortons. Mind you, I don't think a team with such a huge grassroots fitness philosophy is going to use a donut shop as a sponsor.

edit: What about HBC/Hudson's Bay Company? I can certainly see a company with huge Olympic 2010 ties continuing along aboard the Vancouver bandwagon.

[OMMF]

I never thought about Tim Hortons. Mind you, I don't think a team with such a huge grassroots fitness philosophy is going to use a donut shop as a sponsor.

edit: What about HBC/Hudson's Bay Company? I can certainly see a company with huge Olympic 2010 ties continuing along aboard the Vancouver bandwagon.

I had HBC listed originally but it didn't seem to fit to me. It certainly would have the least recognition in the States (not that that really matters.)

Now that I look at it again, the league has 2 energy drinks as sponsors so maybe another bank isn't out of the question.