Latest news with #BOSNationFC
CBC
26-03-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Boston Legacy FC unveiled as NWSL expansion team's 2nd nickname in 5 months
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" Team logo will be announced later Merchandise bearing the new name and the Legacy's green and black colours was available Wednesday on the club's website, but the team said logo 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.
Reuters
26-03-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
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.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Introducing Boston Legacy FC: NWSL expansion team announces new name
The Boston NWSL expansion club has officially renamed itself to Boston Legacy FC as of Wednesday. The change comes five months after the club's initial launch as BOS Nation FC, which swiftly faced criticism, followed by an official announcement earlier this month that the club would change the name. The team's crest and full brand identity will be released at a later date this summer. The club's official news release describes the selection of Boston Legacy FC as keeping the focus on the city itself, 'while invoking both its long history and its importance as a hub of future innovation — a city that carries its own decades of sporting legacy, while the club aspires to create its own new legacy that is true to the city, true to the fan, and true to the sport.' The club selected Boston Legacy FC as the new name following public surveys, feedback from team advisers and community listening sessions. The team received over 500 suggestions during the name change process. The club said they had guiding principles based on their extensive feedback, including honoring the history of the city but also steering clear of colonial, Revolutionary War and nautical themes. Fans also wanted the name to be immediately understandable (compared to BOS Nation, which was an anagram of Bostonian) and withstand the test of time, and fans wanted to make sure the team respected the existing Boston women's pro sports teams, such as the Boston Fleet of the PWHL. From there, Boston narrowed it down to a short list of 14 names with some ruled out due to trademark or other legal issues. Boston Legacy FC was the name that emerged, and the club said it was the name that had tested best among their surveyed fans 'in every single category by a statistically significant margin.' Wednesday's announcement is considerably more toned down than last October's original launch, as it's clear the club decided to move forward with the name alone and announce the rest of the team's identity when it is ready. The team colors have remained unchanged from that original announcement with 'Championship Green' the primary color associated with the team and five additional accent colors selected. Boston Legacy FC shouldn't surprise anyone, as the language around the team's identity has always embraced the long history of sporting success in Boston and New England. Changing the name does feel like a much more conservative attempt at harnessing that history compared to the October launch featuring the 'Too Many Balls' campaign, centered around men's sports and widely panned as a terrible miss on their messaging. Now, the club has been using the line 'It's a great day to start a legacy' in their various social media bios. 'Our name is just the beginning,' controlling owner Jennifer Epstein said in Wednesday's news release. 'It's what we build together, through dedication, commitment, and grit that will give it life. We aim for our values to reflect a city that breathes competition, passion, and pride, and to pay tribute to those who paved the way before us, including the gamechangers who helped build previous women's professional teams in Boston. We are also focused on the future, for the next generation of players and fans who will carry forward what we build today.' This article originally appeared in The Athletic. NWSL 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Boston Globe
26-03-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Boston's professional women's soccer team has a new name. Say hello to ‘Boston Legacy FC.'
The original name, BOS Nation FC, Advertisement The name's chances of survival were not helped by the drubbed, Related : Over the last few months, an extensive renaming process took place, without the involvement of Colossus, the South End creative agency that helped work with the team on the first name, said Bulman. More than 500 name ideas were collected from an initial public survey of 1,500 fans and soccer brand professionals. From there, invites were sent to 400-plus people for smaller listening sessions where seven themes emerged, among them a name that celebrates women's soccer, withstands the test of time, steers clear of Colonial, Revolutionary War, and nautical themes, and requires no explanation. A list of 14 names was whittled, some of those well-liked but not able to clear legal or trademark hurdles. From there, the team applied some quantitative analysis, hiring an external market research firm that surveyed around 1,000 people that were all over the age of 18, had displayed interest in Boston women's soccer from a previous survey, and contained subgroups including LGBTQ+ sports fans and Hispanic Boston sports fans. 'The process was actually quite conclusive,' said Bulman. 'Consistently, Legacy scored at the top with every cohort and demographic that we tested it with. As somebody who comes from the marketing world, initially I was concerned about diverging perspectives, but the data was universally consistent that Legacy was the top choice. Advertisement 'We chose this name because it reflects the values our fans told us they wanted to see in our new brand, a focus on Boston, on the diversity of our communities, and the impact that this club can have for the next 100 years and beyond. We feel like it really is reflective of that fan feedback, and we see our role as stewards of this brand as a community asset.' Bulman was hired last month from the NFL's Washington Commanders, who changed their name in February 2022. Bulman, a graduate of The Winsor School, was senior vice president of corporate affairs and strategy during the Commanders' rebrand, before becoming chief brand & strategy partner when she was hired by the team now known as Boston Legacy FC. The renaming process for the Commanders 'was similar and that we wanted the brand to be rooted in the values that fans told us were important to them,' said Bulman. 'Obviously it was different, because fan sentiment about the prior name at the Commanders was much more mixed, and there was a 90-year history there. In this case, fans told us they wanted to see a new legacy, and they wanted us to be looking toward the future. And that feedback was pretty consistent throughout.' Asked if perhaps the franchise hopes that it will be able to turn the negatives from the initial attempt into a long-term gain, Bulman said, 'I think any time you can get fans engaged in the building of a brand, that's a win for the organization. So I'm excited that the club took this time to really deeply engage with our fan base and build a foundation of trust that I think will serve us well for years to come.' Advertisement A reveal of the team's wordmark and crest will be in late spring, early summer, said Bulman. Also in the works is finding a corporate partner for field naming rights at White Stadium in Franklin Park, where the team hopes to begin playing next March when it debuts in the NWSL. Linda Henry, CEO of Boston Globe Media Partners, The team also is nailing down a training site and front-of-kit partnerships. This spring-summer the team hopes to hire a head coach, which would be a precursor to signing players. Said Bulman: 'We're excited to shift the conversation to soccer.' Michael Silverman can be reached at
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NWSL club BOS Nation FC says it will announce new name in coming weeks, following significant fan backlash
undefined Months after publicly introducing itself to the NWSL, BOS Nation FC is officially getting a rebrand. The NWSL expansion club in Boston confirmed Friday that it will be renaming the team in the near future, after a failed brand rollout in October led to backlash from fans. The franchise announced that it would be rebranding at a watch party for the start of the NWSL season, saying that the new name would be revealed in the coming weeks, and that a new crest would unveiled this summer. After the negative feedback on BOS Nation, the club turned to fans for input on the team's branding going forward. "The club extends our heartfelt thanks to our supporters, whose passionate voices we deeply value — not just for their unwavering support but also for their honest and critical feedback," majority owner Jennifer Epstein said in a statement shared with multiple outlets. "We could not have completed this process without your input. We aim to build a lasting legacy that makes all our fans feel welcome, connected, and proud to wear our colors and cheer our name for generations to come." "Boston, you've wait long enough. We are changing out club name," the team wrote in a post on social media, changing its display name to "Coming Soon FC" as a placeholder. New Name for a New Era ⚽️ — Coming Soon FC (@NWSLBoston) March 15, 2025 The previous name, an anagram of "Bostonian," received swift criticism from fans, with others lamenting the marketing campaign — a video noting the men's teams in the area, with the tagline "Too Many Balls" — used to promote the name. The franchise quickly pulled back much of its marketing and merchandise, and later publicly apologized for the rollout, admitting that they "missed the mark." Based on social media posts, the team's colors — green with pink as an accent color — appear to be staying the same. This is not the first time that a team has pivoted after a somewhat disastrous rollout. Racing Louisville FC, which joined the NWSL in 2021 as an expansion team, underwent a total rebrand after its first concept was not well-received by fans. The team was originally called Proof Louisville FC, a reference to bourbon whiskey, but rebranded to another Kentucky staple (horse racing) to much greater success. Boston's NWSL team is set to being play in 2026 alongside another recently-announced expansion club in Denver. The teams will be the 15th and 16th to join the league, which added Bay FC and the Utah Royals last year.
