How 'bout Blank calls the team Atlanta. Then over a few seasons a nickname organically arrives via the fan base. Or one poignant moment on the field of play in the teams early years that delivers a moniker.
You can't copyright/trademark a team name that's just the city name, which means money lost in merchandising and such.
Posted by a friend of mine in one of the Union forums, tongue in cheek I'm sure. I know it might be offensive to some, but as a Union fan, I kinda like the suggestion. Particularly the one where we win every time!
Of course you can Jason. Its called your MLS team crest. That gets trademarked because it is the clubs creation and is specific to its brand identity. Then there is the Adidas factor. Adidas will have their bases covered so whatever jerseys or gear with Atlanta on it in red, gold and black is theirs to sell and theirs alone.
Um, being that each game(s) per season year after year would be more akin to a specific battle and not an entire "war". I.e., the Union doesn't win every time.
No. The team will just be called the red and gold. American fans need a name... It's in our sporting culture. Look at Dallas, what's their nickname? The hoops? Toronto? Reds. No x 1000
iirc Toronto FC did just that! Their FO did not put out any moniker at the launch of their club/brand in 2006. The fans/supporters just stepped up and went with the Liverpool tag of Reds.
Atlanta FC sounds like we just gave up. I can't describe in words how much I absolutely loathe that name. I swear I'd rather be the Atlanta Booger Eaters than Atlanta FC. Jeez, if you want to satisfy the eurosnobs and not piss off half the audience, at least go with Atlanta Athletic. At least fans can say, "hey you want to go see Athletic?" and it will make sense to your casual American fan. Still say that the team should be called Atlanta Empire
Oh wow... They went with the color of their jerseys picked out. So creative and original. And I hardly meet anyone who says Liverpool FC EVERY time they reference the soccer team... I don't think I have ever heard Toronto FC not mention the FC in their name. Look, some fans will love it... But others are going to absolutely hate it and casual fans aren't going to get it. No thanks to FC.
I was under the impression that simple and effective was more akin to sports, specifically association football, over creative and original. They won't be selling a new brand of kids cereal or the like. There is a new team entering in MLS that flips your take on its head amigo. The team that intends to play at Yankee Stadium at start. Ya know NYCFC. Slow down Professor. I mentioned Toronto FC because that was what they are called. I was not making a sales pitch for the FC or SC alphabet soup drop tank attached to a soccer team's name.
Look at this from a marketing standpoint: John "hey you want to go see Atlanta FC?" Jim "who is FC?" John "it's the MLS team in Atlanta..." Jim "what is FC?" John "it stands for football club" Jim "ummm... The Falcons are the football team in Atlanta. Shouldn't they be called at least Atlanta SC for soccer?" John "well, in most every other country they just call the team FC and then let the fans decide on the name" Jim "hmm... So what's the nickname that the fans picked out?" John "red and gold after the jerseys" Jim "lame" Atlanta FC is boring and unoriginal. I could not possibly ask for a worse name for Atlanta. I'll still go to the games, but I guarantee you that a lot of people won't go because the FC is a turn off to casual fans and American sport purists. Empire can be explained very easily. And would be nice for someone outside of Atlanta too... Say Jim is from Greenville, SC John "hey do you want to go see the [Atlanta] Empire play tonight?" Jim "who's that?" John "the MLS team. They play the [LA] Galaxy tonight." Jim "yeah, let's go... Where did they get Empire by the way?" John "because Atlanta is the capital of the south and it is in reference to how it's the south's team." Jim "awesome!" In other words, a name is easy to explain. When talking about sports here in America, we, as often multisport fans, are use to referencing our team by their nickname. Giving the team no nickname is dooming the team to fail.
I got one John: Do you want to go see the Phoenix play tonight? Jim: Who are the Phoenix? John: The MLS team in Atlanta. Jim: Why is an Atlanta soccer team named after the capital of Arizona? John: They aren't. The team is called Atlanta Phoenix S.C. Jim: So the soccer team is in South Carolina? John: No. S.C. means soccer club. Jim: Why don't they call it F.C.? John: Because we call it soccer in the U.S. and not football. Besides the real name of the Falcons is Atlanta Falcons Football Club. Jim: I didn't know that was the Falcons full name. What time is the game?
You do understand that the D.C. United faithful call their team the black and red. I could think of worse names however. Good thing I don't like the FC tag either. There is an argument to be made for the city of Atlanta to endear the reference of the Capital of the South. Specifically location yet we are talking association football in the United States and specifically men's soccer in the Southern States. And if by that Atlanta has not ever hosted a U.S. World Cup qualifier or yet to play a minute in MLS. Where as Birmingham has hosted men's U.S. Olympic matches and World Cup Qualifiers and Houston has been in MLS for 9 seasons now. With the growth of the USL and NASL and other regional men's leagues, I can assure you Eleven Bravo that cities like Nashville, Charlotte, New Orleans and so on will carry their own banner for their own Southern soccer pride. Atlanta will be the team of Georgia. Perhaps Chattanooga. That is it amigo. I'm one of the biggest multisport junkies one can have the unpleasant chance to meet. If the '70 Brazil team was to wear hot pink and lime green, people would still cram the Azteca to witness their quality. Fashion and monikers are trumped by quality and winning. Bet. Thus, a team plays good soccer, the nickname, no matter how badass or goofy just becomes what it is to the fans. Theirs. I mean what kid grows up wanting to be a Blazer of trails or a Type of music or a Spanish Priest, Trailblazers, Jazz/Blues and Padres respectively. Those are three right there that some could say were doomed to fail as sports names and perhaps an organic name woulda been better off delivered by the fans. And yet they all stuck. My simple suggestion was that after all the teams from the other mjor leagues and all the other come and gone pro men's soccer monikers in our nation...giving the fans some years to come up with something on their own is boss.
Not anymore, which sort of goes to your point. The FO under one GM thought it was good and used it in team press releases and such and people used it, and the following GM thought it was stupid and got rid of it and people stopped using it. This notion of "let the nickname organically spring up" is a notion that hasn't been around in North American sports since the end of the 19th Century.
You're saying the replacement GM rebranded away from the hoops? Burn, Hoops,... Save what went down in Toronto's launch into MLS in 2006, you are correct.
How about Atlanta 1837? Or a simple, one word name ... Hotlanta? Atlanta Gatekeepers? Gate City? Dogwood City SC? SC A-Town? Nah, either Chik-fil-A, Hooters, or Spanx.
Except what stops Joe Entrepreneur from getting a stack of Atlanta red (or whatever color jersey they choose) t-shirts, screen printing Atlanta across the front, and setting up outside the stadium selling "team t-shirts" for $5 each, much cheaper than the $20 Atlanta shirts in the team store. Same team name, same team color, they're practically as good as the real thing! Compare that to somebody selling burgundy Colorado shirts. Yeah, it says Colorado, but not Colorado Rapids so its not really a team shirt.
You mean like what those fukers over in the Phillipines have been doing for years. Making knock offs jerseys and shit.
Yeah, except now they're 100% legal and being sold right outside the stadium. This is exactly why the team will have a nickname along side Atlanta, even if its just FC/SC.