Thursday 12 Dec 2019

INBOX: Philadelphia Union today announced that the organization’s USL club, Bethlehem Steel FC, will become Philadelphia Union II ahead of the 2020 USL Championship season.

— Bob Williams (@WilliamsBob75) December 12, 2019

 

Someone explain to me why it isn't self-evidently better to have divergent branding for USL affiliates.

 

Excatly my thoughts

 

This list is legit Gunner!
The names are: Charlotte FC, Charlotte Crown FC, Charlotte Fortune FC, Charlotte Monarchs FC, Charlotte Athletic FC, Charlotte Town FC, Carolina Gliders FC and All Carolina FC.

Read more here: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/article238269958.html#storylink=cpy

 

Well no one in the Bethlehem/Allentown area actually cared about Bethlehem Steel, to the surprise of no one outside the soccer internet bubble.

They've been in Chester since last season, so the Steel name has long since lost relevance.

 

I suppose if it's truly a reserve side that isn't meant to be consumer-facing then sure.

But then, having consumer-facing and non consumer-facing teams in the same league is a little strange. I know they do that elsewhere, but still.

 

“I’ve got children at home, 11, 9 and 6 who are big footballers," McConaughey said. "My job takes me all over the world. What’s the one game you can find anywhere in the world? Football. The soccer ball is the greatest invitation in the world. They’ve gotten me back into it. I played for like 12 years as a kid, but it’s mainly my kids who have gotten me back into it."

I can easily envision McConaughey driving his kids to soccer practice:

"F.C. MOON TOWER soN!!!"

 

I

I would think it's most likely about brand consolidation.
I know the STL Cardinals have most of their minor league affiliates branded as the (city name) Cardinals, except the Memphis Redbirds, and Peoria maybe?

 

Monarchs isn't a bad name, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that FC, AC, etc. are all played out at this point. "Town" is used in England for teams in smaller... towns, not major cities like Charlotte or any other place that might get an MLS team. Besides, Charlotte Town would confuse people who think they'll have an away trip to the Maritimes. Even more confusing than thinking the Timbers were from Maine. Well, there are a lot of trees in Maine, so it makes more sense than the Utah Jazz...

 

It depends on whether the affiliate is truly independent or not. For the USL teams that are still run by the MLS team and play out of the same stadium, there is really no difference between a 2 name, or a unique name. The MLS team just isn't going to put much emphasis in running the team other than as a player development standpoint. Heck, it may actually be beneficial to have a 2 name just from a "confusion" standpoint as you might get some people buying tickets for the 2 team when they intend to get tickets for the first team. I'd also be curious if the Union were licensing the name from anyone, or if they owned the copyrights/trademarks. If they were licensing the name, i can definitely see why it would be financially beneficial to drop the name.

 

It probably also has to do with using a geographic name that no longer applies. If they kept the team in Bethlehem, they probably would have kept the name. The team plays in Chester, 70 miles away from Bethlehem. The former Sounders 2 are now the Tacoma Defiance, still a fully owned-and-operated "2" team, but they actually play in Tacoma, so the name is fine.

 

This isn't actually correct. The Defiance are joint operations between the Tacoma Rainiers and the Sounders. The Rainiers run the business side of the operations, while the Sounders are in charge of the team side of the operations.

EDIT: Correction, it's a joint operation, not fully owned by the Rainiers.

 

MLS owns the copyright. They basically saw it unclaimed and called dibs.

 

It looks to me the Rainiers have a contract for the business ops but not ownership? Whatever the case, the team plays in Tacoma, so being named Tacoma makes sense, while a team named Bethlehem playing in Chester does not make sense.

 

Charlotte is known as the Queen City, hence Monarchs.

 

Gliders sounds fine to me. "All-Carolina" kind of rubs me wrong, but "Carolina _____" would be just fine, and is frankly what I've been predicting. Having lived in the western Carolinas, even though I was on the NC side, I'd love to see SC somehow brought into the branding fold as well.

 

Gliders might be a reference to Kitty Hawk, NC. Still weak.

 

Pity. I get it but that name/club has so much tradition.

 

Charlotte Town was a historical name for the area.

Thx,

Jay!

 

Which of course is nowhere near Charlotte.

 

I feel like "Both Carolina" would be a better descriptor for the Charlotte area.

 

That could apply to the area I lived as well, the Western Carolina market. "Carolina" just sounds better.