With MLS pushing for teams to adopt traditional British and European monikers like FC, City and United and teams in lower leagues rebranding to these identities that are deemed more "professional" and "authentic", how do you think this affects the Sounders? Do you think MLS will put pressure on the Cascadia teams to rebrand to let's say, Seattle FC or something of that sort. A blogger had written an article insinuating that brands like the Sounders and Timbers will probably eventually go generic. Apparently there is a trend to go this way, however much i oppose it. I just wanted to know your opinions. Would you favor dropping Sounders for FC, City or United?
I don't completely oppose it. I like the upcoming rebranded team NCFC (formerly Railhawks). But not for the Sounders. Honestly, the "FC" part of it has been a bit clunky. The FO's preferred shorthand is "Sounders FC", not just "the Sounders". To me, "Sounders FC" sounds like a completely different team started perhaps by a former Sounder or Sounder fan in tribute to Seattle, but in some foreign league that doesn't usually use geographical names. All that said, I'd not be surprised to see MLS push it. But I'd really prefer just the Sounders. Not even the "FC". The "FC" in our case seems a bit forced (though the A-League has a mix of "Eurosnob" and "Amerisnob" names. I actually like their variety).
I don't think it is MLS that is pushing the European names... Most of that is coming out of "market research" conducted by the teams themselves and they are finding that the European style names are more "appealing" to people.. They also tried to rebrand the Sounders name out of existence when they initial announced the team and the backlash was quite severe. I highly doubt that they would make that mistake again.
Never. And it would be stupid to try; there's no upside. The league's not going to rebrand the Galaxy either. I was bemused to find this old article still laying around from 2008: http://www.soundersfc.com/post/2008/04/02/whats-name
Sounders FC are the #1 brand in MLS, and consequently the #1 most valuable team in MLS. Ok, so that's based on Forbes, but it's the onl estimation out there that there is. I don't think you rebrand when you've got that kind of value. If we were talking about the Earthquakes or Rapids or Crew or some team that isn't high up the value/recognition list, then go for it. But not when you're #1! That's throwing away a ton of brand value for no good reason.