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Kansas City Wizards Rebranded as Sporting KC


Ben7

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If you're going to change the name to Sporting KC, you should at least develop a connection with the original Sporting in Portugal to justify the name change to the press and to the fans. Learn from Real Salt Lake's mistakes in using a European-style name with no connection to the local community.

I think that a relationship with Sporting in Portugal will develop in due time. Real Salt Lake did not have the Real Madrid relationship right out of the box.

Anyone else think that despite the name being Sporting Kansas City that the team will be referred to as the Wizards, the same way Manchester United is referred to as the Red Devils?

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If you're going to change the name to Sporting KC, you should at least develop a connection with the original Sporting in Portugal to justify the name change to the press and to the fans. Learn from Real Salt Lake's mistakes in using a European-style name with no connection to the local community.

I think that a relationship with Sporting in Portugal will develop in due time. Real Salt Lake did not have the Real Madrid relationship right out of the box.

Anyone else think that despite the name being Sporting Kansas City that the team will be referred to as the Wizards, the same way Manchester United is referred to as the Red Devils?

Informally I'm sure they will. And I'm sure the supporters group will still go by "The Cauldron". It's just a silly pointless rebrand. Did the Wizards need a visual overhaul? You bet. That all-type crest of theirs was fairly lame. But this is worse.

One saving grace(if what was posted earlier is the real crest) would have been if they included some kind of homage to the Wizards name in the crest. FC Dallas included a small flame on the bull in their crest to pay tribute to their days as the Dallas Burn.

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For the record: I don't hate the logo, it's a lot better than the garbage we had. I'm not digging the name, but if OnGoal is truly looking at owning multiple franchises under one banner of "Sporting KC" it makes some sense.

We'll see how many fans show up and boo the piss out of this on Wednesday. I'm guessing most of the supporters will be booing.

Hopefully they don't boo Omar Bravo when he's announced, that'd be bad.

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Sure, the Wizards name is so bad it needed to be taken out and shot, but to change to Sporting and not go for something more... sporty is just flushing an opprotunity down the toilet. Give us somthing sweet and classy like the one logoman came up with or something sexy that will get people over the name-change hump.

As for a different name, they could have gone with Heart FC referring to being the heart of America (geographically speaking) and been sponsored by Hallmark. The badge could have a heart and they could have that nice looking Hallmark crown on their chest.

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Bad name change and even worse crest/logo...nothing else to say until the kits come out.

(MLF) Chicago Cannons,  (IHA) Phoenix Firebirds - 2021 Xtreme Cup Champions

(WAFL) Phoenix Federals - WAFL World Bowl XII Champions (Defunct)

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Bad name change and even worse crest/logo...nothing else to say until the kits come out.

I have a feeling the kits will be similar to what they have now with the new shield and possibly the "Kansas City" word mark changed on the jersey to refect the new font.

Who knows may be the will announce a sponsor too?

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I have a feeling that this rebranding is going to be received as well as "New Coke" was back in the 80's. I understand where they're going with this, and the ties to Sporting in Portugal (thanks to this board), but I don't think the average sports fan in the KC area will ever "get it."

The Wizards aren't exactly the hottest game in town, but the ownership is definitely making strides. I drove by the new stadium last week, and as someone who only casually follows the Wizards, I'm giddy with anticipation of watching games there -- and I'm not even much of a soccer fan.

When people like me see the Wizards logo or hear about them on TV/in the paper, even if there isn't much interest in the team, it does invoke a bit of civic pride and an "American style" nickname at least gives people something to rally around. Most people know that there is a team in town called the Wizards and they play the highest level of soccer you can find in America, but that's about it.

If I knew nothing about the franchise and someone said "hey, you want to go to a Wizards game with me?" I'd go knowing that even if I knew nothing about the team, I'd fit in because I'd also be rooting for the Wizards. On the other hand, if someone said "hey, you want to go watch Sporting KC with me?" I'd probably feel lost -- not knowing what that is, and thinking that it sounds like some sort of a club that I'm not a part of, or some sort of a training center instead of a pro sports franchise. To me it just creates a dissonance.

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5178571918_62759c8075_o.png

First, OnGoal abandon's 14 years of tradition - including an MLS Cup Championship, a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup win and a Supporters Shield title - tied to the Kansas City Wizards name. Then they foist this visual pap on the team's supporters.

This badge is obviously cleanly and professionally rendered. That said, it is an example of the type of modern, minimalist logo designed expressly to offend the sensibilities of the fewest possible people. The result is a logo that isn't terribly... well anything. It doesn't elicit a strong response of any kind. And one would expect a logo used by a sports team to garner more of a reaction than, "Meh." Sports - particularly soccer - are about passion, enthusiasm, emotional commitment... not ennui. This badge resembles nothing so much as focus-group-fueled design-by-committee at its most insipid.

If this does, in fact, prove to be the new logo of "Sporting Kansas City" ("Kansas City Sporting"? "Kansas City Sporting Club"? "Kansas City Sporting SC"?), I can't wait to hear the marketing double-speak that some OnGoal flack attempts to feed the public at its unveiling.

"The rising stripes, which form a stylized depiction of the Missouri-Kansas border, are also emblematic of the rising fortunes that Kansas City Sporting will enjoy in the future..."

rolleyes.gif

Hell... I wouldn't put it past them to attempt to explain away the horrible font in which the interlocking "SC" are rendered by claiming that the "C" represents the rim of a cauldron, with the "S" representing the vapors given off by a magical potion brewing therein. Voila! A subtle nod to the old Wizards identity.

tongue.gif

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From downthebyline.com the possible new logo for Sporting KC.......

sportingkclogo_bmp.jpg

I almost said that the badge was an upgrade, but at least with the old one, you could actually tell what the name of the club was. If I were not a CCSLCer, I would think the name was "Kansas City Sporting Club" based on how everything is laid out on the shield. Terrible. Now MLS loses one of its few original team names... one that actually had some "exclusive" (non-NASL) history behind it at that... for something that sounds like the name of a redneck huntin' club.

EDIT: Are they seeking sponsorship from AT&T or something? That's the first thing I thought of when I saw the light blue stripes on the gradiented shield.

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From downthebyline.com the possible new logo for Sporting KC.......

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-srgPQfjcfs/TOCsOslU19I/AAAAAAAAAkg/C3BzDvAdVl4/s1600/sportingkclogo.bmp

It would be just slightly better if it didn't look way too close to the conference shields.

That's my main gripe (other than the whole "Sporting Kansas City = Stupid" thing).

EDIT (for additional thoughts): MLS has hit a home run with most of their re-brands & expansion looks. This one, however, was an infield fly.

 

 

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Awful. If I wasn't a member of this site and was seeing this for the first time I would probably see it and wonder why an expansion team from South Carolina randomly has Kansas City tacked on the top of its crest.

<_<

Reading this just gave me a thought... hasn't the precedent already been established to where the U of Southern Cal can send "Sporting" a C&D letter?

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So what other sports are going to be under the aegis of "Sporting Kansas City?" Basketball, American Football, Hockey, and Baseball are out for various reasons and nobody gives a :censored: about track, swimming, and wrestling in non-Olympic years. Quidditch? Is Sporting Kansas City going to have quidditch as one of its other sports?

I read somewhere that the ownership is looking to invest in one of those Semi-Pro Rugby teams that run in the US.

What? What semi-pro rugby teams that run in the US?

There's rugby, sure, here in the USA, but to describe it as even semi-pro would be far too kind.

Rugby in the USA is amateur, based on social clubs. I doubt any players are payed (except for a few ringers and imported player-coaches) and none of these rugby clubs are centered around making money so I don't know how you'd describe them as anything but amateur. They're drinking clubs for ex-college frat boys who also happen to play rugby. The better clubs are more serious about rugby, but they're still clubs, not businesses.

As for this Kansas City Wizards rebranding, it is beyond stupid. It makes absolutely no sense. Euro-snobs aren't going to watch MLS because some of the teams have Euro-poser names; loyal Wizards fans will be alienated and annoyed for no good reason. Wizards is a good name anyway, especially for Kansas City: F___ the haters. If the name Wizards is silly, so are the SF and NY Giants, the Orlando Magic, the Washington Wizards. Isn't "Dodgers" a silly name too? Why aren't "Lakers", "Jazz", "Packers", "Steelers" also considered silly names? And what's up with all those teams named after animals?

Some owners, unfortunately, simply can't learn to leave well enough alone; they don't want to build on what has come before them; they want to tear everything down and start over, because it is all about "me", "me", "me" and F___ the guys who came before them who laid the foundation that they are standing on in the here and now.

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