Big, big day for Tampa Bay soccer fans. We've waited a long time for this news and now that it is here I hope people really sit up and take notice. The ownership and front office still have alot of work to do, but judging from the reaction online so far they'll have a ton of buzz to ride going into the 2012 season! Now our rivalry with The Strikers can really begin anew. They've also dumped the sock mascot, but no word on a new one yet. Cannot wait for the uniform unveiling at the pre season party next year. Really hope this means a full Al Lang Stadium on April 14th. http://rowdiessoccer.com/index.php?id=31&newsid=1609 "Citrus Sports Group, LLC, the ownership group of FC Tampa Bay, today announced that the team name will be changed from FC Tampa Bay to the Tampa Bay Rowdies starting immediately for the 2012 season and beyond. Citrus Sports Group reached an agreement with Texas-based Classic Ink, Inc. giving Citrus Sports Group immediate exclusive rights and future ownership of the Rowdies trademark."
Awesomeness. Happy for all you guys up there in TB. So long sock, hello Rowdies lol. Can't fault em for going with the straight retro script logo. I hope they work that into a proper crest at some point. I imagine the script will be plastered across the kits just like in the old days, though, so they could get away with not having a true crest. The old NASL lives on!
I must say that it feels really weird when you wish & wish for something and it actually comes true. Don't know how to react to this new found feeling!
Just sit back and take it all in for now! yeah they plan on just splashing this beautiful logo across the jerseys next season. They did say the'll be revealing secondary branding after the New Year, so we'll see what else they come up with. But for now I think it is appropriate that they just run with pure old school Rowdies gear for at least one season. So cannot wait for April 14th!
http://www.reevesarmy.com/?p=1335 Nothing special, nothing inflammatory, just letting the City fans know.
I am excited that the Tampa Bay Rowdies are back. I hope that Tampa Bay, Orlando City, Fort Lauderdale get MLS teams. I know that the MLS Commish said that he wants 20 teams. But I am sure that local intense rivalries and large support can change his mind.
He always bounces between 20 and 24. If there is demand, and I'm sure there will be, there will be more than 20.
Yep. There is no way they will stop at 20. They might sit at 20 for a couple of years, but at some point they needs some teams in the Southeast. And that leaves room for someday having the Florida trifecta in the league. I really think we could rival the Cascadia rivalry if given the chance.
Someone should've told whoever runs the team Facebook page they could've simply renamed the FC Tampa Bay page instead of creating a whole new one.
They didn't create a whole new one. They originally were using the page they now currently use. That is why it has pushing 7k fans. Due to the trademark dispute they were forced to create a new page, because Facebook won't let you change the name if you have over a certain number of fans. So this time they just went and updated the original facebook page and started using it again. Nice because it has 6500 built in fans and is rapidly growing again. I think they should be able to hit 10k before the season starts if they promote properly.
Just an interesting thing I noticed is that the FC Tampa Bay facebook page had only 3,1557 likes compared to the new/old Rowdies facebook page with 6,479. Seems this is a possible indicator that the Rowdies name is more popular (understatement intentional).
2 words: BRAND RECOGNITION. They've always had the TAMPA BAY ROWDIES fan page on FB, but the FC TAMPA BAY page was, of course, the more active one and the one they tried advertising the most. At the end of the day, the Rowdies name was the one people flocked to the most and for good reason. People in the Bay Area still don't know what FC Tampa Bay is, but they sure do know who the ROWDIES are!
For now, the first one. The logo IS the crest, so there is no shield anymore. We also tried to get some info on how they'll handle a shirt sponsor now, since you can't put it in the usual spot but they were being tight lipped. I'd imagine that with this name recognition the value of a shirt sponsor deal just went way, way up. So hopefully they get that done asap. Regarding the facebook pages, they created the Tampa Bay Rowdies page in the beginning and obviously fans rushed to it. But then the cease and desist order came, which forced them to create the FC Tampa Bay page and discontinue use of the original Rowdies page. The only thing they were allowed to do was post links to the new page on the old one, so the fan count had actually dropped over time. It was pretty close to 7k at one point. But now that they are using it again and there is serious buzz once more over the team and the Rowdies, it is growing. For a lower division soccer team to have 7 to 10k fans on their facebook page right out of the gate is pretty damn nice. Orlando City has 8k likes or so while the Strikers still only have about 3.5k I think. Which is still way more than the Miami FC page ever had.
I imagine that the Rowdies will use the sleeves or back of the jersey or around the logo for sponsorship.
I believe they might keep the Sponsorship spaces on the jersey(s) right where they've been last season: The "ROWDIES" logo will obviously replace the "TAMPA BAY" lettering on the front, so it's possible the the Sponsorship spaces (if any) will be where the Mainsail Suites logo & old crest were on the chest. There may be available space on the back of the jersey as well.
Can someone here please post a computer animation photo on how the ROWDIES' home and away jersey may look like.
I don't think I'd like that. The original Rowdies logo rides a little higher on the shirt than the "Tampa Bay" on the current shirts. IMO they should do it right, move "Rowdies" to its correct, above center alignment and move the sponsor somewhere else on the shirt. Across the bottom of the back or something.