Could teams in the same city share one identity?

[4_tattoos 1,066]

Something I've wondered for a long time. Is it possible for teams from the major (North American) sports leagues in the same city to share one identity? Not asking should or would it happen, but could it happen? If one ownership group owned of all a city's major teams, or if the ownership groups across the different teams in the same city really wanted do it would it be allowed on a legal level?

 

For example. Ted Leonsis owns the Washington Capitals and Wizards. If he really wanted both these clubs to have the same name, could he rebrand the Wizards as the Washington Capitals Basketball Club. Or vice versa renaming the Caps the Washington Wizards Hockey Club?

 

Or let's say the owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pirates and Penguins all came together because they really wanted the city's teams to have one name. Let's assume the Steelers' identity wins out, and the owners of the Pirates and Penguins gave it the green light. Could they become The Pittsburgh Steelers Baseball & Hockey Clubs?

 

I know at one point New York had both the baseball and football Giants, but they both pretty much had their own identities despite the same name. Mainly with the colors and logos each team used. Similar situation in St. Louis with the Cardinals being both a baseball and football team. *If I'm wrong about this point please correct me and show me proof of branding being shared across different pro sports*

 

I mean same name, same colors, same logo (primary logo at least), one city, different leagues. Is it possible?

[kimball 3,994]

I've wondered this too. Why can't the Pelicans use Saints as their nickname? 

 

And, excuse my American ignorance, but isn't this a thing in Europe? Real Madrid, etc.,?

 

I don't see why not?

[4_tattoos 1,066]

13 minutes ago, kimball said:

And, excuse my American ignorance, but isn't this a thing in Europe? Real Madrid, etc.,?

Hmmm, I don't know. Is it?

[4_tattoos 1,066]

21 minutes ago, kimball said:

I've wondered this too. Why can't the Pelicans use Saints as their nickname? 

Do they have they same ownership?

[Dolphins Dynasty 1,871]

I doubt it, mainly because it would cause branding confusion. Also, I don't know that much about trademarking, but I would assume that would be an issue as well. Yes, New York had two "Giants" franchises, but that was in a different time... Today? I don't think there's a chance.

[Kevin W. 1,430]

I'll pass. The phrase "New York Football Giants" being spoken in this day and age infuriates me to no end because of its egotism.

[BringBackTheVet 11,664]

8 hours ago, 4_tattoos said:

Hmmm, I don't know. Is it?

 

FC Barcelona has hockey and basketball (at least) in addition to soccer. 

[4_tattoos 1,066]

6 hours ago, BringBackTheVet said:

 

FC Barcelona has hockey and basketball (at least) in addition to soccer. 

A hockey club (or even a league) in Spain surprises me. Would not have thought that would be a popular sport over there.

[Kramerica Industries 1,417]

17 hours ago, kimball said:

I've wondered this too. Why can't the Pelicans use Saints as their nickname? 

 

And, excuse my American ignorance, but isn't this a thing in Europe? Real Madrid, etc.,?

 

I don't see why not?

It's common for a franchise in Europe to operate sports clubs in multiple sports. Real Madrid has a well known basketball club. So does Barça and Bayern Munich for that matter. But it's important to remember that those are byproducts of the time and culture in which those clubs were founded. American sporting franchises just weren't founded with the same pretenses in mind.

[DiePerske 1,084]

1 hour ago, Kramerica Industries said:

It's common for a franchise in Europe to operate sports clubs in multiple sports. Real Madrid has a well known basketball club. So does Barça and Bayern Munich for that matter. But it's important to remember that those are byproducts of the time and culture in which those clubs were founded. American sporting franchises just weren't founded with the same pretenses in mind.

And this is the main point. 

 

A club can certainly field teams in multiple sports, because it's just one club.

 

Multiple franchises however ? Wouldn't work, and the us is fixed with the franchise model. 

[the admiral 19,855]

I've pitched the idea of the Blue Jays, Maple Leafs, and Raptors all using the same typeface (Penumbra) and the Raptors sharing the Leafs' colors, but there would still be individual team identities despite some overlap. I think that's about as far as you can take it these days. Otherwise you could recreate the problem of the venerable, dominant, regional-power St. Louis Cardinals, and then the hapless football team that is also the St. Louis Cardinals. That's what you'd have with the New Orleans Basketball Saints, and the Saints have been far from dominant. Not good.

[MJWalker45 3,602]

23 hours ago, kimball said:

I've wondered this too. Why can't the Pelicans use Saints as their nickname? 

 

And, excuse my American ignorance, but isn't this a thing in Europe? Real Madrid, etc.,?

 

I don't see why not?

In Europe, Real Madrid is directly involved with those teams. Real Madrid is actually a sports club, not just a soccer club. Most major clubs, with the exception of England, operate multiple sports programs to include handball, floor hockey, field hockey and even baseball in some areas. 

[Gothamite 16,383]

21 hours ago, CRichardson said:

I'll pass. The phrase "New York Football Giants" being spoken in this day and age infuriates me to no end because of its egotism.

 

Egotism?  

[Gothamite 16,383]

23 hours ago, Dolphins Dynasty said:

I doubt it, mainly because it would cause branding confusion. Also, I don't know that much about trademarking, but I would assume that would be an issue as well. Yes, New York had two "Giants" franchises, but that was in a different time... Today? I don't think there's a chance.

 

Yep, that’s it.  

 

When football teams started naming themselves after the local baseball clubs, they were trying to borrow the older sport’s prestige.  But each corporate entity had a very narrow focus. One could use the name for the purposes of holding professional baseball games, the other for the purposes of holding professional football games.  No overlap.  But now, teams use their branding for a whole series of things nobody back then could have anticipated, and there’s value in the name alone, divorced from any context. 

[Gothamite 16,383]

10 hours ago, DiePerske said:

And this is the main point. 

 

A club can certainly field teams in multiple sports, because it's just one club.

 

Multiple franchises however ? Wouldn't work, and the us is fixed with the franchise model. 

 

Clubs v franchises has nothing to do with it. You wouldn’t see multiple independent clubs use the same name over there any more than you’d see multiple independent franchises use the same name here. 

[Kevin W. 1,430]

1 hour ago, Gothamite said:

 

Egotism?  

Yeah, in retrospect that wasn't the right word. I'm not sure how I came up with that one.

 

Then again, it could be a reference to that small subset of NYG fans who insist on the team being called by the name, as if they were tOSU fans.

[ElwoodCuse 184]

St. Louis had the football and baseball Cardinals far more recently than the New York Giants

[Ashes of Astroworld 218]

Had the Texans been named the Apollos, Houston baseball, basketball and football could all had space names. I wouldn't fly due to the clubs separate origins of being founded and renamed, relocated from another city with an appropriate name and having to start from scratch after having you football history ripped out from under you and put on a shelf in Nashville. 

[The Six 682]

On 1/20/2018 at 3:36 PM, CRichardson said:

I'll pass. The phrase "New York Football Giants" being spoken in this day and age infuriates me to no end because of its egotism.

 

I call them that just because saying "Giants" alone is obviously referring to the more important baseball Giants team, so when speaking about the football team one must include the additional descriptors. 

[BringBackTheVet 11,664]

So pretend there was a mandate to consolidate franchises in each city and pick one name for all of them.  

 

The name has to be one that's already in use by one of the teams.  For this exercise, it's limited to cities with 3 or more out of MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL, and the teams names originated in the city (rather than mismatches created by franchise relocation), or if they are as a result of relo, still make sense.

 

I'll start with a few:

Philadelphia = Eagles

Pittsburgh = Steelers

New York = Knicks?  Jets?  Not sure (also not sure how to handle multiple teams in the same sport.)

Boston = Celtics

Seattle (I'm counting the Sonics still) = Sonics (maybe Mariners would be more appropriate?)

Denver = Rockies

 

OK, I'm bored now.