We've now got: Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Tampa Bay Rowdies, and New York Cosmos. FWIW, not to forget that in MLS, we have: Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers, Vancouver Whitecaps, Montreal Impact, and San Jose Earthquakes. And new markets in the new NASL are Puerto Rico Islanders, Carolina Railhawks...and soon the Ottawa (Fury?). We could possible rebrand Minnesota Stars to Minnesota Kicks/Strikers, FC Edmonton to Edmonton Drillers, San Antonio Scorpions to San Antonio Thunder, and Atlanta Silverbacks to Atlanta Chiefs/Apollos. Of these, i would really only hope for Edmonton to adopt their old name. So, who of the old NASL teams are coming back? -Baltimore Bays/Comets -Cleveland Stokers -San Diego Toros/Sockers/Jaws -Las Vegas Quicksilver -Philadelphia Atoms/Fury -Oakland Clippers/Stompers -Tulsa Roughnecks -Rochester Lancers -Team Hawaii -Team America/Washington Diplomats/Whips/Darts -Toronto Blizzard/Falcons/Metros-Croatia -Vancouver Royals -Detroit Express -Boston Beacons/Minutemen -Colorado Caribous/Denver Dynamos -Chicago Mustangs/Sting -Dallas Tornado -Hartford Bicentennials -Houston Stars/Hurricane -Jacksonville/New England Tea Men -Kansas City Spurs -Los Angeles Wolves/Aztecs -Miami Toros/Gatos -St. Louis Stars -Memphis Rogues -Calgary Boomers -California (Anaheim) Surf -Montreal Olympique/Manic -New York Generals Personally, i'd like to see: Tulsa Roughnecks, Las Vegas Quicksilver, Dallas Tornado, Memphis Rogues, Calgary Boomers, Baltimore Bays/Comets, Cleveland Stokers, and San Diego Toros return. I'd like to St. Louis and Detroit enter the league but under different names.
Wow. Couldn't shoehorn that gem into any one (please, not all of them) of the existing threads that have covered NASL expansion and why or why not it would be good to use old NASL monikers? https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/whos-next-in-the-nasl.1651631/ https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/why-not-drillers-in-the-nasl.1927095/ https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/bring-back-the-roughnecks.1256802/
It is the whole idea of trying to relive nostalgia of a fallen league. It might work in some places, but there is no realistic chance it can work in the D.C area.
"Minnesota Kicks/Strikers" Has a great right to is. But I think if they do stick around their new identity is much better (plus I already have their shirt)
I hope the Stars stick around. One of the best badges in any league here in the States. Top five maybe.
Dallas Tornado would be a good one, if they could find a spot for an SSS closer to downtown or maybe SW of Dallas. Although, FCD has trouble enough without D2 competition
None. But in places where there's really enough nostalgia for it to actually make a difference in the marketing, some of the names might, and that's a good time.
Ya, I also like the old Edmonton Drillers logo. The Drillers only failed because they were owned by Peter Pocklington who also owned the NHL Oilers. Because he had Gretzky, Messier, Fuhr, Lowe, Coffey, Anderson et al. he was paying out big money in a small market and those 1980's Oilers were making runs to the Stanley Cup each year. The Drillers collapsed the same year the Oilers got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Pocklington was expecting another 6-9 home games and it was the Drillers who suffered. He also had some jacka** plan to have the players sell tickets door to door.
I'd take a Team America return, but only if they enter every home match to the theme song from Team America: World Police.
How about using the Washington Whips - USA 1967 - NASL 1968 Or The Washington Darts - NASL 1970 - 1971
The more ridiculous 70's logos and team names I see here, the more I think no more after the Cosmos...
Ya but what is worse? You can say that the old NASL name was the only one that had any attachment with the city. Kansas City Spurs NASL Kansas City Comets MISL Kansas City Wiz MLS version 1.0 Kansas City Wizards MLS version 2.0 Sporting Kansas City MLS version 3.0 I mean there were actually horses in KC at one time. So Spurs is somewhat relevant. Maybe people remember Haleys Comet whilst living in KC, not so relevant. I can find no connection in my head between Wiz and KC? Maybe the old TV and appliance store? Who knows. So then they amended Wiz to Wizards, although I am not watching History Channel on a daily basis I somehow doubt Merlin lived in or visited Kansas City. ...........and for the greatest reach of a team name to city I've ever seen in my life. Sporting Kansas City. An absolute pandering and almost oily name that is trying to reach for a connection that nobody could connect. I mean Bayern Kansas City or Inter Kansas City or Real Kansas City (actually this is used in SLC) or Queens Park Kansas City or................this could go on for hours. I don't think any of the names has much relevance and some of them are just bizarro.
^ I was always under the impression that the Wiz/Wizards was in reference to the Wizard of Oz. "We're not in Kansas anymore" ring a bell?
Yep. And unfortunately, this was one of the few names that Adidas/Nike came up with for MLS 1.0 that made any sense to me, in relation to the city. IMHO it would have been better if they had INITIALLY called the team WIZARDS, instead of TheWiz.... Dallas Burn. Unless this was in reference to the hellacious sunburn you'd get watching an afternoon game at the Cotton Bowl... San Jose Clash. Was there a major fracas in the bay area that I'm not aware of? Tampa Bay Mutiny. Pirate Ships, perhaps? Still doesn't explain the Bacardi bat on the crest.
Sorry but that doesn't look anything like the Barcadi bat. Obviously the "Mutiny" name ties in with the TB Buccaneers and the pirate theme. However I don't think a word meaning "an open rebellion against the captain" is the best name for a soccer team lol. The bat story I've always heard is that there were bats living in old Tampa Stadium. It certainly speaks to the stupidity of those early MLS brands that most of them no longer exist(in Florida's case the teams are gone completely).
Would the fate of Tampa Bay been any different if they had pulled a SJ and said, "Screw this Mutiny crap! We're gonna be The Rowdies!"? Or was it too far gone to be saved? I'm not really acquainted with what actually went on in the end.
It varies depending on who you ask. It certainly couldn't have hurt. Just 3 years before the Mutiny took the field, the Rowdies - the same organization that started in 1975 - was still playing in the APSL. The shine had largely worn off by then, but it was still the local soccer tradition. It may very well have increased support, but bottom line was they still needed an owner. If they were drawing 15K a game they probably would have gotten that done at some point. It probably would have made a bigger difference with the Fusion, there was (and still is) a big cultural/identity difference between Fort Lauderdale and Miami, in addition to the 30 mile drive. Once they gave on up trying to get the Orange Bowl as the home stadium and settled on Lockhart they should have dropped the Miami name. Despite being lumped together as the "South Florida" market, a "Miami" team playing in Fort Lauderdale makes about as much sense from a marketing standpoint as "DC United" playing in Baltimore would. It's too far for the namesake city's fans and it's saying "you're not worthy enough to name the team after" to the host city. Would it have saved the teams? Who knows. Would have been interesting to find out though.