Houston MLS Team logo leaked

[CZzyzx41]

I kinda like it. Esp. if they have orange away kits and the "argentinian" white and sky blue vertical stripe home unis. It will be a fresh look in the MLS. Houston Republic isn't too poor a name either and that logo is better than what half the teams in Northern Europe have right now.

[-kj]

Not the first city I would think of that is overflowing with Europeans.

No, but then again, I wouldn't call this type of crest necessarily just a "European" idea. Many teams in the Mexican League (and the leagues in South America, and...) use logos that are in the "crest style," if you will, and I'd guess that there's likely to be a large Mexican influence in Houston's fan base.

(As for Chivas USA, they pretty much just borrowed their parents' look.)

[swisherHOU]

Not bieng a soccer fan, I have no clue what the Euros do, but I can see where they're going with this (I'm from Houston).

But nobody should mistake this as final...take a close look at one of the close up pictures and you can see comments such as "18-36 still loose". I can't really read the rest, but it looks like this is still very much in progress.

I love the way the HR and FC fit together, and the AWO on the bottom is a nice touch IMO.

So far, thumbs up.

[NoHoJoe]

A bike messenger with a digital camera took a photo and posted to BigSoccer.

It looks like the Philips logo from the 1960s, the colors are orange and light blue (like Tennessee Volunteers' women's basketball), and there is a locomotive and train tracks in the logo.

I am sure this photo will be wiped out via a cease-and-desist order, so view it while you can:

Does this mean that the Name the Team contest is a done deal?

THOSE WORST LOGO EVER!!!!!!

[hawk36]

Love it. Doesn't look like the same ol cookie cutter stuff sports teams are spitting out these days. Nice to see someone is trying to break out of the Nike, Adidas, Reebok mold. BRAVO!

[TBGKon]

There is a poll (linked below) on MLSnet that is a contest to name the team in Houston. Republic is nowhere to be found. I think it would look bad on the part of the owners to choose a name not up for a vote.

Houston MLS franchise "name the team" contest

[MJWalker45]

The official naming of the team isn't set to be announced until mid-January. This may be no more than a simple what if logo. Especially if AEG sells the team off to another investor, they may move to change the teams name after MLS agrees to the name they will use in 2006. As for uniforms, i like the idea mentioned earlier of an Argentina inspired uni at home and maybe an orange/warm red uni for away matches. I also like that more and more the MLS teams are going to a primary/change kit rotation as opposed to a home/away set in stone rotation.

[quantum]

I wish there was a closeup of the comments section. Changes to the artwork would be indicated.

[BB61]

So Philly is going to lose out on an MLS team in 2007 because of... THIS?

It looks simple and very... Western... and... okay, it's not horrible. But... oy. They could've done better.

I'd like to see what the do with the colors in the kits, though.

[swisherHOU]

They could change the 18 - 36 to 20 - 06 and then put 1836 as a negative inside the train.

[gosioux76]

There is a poll (linked below) on MLSnet that is a contest to name the team in Houston.  Republic is nowhere to be found.  I think it would look bad on the part of the owners to choose a name not up for a vote.

Houston MLS franchise "name the team" contest

I voted for Apollos since Republic isn't there.

[Krona]

glorious. not over the top traditional badge, yet very football. i like it a lot. i like the colors, plus the badge colors dont necessarily indicate that the kits will be the same

[LMU]

There is a poll (linked below) on MLSnet that is a contest to name the team in Houston. Republic is nowhere to be found. I think it would look bad on the part of the owners to choose a name not up for a vote.

Houston MLS franchise "name the team" contest

That poll's just a contest run by the Houston Chronicle, and asks to vote for one of the potential names as opposed to picking the new name.

The logo's great though. Nice and classy, just like the sport should be.

[Buffalo]

WTF?

The Republic???

That's an awful name.

Its as if the marketing-guy who came up with this crap was the Texas-equivalent of some Civil War buff loser.

This logo is self-aggrandizing bullshiit.

Plus the whole thing about the "name contest" being rigged, and that its in Texas, this thing reeks of clumsiliy evil Republic-an politicking.

The logo sucks ass as well. Its so wannabe-establishment.

Hmm, lets see... why shouldn't DC United have 1790 (no, not 1776-lest we forget about the Constitution) their crest? Jesus, this sucks.

Worst. Name. Ever.

[CC97]

Well if anyone feels like being a dick, houston-republic.com and houstonrepublicfc.com are both available to be registered

[Krona]

i like that there are 17 pieces of track for the "17 railways..." thing

[totc]

The MLS is trying way too hard to give teams that "European" feel.

I guess that's why they aren't keen on "Houston Rovers" in the polling.

[gordie_delini]

i agree with you guys that the name is fine- the crest is HORRID - it's not even European style - it's bad American 1970s-1980s style. DAMN YOU MLS! DAMN YOU!!!

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Yeah...I really see professional soccer taking off in Houston....

So why exactly isn't Rochester, NY yet an MLS town? Must my hometown continue to outdraw most of the MLS cities with A-League soccer?

Yeesh.

[hawk36]

Although not "high design", I think those who don't like it are being a little too tough on the logo. Some could see it as juvenile, whereas I see it as a throwback to a time when not everything was perfectly computerized and actually had some character. Not perfect by any means, but a great direction to venture into.

To those who don't like the name, I think you just don't understand the quality of soccer names throughout the world. Not everything has to be Americanized.