The name change did help. It wasn't that Sporting is such a much better name, or that there were lots of potential fans just waiting for a more Euro sounding name, but that it symbolized a clean break with KC MLS 1.0 and the start of a new era. I was a Cauldron STH at the time and even among the die-hards, there was little love lost on the Wizards moniker. The name had nothing to do with the city and the Dorothy and Toto imagery irritated quite a few. Some felt slighted at the change, though, who had supported the club prior to the new ownership arriving, as if their history were being swept away, but are happy about all the new fans.
Boston Bees Hey, that could be a lot worse. It's punchy, alliterative and the headlines and slogans write themselves: "What's buzzing in Boston?", "Soccer in the City is a Honey of an Idea!", "Join the Swarm!", etc. OK, never mind. Boston Revolution it is, then. I'm just happy to get "Boston" into the name. So help me, The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
The Boston Beans? That would be both comforting and yet somehow threatening at the same time. The Boston Bleu Men? That would be both politically correct and a homage to a metastizing "entertainment" group. The Boston Phutbol Clube? If you're going to be PC be PC^2 The Boston Commons? That would be a name a man could hang on to. The Boston Charly ? That would suit the City to a T. The Boston Buboes? This would make the team officially a plague upon MLS. The Boston Bunkers? A gesture to history and a playing style all rolled into one. The Boston BigDig? A lasting testament to all that is Good about the Boston Way. The Boston Spokes? After all, every Hub needs its spokes. The Boston Brigs? Because that's where loser Revolutionaries go to die.
Boston Bostonians? Boston Barca? Boston Bronies? Boston Blue Sox? Boston Bruisers? Boston Bastards? Boston Batmen? Boston Alliterations are for suckers? Boston Wanderers? Boston SC? Boston Cosmos? Boston Professors (They're whicked smaaaht!)
Let's hope ownership is spending more time on getting the stadium deal done than they are on name-storming.
I'd be happy to meet with you to discuss this at my favorite fast food restaurant, McDowell's. "Look... me and the McDonald's people got this little misunderstanding. See, they're McDonald's... I'm McDowell's. They got the Golden Arches, mine is the Golden Arcs. They got the Big Mac, I got the Big Mick. We both got two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, but their buns have sesame seeds. My buns have no seeds."
I've been of the opinion that the New England Revolution's logo has been an aesthetic train-wreck since it was foisted upon the Krafts by the merchandisers at Nike in 1996. The Revolution would have been far better-served by having a badge/logo created for the team by a graphic design and branding firm that specializes in creating brand identities, particularly an outfit that had an extensive history of providing such services for clients in the sports industry. That said, I'm a huge proponent of maintaining both the New England Revolution name and the blue, red and white color-scheme in perpetuity. Both the name and palette pay homage to New England's role in the American Revolution and the establishment of the United States of America. The use of New England as the place-name speaks to the fact that the franchise not only represents supporters in the City of Boston and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but fans throughout the six New England states. Most importantly, given that professional soccer in the United States and Canada has long been derided for lacking the tradition that the sport enjoys elsewhere in the world, I find it counter-productive to engage in a wholesale rebranding of a franchise that has existed since Major League Soccer's inception. You don't establish tradition by jettisoning a club's identity after 17 years. Has the Revolution suffered through difficult seasons? Absolutely - we're currently mired in a particularly moribund slump. That said, the team has also enjoyed success under the New England Revolution sobriquet, including four appearances in the MLS Cup final, and U.S. Open Cup and SuperLiga championship wins. There's no reason to turn one's back on the club name that accompanied those accomplishments. The solution is to combine the existing New England Revolution name and color scheme with a visually appealing new badge. Personally, I've long been partial to the crest that Mark Walls of cemagraphics - a Twin Cities-based graphic design firm - created.
You lost me here. Nike's been branding athletes, clubs, and colleges since the 1970's. Is it a good logo? No. But that's no more a result of Nike's inability to create a quality brand than the overall trend of the times; the early-mid 90's gave us some pretty bad logos.
WTF were The Dallas Burn thinking? http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=b717p8hmpfn8kl54o24i7lsot Seriously? A horse breathing fire...
Correction: Nike's been manufacturing and selling athletic footwear and apparel since the 1970's. The so-called "branding" that they've provided to "athletes, clubs, and colleges" has amounted to little more than an adjunct of the company's primary business. As a result, little of said "branding" has been truly outstanding. In fact, with few exceptions, most of it has ranged from mediocre to lousy. Why? Because when engaging in their "branding" efforts, Nike's primary goal isn't so much creating an outstanding logo as it is providing an added-value component that they hope will convince a potential institutional customer or endorsement client to use their products. Hell, Nike's not even responsible for designing their own iconic "Swoosh" mark. It was created by Portland State University graphic design student Carolyn Davidson. That's an understatement. I'd argue that "Nike's inability to create a quality brand" combined with "the overall trend of the times [in] the early-mid 90's" to create a perfect storm of piss-poor graphic design during the era... the New England Revolution's logo most definitely included.
Did Nike really have anything to do with the Revs' logo? The Revs' original supplier was Reebok, and they have never worn Nike.
Honestly if you look at the other 1996 logos the Revs aren't all that bad by comparison... I'd argue they had one of the better logos at the leagues inception.... the problem is most of those logos are gone now, so New England is freshest in our mind... (although the Crew get their fair share of criticism too) Blaming whoever came up with the logo is a moot point (for the time it wasn't so bad)... Blame the person who hasn't changed it yet....
FYP. At that time, the Burn had something like five employees and none of them were graphic designers.
I like it, but it's a bit generic. You could replace the text with "US Soccer"... but that is nitpicking, anything along those lines would be fine. I remember someone posted this in a bigsoccer logos thread a while ago, it's similar but more New England-y: The stars in a circle in the top quadrant could be replaced by a soccer ball similar to the one in the other logo... If they DO change the name, I hope it's Boston Revolution, Boston Minutemen, or Boston Beacons. I agree with this. I don't mind the current logo, just put it inside a crest or a circle or something so it fits in with every other MLS team logo. And the Crew name/logo should never change, it was lame at the beginning but it only gets more awesome with time.
While certainly professionally rendered, this badge strikes me as being too busy. The quartering of the shield comes off as a bit "clumsy". In particular, the left and right quarters - those containing the vertical red-and-white striping - are visually jarring. Further, while I recognize that the pine tree emblem appeared on a variety of colonial/revolutionary era flags and banners (including the Flag of New England that now is now situated at the base of the neck on the back of Revolution jerseys), I find its inclusion in this badge/logo - and, by extension, the addition of green to the Revolution color palette - wholly unnecessary. It simply serves to muddy the brand.
is there something else that you can put there to replace the ball. some other iconic symbol of boston? the boston skyline? Sam adams? we know they are a soccer team...
Im pulling for at least a crest change for New England, one because they are in dire need of an upgrade, and two so that Columbus can be the last remaining original club to never change its name/crest and its one that in all honesty I love though I am definitely biased toward it