MLS Kits 2021

[PaleVermilion81]

16 minutes ago, Magic Dynasty said:

In defense of Orlando, Minnesota, and Cincinnati, the Euro-style names are the legacy names from the lower leagues. It's not like they were the Orlando Lions, Minnesota Loons, and Cincinnati Lions before joining MLS.

 

There were rumors that Minnesota was gonna change to Minnesota FC because of stupid Atlanta being allowed to also be a "United." (gosh I hate Atlanta) My hope was that if they were gonna change the MNUFC name that they would go with Minnesota Loons.

[Digby]

2 hours ago, Corvus said:

 

It wasn't certain the Whitecaps were going to keep their name either, when moving to MLS, they considered dropping it. I don't recall any of the alternatives they were thinking of, but it would have been tremendously stupid, but they really considered throwing out their history going back to 1974. Just astounding, like why even go down that road?

it always seems to be the same thing: talk of the local city deserving the spotlight, the opportunity to be recognized globally thru it’s soccer brand. (And the subtext that history doesn’t matter here.)

 

Unclear whether it’s pure delusion on the execs’ parts or just a convincing racket by branding agencies. But at any rate it seems so obviously misguided; I think “Crew” and “Impact” are objectively silly team names, but 25 or 30 years in, how many potential fans are still refusing to buy tickets because they’re eyerolling at them? That ship has long sailed.

[Sport]

https://www.thisweeknews.com/story/sports/2021/05/12/crew-gm-others-were-warned-supporters-would-challenge-rebrand-efforts/5053138001/

 

The feedback they got before embarking on this rebrand was overwhelmingly "Don't do it" and "that's a bad idea" and "you will needlessly anger the fans if you do this" and the super smart big brain execs did it anyways. 

[Digby]

Quote

Zidar said Bezbatchenko then asked, “If we were to lose 8,000 fans, wouldn’t it be worth it if we gained 15,000?”

this is what I was talking about! Who are these 15,000 people just dying to support a soccer team in Columbus Ohio as long as they have a different name? What?

[DG_ThenNowForever]

19 minutes ago, Sport said:

https://www.thisweeknews.com/story/sports/2021/05/12/crew-gm-others-were-warned-supporters-would-challenge-rebrand-efforts/5053138001/

 

The feedback they got before embarking on this rebrand was overwhelmingly "Don't do it" and "that's a bad idea" and "you will needlessly anger the fans if you do this" and the super smart big brain execs did it anyways. 

 

Supporters groups should have been born scions of billionaires then.

[Dilbert]

2 hours ago, Magic Dynasty said:

In defense of Orlando, Minnesota, and Cincinnati, the Euro-style names are the legacy names from the lower leagues. It's not like they were the Orlando Lions, Minnesota Loons, and Cincinnati Lions before joining MLS.

 

We are not the Lions. We are the Knifey Lions. Gary dont mess around.

[BC985]

2 hours ago, Sport said:

https://www.thisweeknews.com/story/sports/2021/05/12/crew-gm-others-were-warned-supporters-would-challenge-rebrand-efforts/5053138001/

 

The feedback they got before embarking on this rebrand was overwhelmingly "Don't do it" and "that's a bad idea" and "you will needlessly anger the fans if you do this" and the super smart big brain execs did it anyways. 

I just imagine someone around a conference table making the argument the club needs to change its name to Columbus because Barcelona doesn’t have a moniker like Crew attached to it. 

[VikWings]

Didn't the MLS force Minnesota to add the FC at the end of their name because Atlanta was already coming in with United and they didn't want too many Uniteds? But multiple nickname-less SC and FC is fine I guess. Also I guess it was easier to ignore that Minnesota already existed and was just being promoted basically, rather than tell Arthur Blank to pick a different name.

 

 

I very very casually follow MLS and Minnesota United, but just can't get into it like I am the PL. I'll watch a game every now and again if I'm bored and they're on FS1 or ESPN and I follow their twitter but that's it. And the only reason I even follow MNUFC at all is because when they were coming up I thought they had a great logo and colors and them being an expansion team I figured I'd be starting from the beginning, but just couldn't stick with it hardcore. How does the league expect someone like me to stick with and follow the league, or gain new fans when they're constantly doing things like renaming/re-branding teams and I hear more news about fan backlash to things than I do about play on the field? Too much trying to cosplay European teams as if they think that's going to get people to take the league more serious I feel.

[Sport]

1 hour ago, BC985 said:

I just imagine someone around a conference table making the argument the club needs to change its name to Columbus because Barcelona doesn’t have a moniker like Crew attached to it. 

You joke, but I think that’s literally the chief reason they made this decision. They wanted people to say “Columbus” when they talk about the team, not “the Crew”. It’s dumb as hell. 

[The_Admiral]

I've always thought of the Columbus Crew as being one of the signature brands of MLS. What an asinine move.

[BC985]

37 minutes ago, Sport said:

You joke, but I think that’s literally the chief reason they made this decision. They wanted people to say “Columbus” when they talk about the team, not “the Crew”. It’s dumb as hell. 

Yeah, the internet is a bad conveyor of tone. I was joking, but I completely agree with you. This decision came from someone or group of people dreaming of a booming bottom line and believing they could get there by copying the name conventions of a Barcelona or Liverpool. 
 

They don’t have a clue despite having lessons all around them. They spoke with supporters who told them not to do this, they saw how much Chicago has been mocked, and the influence of supporters has been center stage more than ever with the Super League. It’s really baffling this got to a public release when you take it all into consideration. 

[burgundy]

4 hours ago, Digby said:

Quote

Zidar said Bezbatchenko then asked, “If we were to lose 8,000 fans, wouldn’t it be worth it if we gained 15,000?”

this is what I was talking about! Who are these 15,000 people just dying to support a soccer team in Columbus Ohio as long as they have a different name? What?

 

What a slimy, soulless piece of sh!t. Who the hell treats their fans like that? The guy just told him he would cancel his season tickets if they change the name or colors, and this jackass basically replies with "F off, we don't need you."

 

 

[Brian in Boston]

1 hour ago, the admiral said:

I've always thought of the Columbus Crew as being one of the signature brands of MLS.

You wouldn't be wrong.

Admittedly, when Major League Soccer launched, I wasn't tremendously impressed with any of the original team branding... that of the Columbus Crew most definitely included. I thought the Crew name left a lot to be desired and that the accompanying logo resembled nothing so much as Clipart.

That said, fans in the market took to the Columbus Crew identity. Despite the amateurish execution on display in the original logo, it lasted for 19 MLS seasons and graced squads that won a U.S. Open Cup title, earned three Supporters' Shields, and captured the MLS Cup championship. After a slight tweak to their name and a significant makeover of their badge in time for the 2015 MLS season, Columbus Crew SC subsequently saw its supporters fight off an attempt to relocate the team to Austin, Texas and rewarded said loyalists with an additional MLS Cup victory.

The club's history under the Columbus Crew/Columbus Crew SC identity - times of both triumph and tribulation - are what have rendered it "one of the signature brands of MLS". That Major League Soccer executives and the team's own investor/operatives seem oblivious to said fact - indeed, willfully so - is the most infuriating aspect of this latest rebrand.

Detractors say that soccer in the United States and Canada lacks "authenticity" and "tradition". Frankly, that's ridiculous. What's certain is that the two nations are never going to manage to add to their stores of said attributes if stakeholders in the sport in both countries - supporters most definitely included - don't insist upon preserving the history that's already been established here.

As for the notion that replacing Columbus Crew with Columbus SC is somehow going to catapult the Ohio state capital onto the "global stage of soccer", the idea is absolutely asinine. In fact, I'd wager that the supporter-driven #SaveTheCrew movement did more to raise the profile of MLS and its member-clubs on said "global stage" than appending City, United, CF, FC,  and/or SC onto the names of the last eleven cities to be awarded franchises in the league.   

#SaveTheCrewAGAIN 

[The_Admiral]

I know the original Columbus Crew logo with the dudes in hard hats was a little dopey, but for better or worse, their status as an upstart city in an upstart league (first to have a stadium of their own, correct?) makes me think of them as a sort of cornerstone of MLS. Maybe the name is a relic of the '90s, but at this point, why not? Why have them of all teams do what everyone else is already doing?

[rams80]

5 hours ago, Digby said:

this is what I was talking about! Who are these 15,000 people just dying to support a soccer team in Columbus Ohio as long as they have a different name? What?

 

This would only have worked if you had named them Ohio State FC.

[rams80]

2 hours ago, Sport said:

You joke, but I think that’s literally the chief reason they made this decision. They wanted people to say “Columbus” when they talk about the team, not “the Crew”. It’s dumb as hell. 

 

And now your brand is genocide.  Good. Call.

[rams80]

8 hours ago, Magic Dynasty said:

 

If the trend continues, expect to see New England FC sometime within the next 3 years.

This would require House Kraft to care about their date sponge now that the apprenticeship for the heirs is complete.  I don't think they do.

[DEAD!]

13 minutes ago, the admiral said:

I know the original Columbus Crew logo with the dudes in hard hats was a little dopey, but for better or worse, their status as an upstart city in an upstart league (first to have a stadium of their own, correct?) makes me think of them as a sort of cornerstone of MLS. Maybe the name is a relic of the '90s, but at this point, why not? Why have them of all teams do what everyone else is already doing?

 

I have never really had a problem with the name or even the logo. Maybe the font choice wasn't all that great, but it looked more like a badge than many of the other original MLS clubs. Also, I like that a crew is a group of people as opposed to an abstract object. It sure beats Réal Salt Lake.

[guest23]

19 minutes ago, rams80 said:

 

This would only have worked if you had named them THE Ohio State FC.

 

Edited for proper naming convention.

[PaleVermilion81]

3 hours ago, VikWings said:

Didn't the MLS force Minnesota to add the FC at the end of their name because Atlanta was already coming in with United and they didn't want too many Uniteds? But multiple nickname-less SC and FC is fine I guess. Also I guess it was easier to ignore that Minnesota already existed and was just being promoted basically, rather than tell Arthur Blank to pick a different name.

 

Nope, they were always Minnesota United FC when they rebranded from being the Stars. The only change that happened was the logo went from having "Minnesota United FC" on it to "MNUFC" instead. Also some very minor tweaks to the logo shape that are basically not noticeable unless you overlay the logos, and the addition of a black frame on it in certain applications.