The Krafts have said they will rebrand the team when they move to a new stadium. I can't wait for this as I hate the Name, logo, uniforms now. It is so MLS 1.0 (the only original names that work are DC United and LA Galaxy IMO) I would like to see them name the team after the neighborhood the stadium was in, as opposed to just being the Boston Whatevers. Kind of like they do in London with Arensel, Chelsea and so on. Not sure what neighborhood the proposed stadium is in, but it would be nice to have an original name. PS. Yes I know i am getting ahead of myself, chances are we will have a colony on Mars before a soccer stadium in Boston, but fingers crossed!
I don't recall the Krafts saying they would rebrand, only that they'd consider it. Have they said otherwise since?
Neighborhood names work in England because there are multiple teams in one city. We wouldn't be having Jamaica Plain vs Dorchester here so IMO neighborhood names wouldn't work and might alienate many fans. I personally like the current uniforms and like the name. Could alter the name a bit, maybe something like Revolution SC. The logo needs to be updated for sure.
The teams in London are named after neighborhoods because there are multiple teams in the city. It would be strange if they were called South Boston if they were the only team in Boston. I think Revolution is a good name. I would be OK with them changing to Boston Revolution or changing the logo but I think Revolution is a good name for a team from Boston/New England. New England Revolution is more relevant and less corny than Metrostars, Burn, and Wizards.
Southie FC! While we're at it, under the renderings in the other thread, the north end zone is nearest Fort Point Channel... which is perfect for The Fort @ Fort Point.
I was also going to suggest calling the team Revolution F.C. or S.C. Revolution. I think that could give us the euro vibe some want but still stick to our roots.
The Jamaica Plain Revolution would only work if we changed the colors to red, gold, black and green, and made the players wear those wool Rasta tams and dyed a mop black and sewed the strands to the edge of the hat. And then we would have to get Evans Wise to do the commentary on the broadcasts.
I wonder if KSG would rename the team after 20+ years of "attempting" to build brand recognition. I could see a partial rebrand with a new logo/colors etc. New ownership would be different.
I like Revolution S.C./F.C.. There is no need for "New England" in the name. Everyone knows who we are. Would like to see a logo design of a draping New England flag somewhere however
I've never been a fan of the Euro-style naming convention for American soccer teams. If we were in Europe, it'd make sense. It just sounds disingenuous and like we're trying to copy the European teams if we tried to use names like theirs. On that same note, Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City have to be two of the worst names in the league (and possibly in all of American sports). I do think the logo could definitely be reworked. I'm fine with the name and the color scheme to be honest, but wouldn't be upset if they decided to call the team Boston Revolution if they move into the city limits. The color scheme makes sense with the name "Revolution" referring to the American Revolution and it fits in with the colors of Boston's two most popular teams (Pats and Red Sox), though I do recognize that MLS already has a lot of red, white, and blue. Basically, if they handled it like the Crew rebrand (making a minor tweak to the name and overhauling the outdated logo), that'd probably be the best-case scenario and placate most people.
I don't see anything wrong with the name and would want to keep it. I agree that retooling the Logo and maybe a minor name change would be good. For me updating the logo would go a long way in refreshing the brand.
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 19 years. Has the Revolution suffered through difficult seasons? Absolutely. 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 need to turn one's back on the club name that accompanied those accomplishments. Doing so is simply electing to cut-and-run on the franchise's history - the good as well as the bad. 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.
Columbus Crew rebrand details...This is probably all it would take here for the Revs also with the right PR firm to assist and SSS of course. http://www.thecrew.com/newcrew