Boston NWSL expansion team unveils name -- again
March 26 - Goodbye, BOS Nation FC.
Hello, Boston Legacy FC.
Five months after introducing a widely panned name and marketing slogan, the officials of Boston's National Women's Soccer League expansion club revealed its new name.
The first name -- BOS Nation -- was an anagram of the term "Bostonian." Its slogan, "Too Many Balls," was intended to relay the need for more women's sports in the city.
Given the immediate negativity Bostonians showed toward both, officials quickly went back to the drawing board.
The result -- Boston Legacy FC -- was introduced Wednesday with a series of posts on X.
"It's a great day to start a new legacy. To write a new chapter and build something bigger than ourselves," read the first post.
The following posts:
"Because in Boston, history isn't just remembered. It's made."
"For the city.
For the future.
Boston Legacy FC"
Merchandise bearing the new name and the Legacy's green and black colors was available Wednesday on the club's website, but the team said the crest would be announced later.
The new club is set to begin play with the 2026 NWSL season.
In a statement posted to its website, the club said the new name is the result of studies that whittled 500 suggested names to 14 through feedback gained via "listening sessions" with community members.
From there, the list was further pared down if a name wasn't available due to legal or trademark reasons or if it didn't fit the team's established criteria for a new name, which included no names that invoked "colonial, Revolutionary War and nautical themes."
The remaining candidates were judged through a survey of more than 1,000 people, which included a core testing group and subgroups such as Hispanic sports fans in the city and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
While the team said the "new name was a clear winner in every single category by a statistically significant margin," additional feedback sessions with brand advisers were conducted before it was finalized.
Boston Legacy FC and a still-to-be-named expansion team in Denver will give the NWSL 16 teams. The Denver entry also is set to join in 2026.
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