PWHL Branding and Uniforms 2023-24

[BeerGuyJordan]

On 10/28/2023 at 7:19 AM, the admiral said:

These names are terrible, and they've gone way too far in salting the earth, but let's be honest, the PHF was just as bumbling and power-tripping as the new people. They should have kept what worked (New York Riveters) and gotten rid of what didn't (apparently, everything else).

I've been following since day one. The PHF was far from perfect, and had some really questionable moves: the Rivs playing in a mall, the Force being homeless their first season, communication between league management and the teams, etc. 

 

That said, there are more than a couple big successes in their wins column. Their ESPN+ deal was a huge plus. And provided the first reliably watchable seasons yet for thise not able to get to games. Fan engagement was great, but that's not something the league itself should get credit for, as the teams were doing the heavy lifting.

 

They were making real headway in sponsorship and salary, and their inroads with Euro and Asian players could have been a major asset to the PWHL.

 

Their identities were beloved by the fanbases in most of their markets. The Rivs were just great. The Whitecaps weren't the best, but they had more than 20 years of tradition and brand recognition. Killing them feels idiotic. I wasn't a huge fan of the Pride identity, but the locals seemed to love it. The Six were a bad idea executed well, and the Force were serviceable, but I don't have strong feelings about letting them go.

 

ESPN was reportedly happy with their championship telecast numbers and the rumor was they had agreed to air a best of three series next season.

 

There are a lot of areas where the new league is zero sum compared to the old, but there are a lot of foundations already laid they could have built on as well. Womens sports have a hard enough time gaining traction. The PWHL wants to kill the PHF so badly that they're cutting off their nose to spite their face.

 

The sport, its players, and the fans deserve better.

On 10/28/2023 at 8:50 PM, Sodboy13 said:

This is a fair point to make, and it is more than worth remembering that Reagan Carey and the other folks in charge of the league announced a huge boost to the salary cap and were signing players to contracts reflecting it, while quietly negotiating an acquisition deal that would void every single one of those contracts. Profoundly bad actors.

Salient point, but as I understand it, some level of discussion had been ongoing ever since the split and they always fell apart. Carey and the rest deserve the vitriol they are getting for blindsided everyone with the execution. Not explaining the negotiations every step of the way and planning on actually playing next season isn't where I'm upset.

[The_Admiral]

The old league was really good at branding and cultivating a Twitterati following. They didn't seem to excel at much else.

[BeerGuyJordan]

8 minutes ago, the admiral said:

The old league was really good at branding and cultivating a Twitterati following. They didn't seem to excel at much else.

The one caveat to that stance I would offer is the home viewing. Their video quality the last season on ESPN+ was better than most AHL teams, and better that what the Coyotes have since Bally fell through and you have to watch them on Laff. Not sure how many other NHL teams are in that boat.

 

Them taking advantage of Arizona's arena mess and having their final there last season was inspired. They got access to NHL quality media infrastructure at an affordable price for their first nationally televised game.

 

Don't get me wrong, I really want this league to work, I just can't understand paying what they did to not take advantage of what they could. It's bad business, and setting my personal attachments aside doesn't instill confidence in their ability to not run this sport's umpteenth league into the ground.

[Brian in Boston]

So many questions about these branding choices...

* Will it be possible for Boston to have a mediocre game, or will they always play either Wicked good or Wicked bad hockey?

* With Minnesota reported to be playing home games in Saint Paul, will the team's mascot be Mother Superior?

* Will the Echo have an answer for every team they play, or just the Sound?

* If New York turns in a terrible performance on the ice, will it still be appropriate to say they played Sound hockey?

* Does it seem ironic that a team dubbed Alert appears unaware that its namesake's moniker was plural?

* Is Torch meant to commemorate the burning of the Legislative Assembly and Government House during the War of 1812? A nod to the Great Toronto Fire of 1849? A tip of the toque to the Great Toronto Fire of 1904? Or was it simply chosen to keep Montreal from using it?


 

[Fowler]

Minnesota Superior only makes sense if the club played it's home games in let's say DULUTH!!! 

[CaliforniaGlowin]

Jersey designs have been released.  Some colors make no sense given the leaked team names.

https://uni-watch.com/2023/11/14/pwhl-unveils-jerseys-for-inaugural-2024-season/

[gosioux76]

6 minutes ago, CaliforniaGlowin said:

Jersey designs have been released.  Some colors make no sense given the leaked team names.

https://uni-watch.com/2023/11/14/pwhl-unveils-jerseys-for-inaugural-2024-season/

 

Those give off a real "Brand X" vibe. 

[Dilbert]

Why do I have the feeling that they are just gonna play with no team name or logos this season?

[BeerGuyJordan]

33 minutes ago, Dilbert said:

Why do I have the feeling that they are just gonna play with no team name or logos this season?

Because they appear to be trying to out bad business the NHL, at this point?

[ManillaToad]

This league is DOA

[monkeypower]

I wonder how much of these jerseys, and the fact there's still no names yet, was impacted by the widely negative response to the leak of the names?

[M4One]

The jersey designs are good for the most part.  Not having team names or logos to go with them is just stupid and just gives any haters more reason to talk bad about the league, which in this case, would be deserved.  Really limits themselves in terms of merch sales, too.

 

As far as the jerseys themselves, Montreal or Ottawa really needed a much brighter red.  They look pretty much the same to me, whether that's because of the lighting or because they are.  Minnesota's white jersey is similar to the Arizona Coyotes where all the dark colours just blend into each other.  They need to go back to the drawing board on that one.  

[Jezus_Ghoti]

The way the lettering stretches the sweater (and it's not just these pics, it's like this in all the unveiling videos even when the sweaters are hanging loosely) looks extremely cheap.

 

 

 

[DTConcepts]

1 hour ago, monkeypower said:

I wonder how much of these jerseys, and the fact there's still no names yet, was impacted by the widely negative response to the leak of the names?

 

My conspiracy theory is that they had logos, jerseys, and brands all ready to go, but after seeing the public's response to the leak they scrambled by tossing each city's name on to the jerseys they had prepared.

[pepis21]

Everything about this league look so cheap that I feel it's gonna be disbanded after max two seasons.

[CaliforniaGlowin]

Yea they released jerseys before the team names. Weird.

[seasaltvanilla]

Not a high bar to clear, but I like my 2 hour late night idea better.

 

 

[GDAWG]

4 hours ago, CaliforniaGlowin said:

Yea they released jerseys before the team names. Weird.

 

You should have seen how they did their draft.  It was weird.    I said this on page one:

 

Quote

I saw a live stream of the draft and it was weird in regards to welcoming players in attendance.  Usually when a player is drafted in other leagues, that player gets a hat with the team logo on it and in some drafts, a hat along with the team jersey.  But none of the PWHL players in attendance for the draft got even a hat to wear.  When they were introduced on stage, they meet the GM and the GM and player hold a hockey stick with PWHL and City/State/Provincial name on it only for a photo op and once that is done, the hockey stick remains on stage as the GM puts it back on the rack.

 

[MJWalker45]

16 hours ago, M4One said:

The jersey designs are good for the most part.  Not having team names or logos to go with them is just stupid and just gives any haters more reason to talk bad about the league, which in this case, would be deserved.  Really limits themselves in terms of merch sales, too.

 

As far as the jerseys themselves, Montreal or Ottawa really needed a much brighter red.  They look pretty much the same to me, whether that's because of the lighting or because they are.  Minnesota's white jersey is similar to the Arizona Coyotes where all the dark colours just blend into each other.  They need to go back to the drawing board on that one.  

 

14 hours ago, DTConcepts said:

 

My conspiracy theory is that they had logos, jerseys, and brands all ready to go, but after seeing the public's response to the leak they scrambled by tossing each city's name on to the jerseys they had prepared.

 

20 hours ago, gosioux76 said:

 

Those give off a real "Brand X" vibe. 

It feels like whoever came up with these watched "A League of our Own" and said, that's what we should do! But since roundels with city crests are hard to see on hockey sweaters they just copied a Rangers jersey for everyone. 

[BeerGuyJordan]

The Pride, Whitecaps, Riveters, and Force died to make way for these atrocities.

 

I really want to root for the PWHL, and hoped when they killed the PHF that it was to make way for a better vision for the women's game. It feels like this league is one step forward, two steps back for women's hockey.

 

If the PWHL wants to tout itself as a professional, top-tier product, it should really start acting like it.