NYC FC Branding

[dbadefense1990]

So MLS and the Yankees bring a 2nd team to New York City (which is likely to kill-off the Red Bulls support)...and they can't come up with the "Cosmos" nickname? They have to call it "NYCFC?"

"Come up with"?

Perhaps you're not familiar with the idea that you can't just take another existing organization's name and use it as your own.

So what's the excuse of the names from the Pacific Northwest? Because there are back stories of the Sounders, Whitecaps and Timbers, dating all the way to the NASL days of the 1970s.

[zigbazah]

Light blue with black pinstripes would be a nice mix between MCFC and the Yanks.

[Nyk33]

So MLS and the Yankees bring a 2nd team to New York City (which is likely to kill-off the Red Bulls support)...and they can't come up with the "Cosmos" nickname? They have to call it "NYCFC?"

"Come up with"?

Perhaps you're not familiar with the idea that you can't just take another existing organization's name and use it as your own.

So what's the excuse of the names from the Pacific Northwest? Because there are back stories of the Sounders, Whitecaps and Timbers, dating all the way to the NASL days of the 1970s.

They own the name for the club

NYCFC does not since the Cosmos already exist and are going to play in the new NASL

http://nycosmos.com/

[Digby]

So what's the excuse of the names from the Pacific Northwest? Because there are back stories of the Sounders, Whitecaps and Timbers, dating all the way to the NASL days of the 1970s.

Trouble is that there IS a rebirthed New York Cosmos. They have been operating an academy for a while, and will enter the new NASL this year. But since MLS went with a different group, obviously there's no way they're using the Cosmos brand. http://nycosmos.com/

Each of the Pac NW teams you mentioned had ties to the previous club that used that name when moving to MLS. Incidentally each is also a great example of a fantastic soccer brand that's also distinctly American, but I fear opening that can of worms...

[nash61]

I would have loved the New York Liberty (I know, I know, WNBA)

It fits perfectly with the NE Revolution and PHI Union, and an altered version of the Rangers Lady Liberty logo would make an awesome badge.

[IceCap]

So what's the excuse of the names from the Pacific Northwest?

West Coast Bias

[lancealot]

I'm predicting double blue, sky blue base with navy pinstripes for the uniforms and personally I think that would look quite good

[Digby]

I'm predicting double blue, sky blue base with navy pinstripes for the uniforms and personally I think that would look quite good

Sporting KC would love that, having just switched to sky blue/navy two years ago.

And Nike uses a way better shade of sky blue than Adidas does, have always hated SKC's home kits since the change.

[Billy B]

I was hoping for the Cosmos, but with the Man City owners controlling the team this is the best that they could have done. New York is a city that doesn't need a nickname to brand the team. It's not like any of the teams there right now base their identity off of the nickname. I'm hoping/expecting sky blue shirts with pinstripes and I think that will be a great look. I know that Sporting KC just switched to that color scheme, but this club might just be more relevant than they are on day one

[The_Admiral]

Personally, I feel team nomenclature is dictated by geography rather than sport, and so I would hope that our soccer teams would sound like American sports teams because that is fundamentally what they are. "Real Salt Lake" is preposterous by any measure, but the scarfies seem to like it, so you know what, fine, it's your league.

I sorta like stuff like Union and Revolution as a compromise between the two sides. Has anyone else read An Exaltation of Larks? It's a guide to collective nouns: some historic, some made up. You know, a school of fish, a murder of crows, that whole thing. That form would be a novel way to name MLS teams: a Union of Philadelphians, a Revolution of Bostonians, perhaps an Assembly of Detroiters?

[GotPixels]

N.Y. Freedom, Liberty United, The Brave, F.C.

[CubsFanBudMan]

I just don't get how New York City FC is even considered a good name for a team. What if the Yankees were called the New York City BC? It's overly generic.

it's European thing.

Well New York City is not part of Europe and MLS is not a European league. If the MLS is trying to expand it's fanbase this doesn't help. Most Americans don't follow European soccer and probably couldn't name a team other than Manchester United. So something like NYC FC is pretty lame. Much like Real and Sporting. Not to mention we already have Toronto FC and FC Dallas. MLS should try to develop it's own identity instead of copying European teams.

As stated by others, MLS has a good mix. If you don't like the name and it's a dealbreaker, root for the Sounders, Timbers, Fire, etc.

I'm predicting double blue, sky blue base with navy pinstripes for the uniforms and personally I think that would look quite good

Sporting KC would love that, having just switched to sky blue/navy two years ago.

And Nike uses a way better shade of sky blue than Adidas does, have always hated SKC's home kits since the change.

That's because Nike uses "Wolf Blue"...

[zigbazah]

Sporting KC would love that, having just switched to sky blue/navy two years ago.

And Nike uses a way better shade of sky blue than Adidas does, have always hated SKC's home kits since the change.

Pretty sure Nike and Adidas use whatever shade of blue Man City and SKC tell them to.

[kw11333]

I doubt anyone will actually call them "NYCFC", that will just be their official name. They will probably be just called "City FC" or just "City".

[btharner]

Just a thought. If the stadium gets built in Queens then you could have City Field and Citi Field all in the same neighborhood.

[Craegus]

I'm predicting double blue, sky blue base with navy pinstripes for the uniforms and personally I think that would look quite good

[Anubis2051]

Hm...well this is interesting. With the Yankees involved, there are some very unique logo opportunities that get opened up. I do think that most are right and we'll see powder blue with navy pinstripes, probably with a reversal on the road. I wonder if we'll see the Yankee Stadium frieze featured in the logo? Probably not unless NYCFC calls YS home. Still, that might look good as the top of a crest. It's been used on uniforms before, after all:

And then there's another possibility that hasn't been discussed. Could the team use the Yankees logo? There is precedent for other NY teams using the logo in the past:

Of course, I doubt this will happen, but you never know. Perhaps we're looking at a combination of the ManCity logo and the Yankees logo? That might look okay. Here's my (extremely) quick and dirty mock-up of what that might look like:

[lancealot]

I'm predicting double blue, sky blue base with navy pinstripes for the uniforms and personally I think that would look quite good

Thicker closer pinstripes, ie Yankees unis in sky blue with the new crest in place of the ny logo

[pmoehrin]

I don't know, maybe I'm the only one but I'm not a huge fan of the name at all.

Then again I would classify myself as being in the Cosmos or bust camp, so I probably am biased here, but still that's the best you can come up with? New York City Football Club?

Still it is better then New York Red Bulls. I'll take the most uncreative name in the world any day over some corporate sponsor tattoo job.

[Krona]

I like the name. MLS could use a "City". Classic english football. If red bull was smart, they'd do anything and everything to jump on the Cosmos name. Technically, they were a New Jersey team (in their glory years, at least). It may be enough to keep them the slightest bit relevant in the market.