That would probably get a 2006-2007 rebrand. Which means we could have been "Real Chicago" or "Barcelona USA." Newer MLS fans don't know the horror that could have befallen this team. Fire might not be the best team name ever, but it's quintessentially Chicago and it means soccer to many including me.
Seriously? It's stuff like this that makes me pause when considering not supporting the team this season. I mean...maybe I should thank Mansueto a thousand times over for saving my teams name, no matter the butchery done to the colors and logo.
I don't know how likely it was, but it was pitched as a "compromise" on the name by Hauptman at the time. The "FC" is stupid and I don't know if that's something that will stick next year, but it's at least something I can ignore.
Yeah I hate the FC too, but I can ignore it. I guess as much as I want a re-rebrand, just as this thread has shown, I fear opening that can of worms and ending up with no "Chicago Fire" at all.
Chicago Fire is going to stick. I could see the switch to navy uniforms being permanent though, but I'm just speculating with that part.
If I'm forced to compromise, I'd take navy uniforms and a Chicago Fire name over red uni's and Chicago FC.
I do believe fans will be involved in the process and the new group of people who will also be leading the charge for this have understood this. More information should hopefully be available sometime next March.
1) A point having been made doesn't mean it loses its relevance, especially when someone is actively casting doubt on it. Again, I'm not arguing for against anything by simply pointing things out as the thread circles through and ultimately revisits various ideas- my stance is still 'Fire? sure that's okay' 'something else besides Fire? also okay'. 2) It took a while for MLS to realize how bad some of those names were, although once Wiz rebranded to Wizards, I didn't think it was that bad a name. As for "Wind", a quick internet search confirmed what I remembered - Wilt took a liking to that even over the name Fire at first. Hard to believe that the Fire name wasn't the braintrust of the fledgling organization, but just happened to be on a list of purchased names the team bought from somewhere that apparently sold lists of generic names for sports teams in the late 90's https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-10-09-9710090340-story.html Sidebar - wow, the Trib's online archive is pretty damn extensive.
Hmm, that's interesting. I think I would rather have Chicago FC/SC/97/City/whatever and red primary jerseys that more often than not have a white hoop across the front than Chicago Fire and blue kit that doesn't have any distinguishing visual themes. Assuming we'll have the new logo or a variation of it, of course.
1. You are still doing it. You are merely repeating yourself. 2. Regardless, we can all be thankful "Wind" did not happen...not even with Hauptman in elevators. For my part, I wanted Chicago "Blues" as the name back in 1997.
1. Meh, a good deal of this website, forum, and especially this thread is people repeating themselves- if a point is relevant, it's relevant, whether's it been made already or not. My main point was I'm not arguing- for or against- anything, at all, not that I (or others) haven't repeated certain talking points. 2. We would somehow have instantly been the laughingstock of a league that had a teams named 'Wiz', 'Burn', 'Clash', and 'MetroStars'. Honestly that was my first choice as well - I remember hoping that's what we ended up as, it fits in well with the city and it's history, and, although I didn't know it then (because the EPL sucks and I didn't follow it), it would've probably placated Euro-posers with it's tie-in to Chelsea. Who knows how well it would have resonated or if the Blackhawks (at that time really small but vocal) fanbase would've hated the soccer team because of the hockey rivalry with St. Louis (stupider things have happened), but I just thought it sounded cool on top of everything else. For some reason, if the team would've rebranded 'Chicago Blues FC' instead of 'Chicago Fire FC', I would not have liked it.
I like the red with the white stripe but I'm willing to say goodbye. The "FC" is moronic and downright cringe worthy, but I can pretend to ignore it since "Fire" is kept. But for the love of god, get a better fking badge before I buy any swag.
All of this. I will not be buying anything with this dumb crown on it. Good thing we’re not short on sale items that I’d like to purchase.
If it happened contemporaneously with Hauptman's purchase of the team, then we would be have some douchy Chelsea-inspired name. This.
That's a given. I don't think anyone believes it's world class. Reactions seem to range from deep antipathy to casual indifference. I'm willing to be proven wrong when someone gets a tattoo of the new logo.
funny thought, I wonder if a lot of the rage- aside from the fact the badge sucks- about the rebrand is the fact that Chicagoans are not used to it from our sports teams. look at the bulls, bears, cubs, sox, and wolves. none of them have made any sweeping changes to their unis ever (at least in most of our lifetimes), aside from the sox, who have still had the same uni set for over 20 years.
The Wolves are an interesting case study, as they predate the Fire by only a few years, but seem to have really created a classic brand from the jump that is recognized by fans and non-fans alike. Great logo that looks great on the uniforms and team merchandise, name that follows traditional sports team naming conventions and stands out in the marketplace- about as simple as it gets for branding a team but it seems to have worked for them and their little corner of the Chicago sports marketplace. It's interesting that they've been able to keep the same look since the early 90's despite switching leagues and team affiliations over time, too. But yeah, people are by default against change, and the fact that the new badge looks like it does certainly didn't help. If they had knocked it out of the park I think a lot of people would've been fine with it, but with this badge, it feels like both the people that were fine with a new logo and the people that were against a new logo are both in agreement that this isn't a great new logo.
I've made a lot of comparisons with the Wolves and Fire over the years in terms of their market relevance, and for good reason. The team's all time best attendance at Bridgeview in 2017 was a few hundred turnstile turns short of what the Wolves pulled in during that same season. If you walked into a neighborhood sports bar in the city and surveyed the patrons, what percentage do you think would be able to accurately identify the Wolves' colors?
Wow- the Wolves haven't had a championship team in like a decade - crazy that they're still drawing a decent crowd out there. I don't follow the Wolves as much as I used to (their first season was during an NHL lockout or strike so I got heavy into them right away but it faded over the next several seasons), but it's good to know they still have an audience. Looks like they had a championship run last year so I'm guessing their attendance will be good this season as well. As for the sports bar hypothetical, if you mean "how many people could you ask 'what are the Chicago Wolves colors?' and they would get all of the colors right", honestly, I feel like that would be low, just because they're a minor league hockey team, but they do kind of own burgundy/maroon in the market so maybe I'd be surprised. I do feel like, if I just walked in to that same sports bar with a hat that had team colors and their alternate logo (the one with just the wolf - no hockey puck or stick giving it away), a lot of people would recognize it as the hockey team's logo right away.
I still like the idea of switching the name to Chicago SC and keeping Fire as the nickname. But I also understand the desire to keep the name as it is. I have also now seen Chicago Fire FC enough times that I 100% hate the team having “Football Club” in the name.
Keeping the name was my biggest concern until I saw the new logo. It's just so objectively bad. Bad design, bad colors, bad connotations. Now I'd give up the official "Fire" name in heart beat for a better badge. Not even the old badge, just something that isn't terrible. Edit: This badge is the Chicago Rhythm/Wind of badges.