2026 NWSL Boston expansion team: BOS Nation FC

[Digby]

I feel like this deserves its own thread since it's already been splintered across two NWSL threads, neither of which it even fits into as the team won't play for 18 more months. 

 

The team has launched a name and a wordmark but curiously, no apparent logo. They're calling it BOS Nation FC.

 

 

The campaign launched with this video about balls. No, really. Please check the comments for how well that's going.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DBJdUZeMhUJ/ 

 

I think this has real potential to be one of the most disastrous brand rollouts in recent memory based on the 24 hours since the leak, so that's another reason to thread it on its own, for posterity.

[tBBP]

"BOS Nation"??? Like, what the heck even is that, for real???

 

And that launch ad...I ain't even gonna comment on it, except to--actually, let Tony ask it...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sky1324]

Their marketing copy mentions it's an anagram of "Bostonian" and I have to wonder... why not just  go with "Bostonian FC"? It has a classic feel to it, like Corinthians or Heart of Midlothian. I like the colors and the serifed font, but the lack of a real crest and that "FC" is absolutely terrible. Lots of very strange choices here.

[Digby]

3 minutes ago, sky1324 said:

Their marketing copy mentions it's an anagram of "Bostonian" and I have to wonder... why not just  go with "Bostonian FC"? It has a classic feel to it, like Corinthians or Heart of Midlothian. I like the colors and the serifed font, but the lack of a real crest and that "FC" is absolutely terrible. Lots of very strange choices here.

 

I'd dig that I think. One of the things I've said before is, as much as I typically don't like CityName FC in American soccer, I think it would be clever in this case since they really will be Boston's team, not like the Revolution who've forever played 45 minutes away from Boston. The ONE thing they could have done is make sure "Boston" is in the name somewhere and they didn't even do that!

 

The ownership group is a group of investment bankers, the marketing/design team they contracted seems to mostly do commercials for consumer goods... I think the central problem here, which has been alluded to from folks with insider gossip, is that none of the decision-makers seem to know (or particularly care) very much about soccer.

[GDAWG]

Not a good start for the expansion of Women's sports in Boston as there's already the Boston Fleet of the PWHL, who weren't even mentioned in the "Too Many Balls" video package despite the fact that a player from the Bruins was in it holding an "ice ball"

[PERRIN]

Funnily enough, I'm in the process of making a Boston NWSL Brand Proposal for my Senior Practicum Project. I was a bit worried my project wouldn't be up to standard and wouldn't feel professional or polished enough for a high-tier league.

I'm not worried anymore. This sucks big time.

If there isn't an actual crest in addition to the word marks, this might be the worst brand in professional sports. Nothing about this feels even remotely related to Boston as a city. The colors and font are nice, but the patterns feel so random and nondescript. The primary word mark is painfully unbalanced and haphazard. The balls marketing angle is embarrassing and childish. I'm a lifelong diehard Boston sports fan, lived in MA my whole life, and would love to have a women's soccer team to support. Right now, I'd be embarrassed to support this team. A huge yikes all around.

[tBBP]

3 minutes ago, Digby said:

The ownership group is a group of investment bankers, the marketing/design team they contracted seems to mostly do commercials for consumer goods... I think the central problem here, which has been alluded to from folks with insider gossip, is that none of the decision-makers seem to know (or particularly care) very much about soccer.

 

Thank you for confirming my suspicion, which I picked up on from reading all those superfluous color names. It was at that time that I knew the owners/marketing group/whoever came up with this were some of the tech-bro hipsterest, hedge-fund-trust-babiest chads to ever chad...

[VampyrRabbit]

They wanted it to be BOS, but instead it's just dross.

[TrueYankee26]

Did Mercedes Mone name the club?

[Digby]

19 minutes ago, tBBP said:

 

Thank you for confirming my suspicion, which I picked up on from reading all those superfluous color names. It was at that time that I knew the owners/marketing group/whoever came up with this were some of the tech-bro hipsterest, hedge-fund-trust-babiest chads to ever chad...

 

They're all Gen X women, so I wouldn't call them tech bros or chads or hipsters.

 

More like the type of people who clung onto "Lean In" for a decade after it was torn to shreds, who insisted that the name be better to sell "Girl-BOS!" merch than represent a soccer team or a community.

[The_Admiral]

"BOS Nation" sounds like a local podcast network that functions as a make-work for ex-WEEI producers and wants to get as close to being sued by the Red Sox as they can get. Certainly not an actual team of any sort.

[Digby]

32 minutes ago, PERRIN said:

I'm a lifelong diehard Boston sports fan, lived in MA my whole life, and would love to have a women's soccer team to support. Right now, I'd be embarrassed to support this team.

 

I am in this same boat but between this rollout garnering zero fans and their barely-workable stadium plan, I'm still not convinced this team will ever make it to the pitch.

[tBBP]

20 minutes ago, Digby said:

 

They're all Gen X women, so I wouldn't call them tech bros or chads or hipsters.

 

More like the type of people who clung onto "Lean In" for a decade after it was torn to shreds, who insisted that the name be better to sell "Girl-BOS!" merch than represent a soccer team or a community.

 

Oh—thanks for correcting me. 

 

And now knowing this information...I have even more questions about that promotional vid...

[nickp91]

return of the Boston Breakers name makes way more sense than Bos Nation

[Digby]

4 minutes ago, tBBP said:

 

Oh—thanks for correcting me. 

 

And now knowing this information...I have even more questions about that promotional vid...

 

Well, I suppose you don't get to be a girlboss investment banker without a bit of ladybro approach to life, so you're not fully wrong. I think the promo vid was moreso the work of their marketing firm who, like I said, hasn't done sports beyond a few ad campaigns for the Bruins as far as I could tell. So my best conjecture is that these people don't get the nuance of the situation and figured that sportsball must mean you have to go full Barstool-douche.

 

Now I'm not saying that the modern women's soccer team needs to just market to the Subaru-and-flannel crowd, but your tone should probably be closer to that than to the Southie frat-bro on the sentiment dial, especially if you're siting your stadium next to Boston's most lesbian neighborhood.

 

And, at the risk of lighting the stick of dynamite, I'll just say it: I don't think any smart read of the market for women's soccer in Boston in 2024 would suggest that centering your ad campaign around "ha ha, women's sports! No balls!" is a good idea.

[VampyrRabbit]

41 minutes ago, nickp91 said:

return of the Boston Breakers name makes way more sense than Bos Nation

First time around the Breakers died with the WUSA, second time they didn't exactly set the world on fire, failing to make the playoffs in every NWSL season they had, so it's understandable why that name wasn't given a third chance.

Having said that, it's better than BOS Nation without any doubt.

[Digby]

Just now, VampyrRabbit said:

First time around the Breakers died with the WUSA, second time they didn't exactly set the world on fire, failing to make the playoffs in every NWSL season they had, so it's understandable why that name wasn't given a third chance.

 

Not only were they bad on the pitch, but their business was side was comically unprofessional and going to their games felt like a sad county fair. Then after they folded, it turns out the organization was laundering visas for staff. So, I get why there wasn't a huge appetite to revive that brand. But yes, this has obviously led us to a very grim replacement timeline.

[The_Admiral]

40 minutes ago, Digby said:

And, at the risk of lighting the stick of dynamite, I'll just say it: I don't think any smart read of the market for women's soccer in Boston in 2024 would suggest that centering your ad campaign around "ha ha, women's sports! No balls!" is a good idea.

 

From the way they hang a lampshade at the end, it's obvious that someone went over it and said "aside from all the other problems here, soccer is also played with a ball," but they were too convinced of their own brilliance or too close to the deadline to scrap it. 

 

I know I've posted it a thousand times, but I post everything a thousand times, and the way to market women's sports is to BE NORMAL. Presuming some sort of antagonistic relationship with the rest of the Boston sports landscape in a city where the USWNT is surely very popular already is weird and alienating and makes no sense. 

[GDAWG]

 

[The_Admiral]

Boston Coven = White Women Being Annoying FC