Latest news with #BostonLegacyFC
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pro. Women's Soccer Team in Mass. Reveals New Club Brand
A new era of professional women's soccer continues to take shape in Massachusetts as the Boston Legacy Football Club unveiled the club brand this weekend. After a five-month design process led by graphic designer Matthew Wolff, the team revealed its new black, white, and green-colored crest to the public Saturday through an interactive event for fans on the Boston Common. The crest consists of a green shield, a white, stylized swan, and the word 'Boston' in black letters. Advertisement Boston Legacy FC Controlling Manager Jennifer Epstein said the swan, as the central symbol of the crest, seemed 'very appropriate to represent the values of our club, which are inclusivity, belonging, grit, and style.' The swan has eight feathers, the total number of teams that originally played in the National Women's Soccer League, including the Boston Breakers, which played its final soccer matches in 2017. The angle of the feathers is also a nod to the cables on the Leonard Zakim Bridge, an iconic piece of infrastructure in Boston. 'The crest in my mind is really the link between the city, and the fans, and the athletes,' said Stephanie Connaughton, one of Boston Legacy's co-founders and managing owners. The founders told Boston 25 News that it's now up to the fans to infuse meaning into the crest as a new generation of female athletes shines in the Bay State. Advertisement 'It is a new era in women's sports. You can see the excitement, the passion all across our country, and really, the world,' said Epstein. 'We are going to make sure that we are going to bring championships home to our fans,' said Ami Kuan Danoff, one of the club's founding partners. The Boston Legacy FC will start playing in the National Women's Soccer League in 2026. Home games will be played at Gillette Stadium for the first year, but by 2027, games will be played at the new White Stadium. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Boston Legacy FC unveils new team crest: ‘It's been a learning process. We had a hiccup'
Boston Legacy FC has learned a crucial lesson before even setting foot on the field or signing a player: It's OK to try again. 'It's been a learning process and we had a hiccup when we launched the first pieces of our brand, as you know and everyone else knows,' owner and controlling manager Jennifer Epstein told on Friday. Advertisement While 'hiccup' might be an understatement of how the first attempt at a brand launch went for the 15th NWSL club, between the original name of BOS Nation FC and the 'Too Many Balls' campaign, everyone in Boston gave themselves time and space not just to own it and learn, but to move on. In March, the team announced its new name. When it came time to think through the launch of the first crest and brand, the club took its time. Set to begin play next year, Boston Legacy FC is ready to spread its wings, completing a five-month design process following the team's decision to rebrand. As part of that, Legacy FC hired experienced designer Matthew Wolff to lead the specific project of the new crest, with the team name already announced and the colors dating back to the team's original launch last year. The club sought an expert they could trust — enter Wolff, a known designer in the soccer world — and enlisted brand advisors in addition to their own input to ensure they had a range of viewpoints for their second attempt. Advertisement 'Opening it up to a plurality of perspectives and voices really helped us drill down and do something that we think is beautiful, but also mixes older and newer and is the perfect symbol for this new legacy that we are building here in Boston,' Epstein said. Rather than using the entire team name, the crest simply says Boston. The team will celebrate the new identity with a party on Boston Common on Saturday. Wolff is no stranger to stepping into a project where a course correction is needed. His first NWSL project was in 2020 with Racing Louisville FC, following their original launch as Proof Louisville FC. Since then, he has also worked with Gotham FC and the San Diego Wave. 'Intentionality matters,' Wolff told before getting into what he has learned from his work across the league over the past five years. 'Women's soccer fans really care about the way that their clubs look, the way that their clubs feel, what their clubs represent. There's a high standard, and there should be a high standard for this.' Advertisement As a designer, Wolff is a proponent of the idea that a club's crest and visual identity directly contribute to the growth of the game. As for the crest itself, it wasn't always a given that the swan would be the centerpiece of the design. The idea kept coming up in conversations, though, according to Wolff, and they realized it was strong enough to build the entire identity around. 'Swans have a long history in the city of Boston. They're iconic birds that populate the Charles and Mystic (rivers). Of course, they reside in the Boston Public Garden, which is in the Emerald Necklace, which extends through to where our home pitch will be at White Stadium,' Epstein said. And looking at the rest of the crests across the league, while the Washington Spirit have a nod to the eagle in theirs, a bird would stand out from the rest. 'Swans are extraordinarily fierce and extraordinarily loyal. Doesn't that sound like a Bostonian to you?' Wolff asked. 'Swans are elegant and fierce and loyal. That's Boston, that's Boston sports. Early on, we realised there was some mirroring of the animal and the club's values and Bostonians' personalities. The triangulation of those three things made it feel like the right move for the center of the crest.' Advertisement The team's explainer also makes a nod to 'Romeo and Juliet,' a pair of swans that summered in the Boston Public Garden for years. Both swans were female. It's a fun aside that should be popular with supporters, even if it wasn't directly an influence on the design itself. Once the swan was set, there were the smaller details to fine-tune. Each feather represents one of the original eight teams of the NWSL from its launch in 2013. The Boston Breakers, the previous NWSL team in the city until 2018, were always alphabetically at the top of that list. 'The Breakers obviously are a really important part of Boston soccer, Boston sports, women's sports, women's soccer history,' Wolff said. The initial design brief always had a nod to them in some way, listed as one of the priorities. The angle of the feathers is also a nod to the Zakim Bridge, which crosses the Charles River into the North End of Boston and was also featured on Boston's interim crest used in the early days of the expansion team. Advertisement 'When I'm working on a football crest, I want to represent the football club and the women who are going to compete on the pitch,' Wolff said. 'But of equal, if not more, importance, is representing the entire city, the entire community — so a powerful football crest can really draw people that maybe weren't originally interested in the sport to the sport.' If done right, said Wolff, a crest represents the player, the club, the local, the fan, but their family too, their neighbors, the community itself. There was no ignoring the power of sports in Boston on this project, something Wolff said he thought about frequently at a time when we gather as communities less and less. Yes, there is brand power in using Boston rather than Legacy FC — an instant shortcut to the city's culture as a whole, but it also seems to be one half of a promise from the club. The critical work right now, Epstein said, is building the relationships and trust with the community of Boston and the greater area. 'This is just the beginning. We want to see that long-term pride and loyalty from our fans in the city as a whole, in what we are building. It's always at the core of what we are doing — thinking about the community and how we can bring them in.' This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Soccer, NWSL, Sports Business 2025 The Athletic Media Company
New York Times
a day ago
- Business
- New York Times
Boston Legacy FC unveils new team crest: ‘It's been a learning process. We had a hiccup'
Boston Legacy FC has learned a crucial lesson before even setting foot on the field or signing a player: it's OK to try again. 'It's been a learning process and we had a hiccup when we launched the first pieces of our brand, as you know, and everyone else knows,' owner and controlling manager Jennifer Epstein told The Athletic on Friday. Advertisement While 'hiccup' might be an understatement of how the first attempt at a brand launch went for the 15th NWSL club, between the original name of BOS Nation FC and the 'Too Many Balls' campaign, everyone in Boston gave themselves time and space not just to own it and learn, but to move on. In March, the team announced its new name. When it came time to think through the launch of their first crest and brand, the club took its time. Set to begin play next year, Boston Legacy FC is ready to spread its wings, completing a five-month design process following the team's decision to rebrand. As part of that, Legacy FC hired experienced designer Matthew Wolff to lead the specific project of the new crest, with the team name already announced and the colors dating back to the team's original launch last year. The club sought an expert they could trust — enter Wolff, a known designer in the soccer world — and enlisted brand advisors in addition to their own input to ensure they had a range of viewpoints for their second attempt. 'Opening it up to a plurality of perspectives and voices really helped us drill down and do something that we think is beautiful, but also mixes older and newer and is the perfect symbol for this new legacy that we are building here in Boston,' Epstein said. Rather than using the entire team name, the crest simply says Boston. The team will celebrate the new identity with a party on Boston Common on Saturday. Wolff is no stranger to stepping into a project where a course correction is needed. His first NWSL project was in 2020 with Racing Louisville FC, following their original launch as Proof Louisville FC. Since then, he's also worked with Gotham FC and the San Diego Wave. 'Intentionality matters,' Wolff told The Athletic before getting into what he's learned from his work across the league over the past five years. 'Women's soccer fans really care about the way that their clubs look, the way that their clubs feel, what their clubs represent. There's a high standard, and there should be a high standard for this.' Advertisement As a designer, Wolff is a proponent of the idea that a club's crest and visual identity directly contribute to the growth of the game. As for the crest itself, it wasn't always a given that the swan would be the centerpiece of the design. The idea kept coming up in conversations, though, according to Wolff, and they realized it was strong enough to build the entire identity around. 'Swans have a long history in the city of Boston. They're iconic birds that populate the Charles and Mystic (rivers). Of course, they reside in the Boston Public Garden, which is in the Emerald Necklace, which extends through to where our home pitch will be at White Stadium,' Epstein said. And looking at the rest of the crests across the league, while the Washington Spirit have a nod to the eagle in theirs, a bird would stand out from the rest. 'Swans are extraordinarily fierce and extraordinarily loyal. Doesn't that sound like a Bostonian to you?' Wolff asked. 'Swans are elegant and fierce and loyal. To me, that's Boston, that's Boston sports. Early on, we realised there was some mirroring of the animal and the club's values and Bostonians' personalities. The triangulation of those three things made it feel like the right move for the center of the crest.' The team's explainer also makes a nod to 'Romeo and Juliet,' a pair of swans that summered in the Boston Public Garden for years. Both swans were female. It's a fun aside that should be popular with supporters, even if it wasn't directly an influence on the design itself. Once the swan was set, there were the smaller details to fine-tune. Each feather represents one of the original eight teams of the NWSL from its launch in 2013. The Boston Breakers were always alphabetically at the top of that list. 'The Breakers obviously are a really important part of Boston soccer, Boston sports, women's sports, women's soccer history,' Wolff said. The initial design brief always had a nod to them in some way, listed as one of the priorities. The angle of the feathers is also a nod to the Zakim Bridge, which crosses the Charles River into the North End of Boston and which was also featured on Boston's interim crest used in the early days of the expansion team. Advertisement 'When I'm working on a football crest, I want to represent the football club and the women who are going to compete on the pitch,' Wolff said. 'But of equal, if not more importance, is representing the entire city, the entire community — so I believe that a powerful football crest can really draw people that maybe weren't originally interested in the sport to the sport.' If done right, said Wolff, a crest represents the player, the club, the local, the fan, but their family too, their neighbors, the community itself. There was no ignoring the power of sports in Boston on this project, something Wolff said he thought about frequently at a time when we gather as communities less and less. Yes, there is brand power in using Boston rather than Legacy FC — an instant shortcut to the city's culture as a whole, but it also seems to be one half of a promise from the club. The critical work right now, Epstein said, is building the relationships and trust with the community of Boston and the greater area. 'This is just the beginning. We want to see that long-term pride and loyalty from our fans in the city as a whole, in what we are building. It's always at the core of what we are doing — thinking about the community and how we can bring them in.' (Top Photo: Boston Legacy FC)
Axios
3 days ago
- Business
- Axios
The Sports Bra, a women's sports bar franchise, is coming to Boston
The Sports Bra, a franchise dedicated to women's sports, is expanding to Boston, the company announced this week. The big picture: The Sports Bra is will be the third Boston-area bar to show predominantly women's sports — a space that's on the rise in the U.S. What's happening: The Sports Bra didn't say when or where the Boston franchise would open, but noted that it would air games from the Boston Fleet hockey team, Boston Legacy FC and other women's sports teams. Franchises are also opening in Indianapolis, Las Vegas and St. Louis, the company announced. The Sports Bra will be in good company in Boston, joining Parlor Sports in Somerville and fully-women-owned Drawdown Brewing in Jamaica Plain. Zoom out: Six women's sports bars have opened this year, with as many as 17 on the way. What they're saying: The bars "galvanize the community," says Kaitlyn Laabs, who is making a documentary about women's sports bars called "Untapped." "They've become centers of social, economic and political power in the communities where they exist." The vibe: Bar owners mix the fun and camaraderie of team sports with an atmosphere that's welcoming to everyone, including nontraditional sports fans and the LGBTQ+ community. "Let's bring people in that have always been a little timid about going to a sports bar," says Monica Brady, co-owner of upcoming Kansas City women's sports bar The Dub. Friction point: Some bar owners, such as Watch Me! owner Jax Diener, have gotten sexist and anti-LGBTQ+ hate. Between the lines: Many of these bar owners also struggle to secure small-business loans, increasing the barrier to opening, Laabs says. Brady tells Axios she and her business partner were rejected for a loan four times. She said lenders cited high collateral requirements, risk, and inexperience in the industry as factors in the rejections. Many women's sports bar owners have turned to crowdfunding. Stunning stat: In 2023, women received less than a third of the Small Business Administration's loans despite owning about 43% of America's small businesses, according to the SBA.
New York Times
22-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Boston Legacy in advanced talks to hire Benfica's Filipa Patao as their first head coach
Benfica women head coach Filipa Patao is set to leave the club and is in advanced talks to join the Boston Legacy FC for its debut season in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), sources tell The Athletic. Benfica are currently participating in the inaugural World Sevens Football (W7F) tournament, where Patao is expected to oversee her final matches in charge of the team. The DAZN broadcasters mentioned the potential move at the start of Benfica's match against Roma, which ended with Roma winning in penalty kicks. Advertisement Portuguese newspaper A BOLA was first to report the talks. The 36-year-old joined Benfica in 2020, two years after its debut season. Under Patao, the club has won the Campeonato Nacional, the highest level of women's football in Portugal, five times in a row. She also won the Taca de Portugal and the Taca da Liga (twice), the nation's two domestic cup competitions. Patao also led the club to the quarterfinals of the Champions League in the 2023-24 season, becoming the first Portuguese side to reach the last eight of the competition. Benfica lost 2-1 against Paris-Saint Germain and 3-1 against Manchester United in their first two W7F matches. The Legacy is in search of its first ever head coach and is set to play its first NWSL season next year alongside a new team in Denver that is yet to be named. It did not respond to a request for comment when contacted by The Athletic. The team was set to play its inaugural campaign at White Stadium in Boston but delays in its redevelopment have meant that they will now play at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. They will share the stadium with Major League Soccer's New England Revolution. Boston won its expansion bid in 2023 and the team was originally named BOS Nation FC but was renamed after facing criticism. The club received over 500 suggestions during the name change process. The Legacy is set to reveal its crest on June 7. (Davide Puglisi/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
