Pardon my ignorance but is part of this re-brand an attempt to drop "San Jose" from the name? Would be odd timing since the team will be playing in the city of SJ for the first time in 10 years when the stadium opens.
I suggest we let Kaval know about this 'rumor' of a rebrand. Putting a "happy 40th year" in red on the logo for one year would be cool, but anything really drastic like just saying Quakes, would be dumb in my opinion.
A good replica jersey can last years. (my 2000 jersey still looks good). You can't make money off of 20,000+ replica jerseys that last 10+ years. So you change the look to get those 20,000+ to buy another one every 2 years
I was thinking about this while watching NFL games over the weekend. The Jacksonville Jaguars were styling in their new 21st century re-branded kits, while the Green Bay Packers (community-owned) plodded along in their traditional (and objectively ugly) green-and-gold, which the late Vince Lombardi -- dead for more than four decades -- would readily recognize. Jacksonville is 0-5 and a a four-touchdown underdog next weekend, while Green Bay enjoyed a workmanlike win. Who wants to bet me the Aaron Rodgers jersey outsells Blaine Gabbert's this year?
Because here in America we obsess on marketing anything and everything, to the nth degree. Our uber-capitalist tendencies know no bounds. Even on a correctly- sized pitch.
We have here in the Bay Area one of the greatest examples of classic, simple styling that will never get old: Timeless!
Without checking the history I suspect that the team names ... Dodgers Raiders Packers Red Sox Yankees Lakers 49ers ... were not chosen by the public On the other hand I suspect the following team names probably were. Buccaneers Raptors Sharks Predators Rays Heat The names on the top are great, the names on the bottom suck. With regards to the Wiz ... -It's quite possible for an individual to make a really bad choice -It's also quite probable for a committee to never make a great one
Sporting Clash , and there is a good amount of Portugese ppl in SJ, my ex gf and her big ass family lived there and had lots of portugese friends
Dodgers Packers Yankees Lakers 49ers Buccaneers Rays Heat All those names may not have been picked by the public, however they all reflect an identity with the original local fan bases. I was living in Maryland when the Browns team arrived and no one had any ideas on what to re-brand them as. The public poll was a great idea that worked extremely well. Polls are not the end-all-be-all of sports branding decisions, but they do work well in connecting with the local fan base.
"Quoth the ravens," plural? I've heard the Dodgers were originally the "Trolley Dodgers," but I'm not sure if that's true. Apparently they used to have street-level transit. One SF's F-line cars has the Brooklyn livery. I liked "Wizards" a lot; went well with the fans' "Cauldron."
As for the public's naming suggestions for San José's then-new NHL team, Blades won out but the team eventually decided against it due to (whether rightly or wrongly) the supposed gang connotation. So the second place name was chosen instead - Sharks, which ended up working out perfectly in the end: great name, great logo, great team colors, etc. All the stars pretty much positively aligned from the get-go, even moreso in the team's third year with both a new arena and its first playoff appearance. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
At the end of the day, you can call a team whatever the hell you want, and give it whatever colors and logos you want, but that's the most recognizable aspect of your product, and the aspect that will initially, at least, be a great determining factor in the interest of potential consumers. If you color and call and dress a team in a manner that the people around you don't care for, then you've lost. It sure seems like right now, that the Earthquakes front office doesn't really care what their current consumers think of them, instead aiming for the general public that hopefully have very deep pockets. The way they've handled the whole stadium stuff, their handling of some of their most passionate fans (1906 Ultras), and their general lack of attention to detail when it comes to customer service. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if they change the crest, uniform, and name of this team, because it'll all be in an attempt to gain more fans, regardless of whatever bullhockey excuse they give (history/tradition/heritage).
Hmmm...if they're going for the SV tech-money family fanbase, then...San Jose Wiggles? (Difficult visions of another Richter menacing the kiddies again)
Would love to see a new crest. And a new jersey sponsor would go along great with that. But I hope they let the fans vote on the new crest. Would be very cool.
Calling the arena "the shark tank" is pretty clever, too. I'm sure "epicenter" will work well for our new stadium. There's a cool billboard near a 101 on-ramp in SF that says "You're 43 miles from the epicenter of soccer."