The question then is, do you think that Portland, jumping at the chance to name their team what they knew would eventually be the name anyway, will hurt their potential fanbase by doing it their way? I doubt it. But we'll see in 2011.
This sucks; it's like your dad taking you to pick out a car for your birthday, and then when you go to get it on the big day, he and the salesman make you walk around the lot, looking around, until you're almost apoplectic, before they finally bring out the car you picked. The suspense of waiting is not thrilling, I can assure you. I'd boo the crap out of the moron who suggested this approach when they bring him/her out on MLS Opening Night. And if they don't use Whitecaps, I'd boo the heck out of the winner of the "name that team" contest (even if it's the marketing director's girlfriend), when they go onto the field to get their game jersey and free season tix, or whatever.
My goodness a lot of you seem to have your panties in a bunch. Everyone just relax. They WILL be called Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
A "marketing ploy"? Yes... absolutely. "Pointless". Hardly. While the die-hard soccer supporters of Vancouver may well spend the next two years breathlessly waiting for the arrival of MLS upon the local sports scene, potential fans - as well as the local business and journalistic communities - are going to be consumed by the 2010 Winter Olympics for a significant period of time over the next 11-and-1/2 months. Hell, there will undoubtedly be a few months of post-Olympics debate over just what lasting impact the Games ultimately had on Vancouver. Let's just say that the remainder of 2009 and a good portion of 2010 will be given over to endlessly analyzing and dissecting the Games of the 21st Winter Olympiad. Naturally, Mr. Kerfoot and Company don't simply want to cede attention in the local community to the Winter Olympics for a substantial portion of the next two years. After all, they're hoping to drum-up interest in the team amongst more than just the fan-base that exists for the current USL-1 incarnation of the Whitecaps, while simultaneously getting the local sports journos and potential marketing partners to think about more than just the Canucks and Lions. A "controversy" over whether or not Vancouver's future MLS franchise will carry-on the tradition of being branded with that familiar Whitecaps name - even a manufactured "controversy" - might well insure that the arrival of top-tier professional soccer in Vancouver doesn't slip completely off of the local radar. So, voila... we're suddenly exposed to the notion that the team's executives are open to hearing from folks who believe that Vancouver's MLS franchise should be named something other than Whitecaps. Frankly, I'd say that there's approximately a 0% chance that Vancouver's MLS franchise will take the pitch with a name that doesn't include Whitecaps in some way, shape or form. Still, raising the spectre of such a possibility is a brilliant way to keep the arrival of MLS in Vancouver on the tip of people's tongues.
id say go with pg tips logo it is awesome instead of contracting out and getting a crappy one ie canucks they spent all that money and the fan made mock ups were 10x better.
A friend of mine thinks they should get Tim Horton's to become their shirt sponsor, so they could be renamed the ICE CAPPS!
This team has been the Whitecaps for so long I think there would be a fan revolt if they tried changing it! I'd be in on that revolt action. My team is Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
There's no good reason to change this name. I can't wait till they end the theatrics and make it official. Good on Portland for not going this route, though their financing situation is troubling.