Miami FC Rebrand to Strikers in 2011

[dabest13]

http://www.miamifc.com/

More NASL resurrection afoot. Thoughts?

[The_Admiral]

How can a goalkeeper be a striker?

[illwauk]

The same way players who aren't US-born can be Yankees, I suppose...

[fishheatcats]

Kinda old news. We knew they were gonna do it before the season started, they officially announced it a little over a month ago.

Rebranding certainly can't hurt. It should help considering they play in Fort Lauderdale at Lockhart Stadium(home of the old Strikers teams). The unique red and yellow hooped uniforms ought to bring some good brand awareness locally too. Fort Lauderdale never really got on board with the "Miami" Fusion(and as of yet haven't gotten on board with Miami FC) the way they did with the Strikers(much like the Mutiny not drawing as well as the Rowdies did in Tampa). Now the Rowdies are back in TB and they are getting crowds for D2 that are not much worse than what MLS got there.

I hope the new logo is good(and better than the new Rowdies' logo ).

[-kj]

We've had another thread on this somewhere.

But... they're changing the colors and completely dropping the Miami FC part? Lame, lame, lame.

[fishheatcats]

We've had another thread on this somewhere.

But... they're changing the colors and completely dropping the Miami FC part? Lame, lame, lame.

Yep. Doesn't make any sense to call them "Miami FC" seeing how they'll likely never play in Miami again. Plus the Miami FC identity has never really been anything to write home about either.

Most of the fans(except the 8 people from Miami who actually went to games) like the move. The Strikers are the only success story in the history of pro soccer in South Florida. And with the way Tampa has taken to the new Rowdies, it's a no-brainer to bring back the Strikers name. I just hope they use the name "Fort Lauderdale Strikers" and not "South Florida Strikers" or something lame like that.

[Jer15]

Dumb, Dumb, Dumb.

I just think there is no need for this and it does nothing to help educate people on division 2 soccer.

There's a division 3 team in my hometown of Brampton, Ont called the Lions. It's hard enough to explain where on the spectrum of pro soccer this team fits in, let alone try to keep up with them if they wanted to change their name. It's advantageous to these teams to keep the same name and grow that brand.

[gosioux76]

Dumb, Dumb, Dumb.

I just think there is no need for this and it does nothing to help educate people on division 2 soccer.

There's a division 3 team in my hometown of Brampton, Ont called the Lions. It's hard enough to explain where on the spectrum of pro soccer this team fits in, let alone try to keep up with them if they wanted to change their name. It's advantageous to these teams to keep the same name and grow that brand.

I disagree. This seems perfectly reasonable to me.

If previous posters are accurate, which I assume they are, and the team isn't likely to play in Miami anymore, this would be the ideal time to rebrand. Using the Strikers identity is a no-brainer if they're going to play in Fort Lauderdale. The fact that Tampa has openly embraced the return of the Rowdies would seem to make the decision even easier.

[B-Rich]

There seem to be two camps when it come to US soccer: the Euro/Latin America- centric ones, who revel in names like "FC Dallas"& "Real Salt Lake", who don't mind (or may actually enjoy) seeing advertisement across a jersey front, and who sincerely hope that a system that involves relegation can be put in place. On the other hand, there are the old-school, America-first people who played soccer as kids in the seventies and loved teams with names like the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Atlanta Chiefs, and Los Angeles Aztecs.

Count me squarely in the second camp. I'm all for the re-using of NASL nicknames whether in the MLS or minor leagues. I don't agree with the haughtiness of calling a franchise "F.C.", when we live in America and Canada, where football is a sport played with a pointed ovoid ball (whether you play with 3 downs or 4).

I fondly remember the red and yellow "hoops" of the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, and am glad that like the green and gold stripes of the Rowdies, they are making a comeback.

... On a tangential Strikers note, anyone catch the special during the World Cup about players who scored a goal in the World Cup? Many have aged well-- Pele looks great, Geoff Hurst looks distinguished. But man, Gerd Muller looked like a wizened little old man. I remember him during his years with the Strikers as looking a lot like the younger version of "The World's Most Interesting Man" with a robust build and dark hair hair and beard. Now he looks like the little guy running a newstand on the corner.

[Titanole]

... On a tangential Strikers note, anyone catch the special during the World Cup about players who scored a goal in the World Cup? Many have aged well-- Pele looks great, Geoff Hurst looks distinguished. But man, Gerd Muller looked like a wizened little old man. I remember him during his years with the Strikers as looking a lot like the younger version of "The World's Most Interesting Man" with a robust build and dark hair hair and beard. Now he looks like the little guy running a newstand on the corner.

Then:

Now:

[fishheatcats]

There seem to be two camps when it come to US soccer: the Euro/Latin America- centric ones, who revel in names like "FC Dallas"& "Real Salt Lake", who don't mind (or may actually enjoy) seeing advertisement across a jersey front, and who sincerely hope that a system that involves relegation can be put in place. On the other hand, there are the old-school, America-first people who played soccer as kids in the seventies and loved teams with names like the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Atlanta Chiefs, and Los Angeles Aztecs.

Count me squarely in the second camp. I'm all for the re-using of NASL nicknames whether in the MLS or minor leagues. I don't agree with the haughtiness of calling a franchise "F.C.", when we live in America and Canada, where football is a sport played with a pointed ovoid ball (whether you play with 3 downs or 4).

I fondly remember the red and yellow "hoops" of the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, and am glad that like the green and gold stripes of the Rowdies, they are making a comeback.

... On a tangential Strikers note, anyone catch the special during the World Cup about players who scored a goal in the World Cup? Many have aged well-- Pele looks great, Geoff Hurst looks distinguished. But man, Gerd Muller looked like a wizened little old man. I remember him during his years with the Strikers as looking a lot like the younger version of "The World's Most Interesting Man" with a robust build and dark hair hair and beard. Now he looks like the little guy running a newstand on the corner.

I'm in the middle. I don't mind advertisements and love the concept of promotion/relegation, but I think the euro-style names are a real cop-out(especially Chivas USA and Crystal Palace Baltimore). However I also hate the other end of the spectrum, the tremendously stupid American style nicknames like "Clash", "Burn", "Mutiny", or the jewel of the current D2 spectrum, the Austin AzTex. "FC Dallas" is certainly better than "Dallas Burn"

When it comes to the old NASL names, it's as simple as if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The Fusion and Mutiny drew crummy crowds and eventually folded(more due to ownership issues than bad crowds, but still). The Strikers and Rowdies however were very popular in the NASL and later in their D2 incarnations in the 80s/90s. Ask the Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers, Vancouver Whitecaps and San Jose Earthquakes how well sticking with a local tradition works.