Hamilton NASL concept

[mrocha]

Actually, Hamilton was recently amalgamated with a few of its suburbs, and my understanding is there's some tensions between downtown (the old city of Hamilton) and its newer pieces. That being said, Hamilton is the only municipality within 45 minutes of toronto to really keep its own identity rather than be a suburb. The name certainly speaks to Hamilton's independence from Toronto as its own city.

With the exception of some revived NASL teams, the more successful new soccer teams in North America have adopted some European mannerisms, from the structure of their academies to their gameday atmosphere, and yes, their team names. I don't know if there's any "wannabeism" going on, but that seems to be a successful model.

When anybody thinks of the word "city" the first thing that comes to mind is Hamilton. It is the city of cities. Forget this New York or Paris or London crap, THE city is Hamilton...

(Okay, maybe that's how I see Hamilton, but I'm pretty sure not many others see things that way.)

Try to imagine someone trying to explain Hamilton to someone who knows nothing about it.

"Well, it's a city...."

"Really? Cool!"

But in all seriousness, don't get me wrong, with all the MS Paint concepts that pollute this board that get the usual polite encouragement even though it's a load of crap (which is why I don't post any concepts of mine since all I got is MS Paint and the sadly misnamed Logo Design) it's refreshing to see a real concept that is well executed (including a embroidered patch (nicely done, btw))

However since we're talking about a theoretical team that hasn't even been awarded a franchise and probably won't see play until 2014 at the earliest if ever, the name is as much apart of the concept discussion as the actually patch and colours. Speaking as someone who knows Hamilton really well, the name is, well, bland. It just sits there in a corner hoping the pretty girl will look in it's direction.

As for whether the Eurowannabe names are actually a successful model, I think there can be some debate for that.

The top 5 MLS attendance so far...

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Only two of the Eurowannabe are in the top 5, (and the top 5 are the only teams to average over 20,000 this year.)

The others....

6th 10th 12th 13th

N/A (yet to play a home date so far, but based on previous attendance figures likely to be bottom 3)

If you can't get a team to connect with it's community, it's dead in the water.

Now you do have some nice design elements to the concept. The uniforms are fine (perhaps switch the sponsor to something less pie-in-the-sky RBC to something with a more local connection like Tim Hortons, ArcelorMittal, or Maple Leaf Foods) and simplify the actual crest and centralize the main element you want to emphasize (similar to what Portland and Seattle have) and leave the name blank for now (or a humourous TBD or Your Team Name Here).

But Kansas City had one year with low attendance because they played at one ballpark that was set up for only 10k fans.

[dmont]

Excellent job! I love the colours and, for the most part, the logo.

The 'girder-H' is an excellent idea, but I think the perspective on the cross-beam is off... the flat face should be visible on the bottom of it, and not the top... it gives the impression of a towering metal H being viewed from beneath, which I think is awesome.

I'm not really feeling what's on the right side of the crest... it might just be me, but it feels like three random objects slapped in there to fill space. It might even look better totally empty.

Wow, nice catch! I didn't even notice that with the cross-beam. I think initially the tops of the two vertical beams didn't look like that, and were a late change. I can fix that problem, thanks for pointing it out.

The "H" is off-center because TFC decided to put a big "T" in the middle of their crest, and I know how Hamilton residents feel about Toronto. I don't know about leaving the right side blank... the soccerball is self-explanatory, the hammer is for Hamilton's nickname as "The Hammer", and the Maple Leaf to show everyone that they plan on competing in the CONCACAF Champions League, and all the Central American clubs are going to know which country the team they just lost to was from . I guess I could replace the three with stripes or something...

Because we're in North America, and soccer should be trying to appeal to North American fans rather than fall into the dead end trap of appealing to an immigrant population, who have seen better soccer played elsewhere.

Well-reasoned responses, but of the better teams you mentioned, Seattle and Vancouver are revivals of popular 70's-era NASL teams, and option that's unavailable to a brand-new Hamilton team. Furthermore, even the former NASL teams added "FC", which could be seen as a concession to the new trend. I think the european-type atmosphere is a comparative advantage for soccer teams over for traditional North American sports teams, and it's a good idea to exploit it. I think people have become fans of soccer by following international leagues, and making an effort to replicate the best of those leagues is a good way to bring those established soccer fans on board.

The Galaxy are the outlier. They became popular due to the Beckham deal.... despite a hideous name and logo...<gag>...

As for the Hamilton City SC concept, it looks very nice. I understand why the yellow highlights in the H are there, but they may be difficult to reproduce in some applications. I'm curious, too, what sort of application the top right version is intended to mimic? Great job.

Top right is just the top left with some burning around the edges to provide contrast. No real application in mind, maybe for use on the website or social media, but I just made it because I thought it looked badass . I don't think they're any more difficult to produce than some parts of Chivas USA's logo. Those european logos can get pretty intricate.

[aci]

I think on the subject of North American vs. European team names, it comes down to whether the MLS team is clearly ripping off another team. If they need to swap in another language (see Real Salt Lake), or their name just plain doesn't make sense (Sporting Kansas City), then the name sucks.

On the other hand, DC United and Toronto FC both actually have good names. As far as it's relevant, Toronto one has one 'football club', so it's pretty reasonable to name said club as if it's THE club.

I think Hamilton City is a good name for a team, assuming they're playing near downtown and not in a suburb or anything. Hamilton is a city, and an industrial one at that. To me, the name evokes a mental picture of exactly what Hamilton is actually like. I do like Steel City FC as a name option, too, as soccer/football naming regulations really don't make it necessary to name the team's city, and everyone knows Hamilton is all about steel.

[illwauk]

I think on the subject of North American vs. European team names, it comes down to whether the MLS team is clearly ripping off another team. If they need to swap in another language (see Real Salt Lake), or their name just plain doesn't make sense (Sporting Kansas City), then the name sucks.

On the other hand, DC United and Toronto FC both actually have good names. As far as it's relevant, Toronto one has one 'football club', so it's pretty reasonable to name said club as if it's THE club.

I'd add FC Dallas to that list too. The official meaning of FC is "Futbol Club," which actually makes sense for a team from Texas.

I think Hamilton City is a good name for a team, assuming they're playing near downtown and not in a suburb or anything. Hamilton is a city, and an industrial one at that. To me, the name evokes a mental picture of exactly what Hamilton is actually like. I do like Steel City FC as a name option, too, as soccer/football naming regulations really don't make it necessary to name the team's city, and everyone knows Hamilton is all about steel.

I was thinking Hamilton Steel FC. It's locally relevant and it pays homage to one of North America's first great clubs, Bethlehem Steel FC, which were also based in a steel town like Hamilton.

As far as the logo itself, the smaller stuff really does clutter up the shield. I'd make the H the focal point and not even worry about it being too similar to Toronto.

[kw11333]

To be fair to TFC their fans are fed up with them rebuilding again. Great concept, I hope the MLS and NASL grow their relationship, more friendlies for sure. The Nutrilite Canadian Championship really got Montreal, and Vancouver craving MLS soccer.

General question, how many teams in the NASL have sponsors on their jerseys?

[dmont]

.

Carolina, Edmonton, Minnesota, Montreal, and Puerto Rico have jersey sponsors front and center.

Atlanta and Tampa have jersey sponsors, but they're not front and center.

Fort Lauderdale has a sponsor on its alternate home jersey, and its not front and center.

[Evil Doctor]

100th post! Lets see if I can make this a worthy one....

Well-reasoned responses, but of the better teams you mentioned, Seattle and Vancouver are revivals of popular 70's-era NASL teams, and option that's unavailable to a brand-new Hamilton team.

Actually you would be wrong. In the 1960's there apparently was a soccer league called the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League which had a team called the Hamilton Steelers...

Hamilton Steelers (ECPSL)

but more memorably was this..

(kind of looks like a kid drew this version, but you get the idea...)

This team played in Canadian Soccer League (Canada's attempt at a top flight league) for 6 seasons from 1986 to 1992.

Furthermore, even the former NASL teams added "FC", which could be seen as a concession to the new trend. I think the european-type atmosphere is a comparative advantage for soccer teams over for traditional North American sports teams, and it's a good idea to exploit it. I think people have become fans of soccer by following international leagues, and making an effort to replicate the best of those leagues is a good way to bring those established soccer fans on board.

I will be quite honest, I hate soccer with a passion of a 1000 burning suns, and not only would I like to see it obliterated from the face of the Earth, but I would also like it retroactively erased from the space/time continuum. However, I'm also a fan of logo design, so I can also judge soccer concepts dispassionately, leaving my anti-soccer prejudices behind.

Now I know (now) I can't expect NHL type logos from all sports, and each league has to taylor it's look based on the needs (and history) of the sport, so I've come to appreciate the 'shield' logo used on many soccer teams. In fact here are a few of my favourite MLS logos...

In the face of good concept and design, I can put up with the FC sop even though I would prefer your use of SC instead. Honestly, long term, if the MLS survives, I think we're going to see the FC moniker quietly disappear from the team names.

I will never go to a soccer game, but as a sports fan I still want to feel the woo. With the Hamilton Steelers, I never went to a game, but I felt the woo. If I feel the woo, then other sports fans that are less set in their ways might actually go to a game. Marketing to only one segment of the population means thats all you're going to get for fans. Toronto's NASL franchise went through numerous names (including Toronto City for a single season, and of course the ethnic limiting 'Metros-Croatia') but it didn't really take off until they adopted the 'Blizzard' moniker.

You don't have to use my favourite 'Steelers' name, Hamilton has a long history of sports names. For example, the 'Alerts' moniker though strange, does have a certain soccer flavour to it. Just don't use 'Hamilton Dentals' (amateur hockey team from the early 20th century), that's just plain too weird...

Finally (putting my anti-soccer hat back on), I have a theory about the differences between European soccer crowds and North American sports fans. I think because soccer is so boring, the Europeans have to find ways to entertain themselves with elaborate singing, flag waving and such, while NA fans find their entertainment on the field/ice and don't need to occupy their time in creative ways. This also explains soccer hooligans, though they identify with certain teams, most don't actually go to the games or even care about the results...