The video was bad, the response is also bad (singles out a minority group as responsible for their apology). I really thought this management group looked like it had it together, but it looks like they're just another bunch of rich people.
It feels like they've never actually watched, or been involved with, women's sports. They apologized, but apparently didn't take the video down and they're sticking with the name.
The managing partners are Stephanie Connaughton, Ami Danoff, and Anna Palmer. Anna Palmer has the finance and entrepreneurship background (sounds like she was lured in through contacts at Angel City, and she's close to Jennifer Epstein the controlling partner), Ami Danoff looks like the funding exec who's also involved with the Women's Fund, and Stephanie Connaughton is the marketing executive (ex Gillette) who should know better.
Because you don't get the anagram "fun" without that abbreviation tacked on somewhere Bostonian Bos - tonian Bos - Nation BOS Nation
In addition to the whole anagram thing being evidence of them overthinking things and being a bit self-inflated, they announced more of their branding, which includes SEVEN colors overall: Main - Championship Green Main - Black Accent - Relentless Raspberry Accent - Orange Press Accent - Daring Pink Accent - Loyal Charcoal Accent - Rise Yellow ...wtf are they on?
I guess I'm alone here, but I continue to like BOS Nation. I think of it as a great name for a supporters group.
Supporters group name, absolutely. Team name, though... You shouldn't have something that looks like an acronym but isn't in a professional name like that.
To me (in Boston) it seems like something I would have seen on a bumper sticker after the marathon bombing. To really seal the deal they could have made the logo blue and yellow. Imagine that the AI could properly spell the absolutely correct name "BOS Nation" (Its a beanpot)
Honestly if they went with "Boss Nation FC" as an anagram of "Bostonians" (instead of using the singular) it would read so much better. Would still feel like peak Zoomer cringe naming, but it's better than BOS Nation...
It's possible the whole thing was just stunt marketing to get people talking. Unfortunately the talk seems to be uniformly negative outside of a few neutral articles from WBUR etc that are just flat reporting. Even Sports Illustrated noted that people on Twitter were letting their opinions be known in their writeup. I suspect this will be a rebrand after season one. They did an embarrassingly bad job of it.
IDK if they make one month, much less a full season. Remember that Louisville was originally Proof and rebranded to Racing before they ever kicked a ball
#NWSL officials are exploring potential markets for its 16th franchise this month 👀Source says the field is believed to be narrowed to five cities.📰 @AlexMSilverman // @ChrisSmith813 https://t.co/MlBpUM2R3q— Sports Business Journal (@SBJ) October 16, 2024
Nashville bid moving to the top https://nashvillebanner.com/2024/10...lrjgrWqBkZNArLHLIQ_aem_tjRsT6FYy6iF8C8chsY6aw
Well, "top" as in "one of the top three", per the article. I would be surprised if they're the front-runner. What really interested me was this (alarming?) tidbit: "HerGame’s bid follows the efforts of at least two other, smaller bid groups that tried to buy NWSL teams last year and move them to Nashville, including the Seattle and Carolina franchises." IDK if I like an ownership group that's grown out of efforts to relocate other teams. Seems too predatory for my liking, like they're going to put business before soccer in how they run things. This is also an intriguing look at how the top three bids compare: "[Self-owned infrastructure] doesn’t appear to be in the cards for Nashville or Cincinnati, who would share with MLS teams, though the Philadelphia bid has proposed building a new stadium." Philly is already the biggest media market of the top three, so I gotta think that controlling their own stadium as well makes them incredibly appealing as a bid.
An NWSL expansion team is doing itself a disfavor by imagining that it already has the same sort of nationwide fandom as the Red Sox.
Oh, good point! That totally went over my head earlier. Though IMO, all C-named cities in Ohio are essentially the same anyway.
Now my mind is doing silly things... Like, consider if NWSL picks one of the five recently-named bids for team #16 in 2026 for a 30-game season - then immediately announces the other four will join in 2028 as #17-20 to introduce conferences and a 28-game season.
NWSL won't add four expansion teams in one year. Do they keep up at the current pace of adding two teams every other year? Or do they start going the MLS route and add one team, essentially, every year.