Seems official: Real Salt Lake to be team name.

[Sean Reynolds]

Ugh.

'Real' soccer details coming

By James Edward
Deseret Morning News
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595087965,00.html

Please don't post whole articles.

[Calexico77]

Oh ********ing hell. . .

[scaryice]

I think Highlanders is a better name, but if they actually have a connection to Real Madrid, then it's not nearly as bad.

[sokol]

I just don't know what to think. I couldn't stand the idea of Real Salt Lake, but the idea of a partnership instead of just copying changes things a little bit. It seems to me that with MLS's foreign player rules, there wouldn't be much of an advantage for Real Madrid to partner with them, except as a way of marketing themselves to America. And even though American players are surely on the rise, IIRC La Liga has similar foreign player rules that would make it hard for them to make use of any MLS players. As far as I can tell, this rumored partnership would seem to only be valuable as a marketing and image thing. I guess that takes a little bit of the sting off "Real Salt Lake," but why do I get the feeling that pretty quickly every other MLS supporter's group will have a "Fake Salt Lake" banner made?

[galaxy1320]

www.realsaltlake.com was reserved by someone based in Massachusetts so that may be a red herring. Keep your fingers crossed!

http://www.allwhois.com/cgi-bin/allwhois.cgi

[needsashower]

Absolutely horrible name choice. Salt Lake City Soccer Club would have been nice.

[Pathogen]

Partnership or not, that's gay as all hell. This sh!t makes me need a drink.

[Rocket]

The problem I see with "Real Salt Lake" is that too many people will pronounce it "reel", as in that water is really salty.

If there is going to be a connection with Real Madrid as the news article suggests, I wonder if Salt Lake has looked into calling the team the "Salt Lake City Royals".

"Royals" has a nice sporting tradition in the U.S. -- in Major League baseball, the Kansas City Royals; in the NBA, the Cincinatti Royals (now the Sacremento Kings) -- and has a nice ring to it, I think.

[soylentcbc9]

The problem I see with "Real Salt Lake" is that too many people will pronounce it "reel", as in that water is really salty.

If there is going to be a connection with Real Madrid as the news article suggests, I wonder if Salt Lake has looked into calling the team the "Salt Lake City Royals".

"Royals" has a nice sporting tradition in the U.S. -- in Major League baseball, the Kansas City Royals; in the NBA, the Cincinatti Royals (now the Sacremento Kings) -- and has a nice ring to it, I think.


Salt Lake City Royals would be perfect if you do have to keep the affiliation with Madrid.

My only question: Does this have something to do as a league, and not just the franchise? With Real Madrid coming for the all-star games; did the league say, hey: will name a team after you guys so it is easier for you to market in the US, if you promise to come once and a while.

I'm so glad that the people in charge of this league have no respect for soccer fans here. Report a list of names and then choose the one that gets blasted by everybody. I wish I had that power in life, I can't even choose a new cereal at the store without some scrutiny from my wife.

[type_32]

My God. I hope someone on BS has an "in" with Checketts or his people and can put the brakes on this. That name is a total joke. Why not just call them the Salt Lake Euro-Poseurs and be done with it.

[denver_mugwamp]

This could start a trend. How about Newell's Old Raging Rhinos. Or Rapido Rapids. Maybe Chivas should try to hedge their cultural bets by affiliating with a Peruvian team. Sport Goats has a ring to it, huh?

[SoccerPrime]

Well the Salt Lake Supporters group, currently called the Loyalists, has some ties to the front office. Since our leaders decided to call the group the Loyalists, this really doesn't surprise me. Also, since rumors are rampant, I'll take the "believe it when I see it" approach to this.
Personally, it can work. I think the Royal approach might make more sense for the n00b soccer fans out there. But Madrid would want it to be Ree-al if they wanted to brand it.

[Davids26]

None of those names they listed as finalists were any good. But Real Salt Lake was definitely the worst.

They can't pick anything better than that?

[cpwilson80]

This could start a trend. How about Newell's Old Raging Rhinos. Or Rapido Rapids. Maybe Chivas should try to hedge their cultural bets by affiliating with a Peruvian team. Sport Goats has a ring to it, huh?

If they get an expansion team in the near future, you can always have Hearts Of Oklahoma City.

And yes, this was the worst possible name. Alliance and Glory sounded like WNBA names, and Highlanders wasn't bad, but come on...Real SLC?

I liked the suggestion of the Royals. When did naming a team become so difficult?

[supersport]

This team is already off to a "real" bad start. What's wrong with MLS people? If given the chance to screw something up, they almost always do.

[Crewmudgeon]

This team is already off to a "real" bad start. What's wrong with MLS people? If given the chance to screw something up, they almost always do.

Personally I like the idea of using "real" as a team name. I always thought that Real San Jose had a nice ring to it. Real San Antonio, Real San Diego, Real Sacramento all sound good to me. But these cities all have Spanish names. Real fits with a Spanish name. But, S A L T L A K E C I T Y ? I don't think so.

[Lizzie Bee]

If I was Dave Checketts, I would be thinking: "They complained about all of them. The name will be mocked, no matter WHAT it is... so I'll go with what I want and let the inevitable happen."

I mean, really, who cares what the team is CALLED at this point... people around the globe will hate and despise it no matter what it is, so where's the need for all the discussion?

[footfetish]

Horrible ********ing Name!!!!!!

Please Someone!!!!! Stop Checketts From Doing This!!!

[JPH]

Good grief, Charlie Brown.

I'm going to go back home now, go back to bed...and when I wake up again this will have all been a bad dream, right? It's almost as if they said 'Let's find the name that will annoy and confuse the most amount of people in the shortest amount of time'.

The Royals idea is at least tolerable.

[stucknutah]

First thought...dread.

Second thought...Hmm...pipeline to young international players.

Third thought...some sort of relationship with Real Madrid = $.

Fourth thought...maybe we can make it work in the smallest MLS market.

Fifth thought...maybe we won't suck next year.

Final thought..."Real Salt Lake" is horrific...but I can live with it.