Why are MLS Team Names Terrible?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ย. 2024
- I’m back. It took longer than I thought to get over this cold, but my voice is back. Also if the audio sounds different, I had to use a different “microphone” because my old one decided to self-destruct at the worst possible time.
What a way to make my first MLS/Soccer video. A ramble about why (most, if not all) Major League Soccer names are terrible and need to be replaced. In a league that has grown over the years, the names of their teams are going backwards to a more traditional route. I know they want to target hard-nosed traditional European fans and players, but this is (North) America! Star Spangled Banner plays in the background
Back to the point. Major League Soccer is a professional league (I’m grateful that St. Louis has a team btw), but the one thing that separates them from the other 4 North American sports leagues are team names. It might not be a big deal to you, but as someone who is fascinated by the brand design of sports teams, it is to me. Just watch the video and argue in the comments afterwards.
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I feel like MLS should have their own style of names and built their own brand style of soccer that makes him distinguishable from other leagues.
Agreed
@@PenguinNote67 Actually, do you know how massive the USA is? You can have 4 - 5 different leagues for different regions. It doesn't even have to need promotion and relegation. Just fix your youth and development like how Canada did theirs.
@@PenguinNote67 americanized name sounds cartoonish.....football fans realize that. see as the game in america adopts authentic football culture how much it has grown and became more world appealing
They're terrible because they larp onto whatever Euro team is marketing itself well and popular at the time.
Manchester United literally was the inspiration behind "Minnesota United FC" and "Atlanta United".
Manchester City have rise to "Orlando City", "St Louis City" (who for some weird reason capitalize CITY.
The icing on the cake is definitely Inter "I wish we were Milan" Miami.
Then you have all the new FCs and SCs which are clearly desperately trying to be "cool".
Notable exceptions
- DC United: the name makes sense to be honest considering the location of DC
- Philadelphia Union: good name, historically accurate, not a popular euro team ripoff.
- FC Dallas / Toronto FC: The OG generic names before they became an MLS trend.
Minnesota United at least have a nickname. Fans call them the 'Loons,' which is a species of bird that lives in the northern United States and Canada. Orlando City are called the 'Lions.' But Real Salt Lake is right up there with Inter Miami.
When it comes to team nicknames, the MLS should have taken some inspiration from an older and defunct league, Major Indoor Soccer League (aka the MISL).
The MISL had great team nicknames. The Sockers, Sidekicks, Lazers, Comets, Blast, Steamers, Arrows/Cosmos just to name a few.
This is one topic I'm gonna have to disagree on. Having spent a decent amount of my childhood living in Europe with my family, I've come to find names like "Kansas City Chiefs", "Denver Nuggets", and "Green Bay Packers" to be EXTREMELY corny. I'm kind of glad that MLS is unique in that regard and has a good mix of nicknames and FCs.
While I'm not against teams having nicknames (it can work in some cases, as is the case with New York Rangers and Colorado Rapids) I think the benefit to teams having just an "FC" in their name allows the fans to organically come up with a nickname, which is good because at the end of the day, football is a fan-driven sport. Plus, I think in some cases some MLS team name changes were for the better. I think we can all agree that "New York/New Jersey MetroStars" is quite a mouthful and "Kansas City Wiz" sounds extremely cringe-worthy.
On the flipside, Montréal Impact changing their name to CF Montréal was kind of a letdown, since I think Montréal Impact had a nice ring to it.
TL;DR: I think MLS names having FC is something good to help the league stand out and sound classier, but nicknames can be good too.
Also, at 4:50, Charlotte doesn't have United in its name.
Oops on me with Charlotte. But I find FC names unnecessary when (American) Football dominates the US and the league is called Major League SOCCER
@@PenguinNote67funnily enough, the rest of the world says football. Thats why your football teams have football club.
@@PenguinNote67 Rugby does FC too in England despite soccer football dominating there
@@PenguinNote67 But association football is the main sport in the U.K., and yet many of their rugby teams use the FC (football club) distinction. It's because all codes of football are football, and despite what smug know-it-alls on the internet say, it is perfectly okay to use different terminology to differentiate between the different codes.
I think this is a matter of opinion. As someone who was born outside of the US I find most US team names to be extremely corny and corporate.
When you look at world football most teams are just named after their city or tied to their founding institution. The names can seem generic but they all have unique cultures that come about naturally not just decided in a board room. For example Man U are known as the Red Devils, but that nickname didn’t come around until almost 80 years into the teams existence.
I think this is evident into how teams don’t relocate like they do in the U.S. Teams are deeply tied to their location as all the culture of a team came about through years of fan and team interactions. Teams in the U.S. move because they’re brands. The Raiders are the Raiders wether they play in Oakland or Las Vegas. If the team name doesn’t work for the new city the owners can pick a new one to create a stronger brand. I like that Orlando city arn’t the Orlando lions because if they were officially the lions then one day they could be the Arizona lions or whatever.
Also football is not a European sport it’s a global sport. When the video showed the teams named after brands, most of those weren’t teams in Europe. Naming trends represent that whole of the sport. I believe the MLS is trying to be more than a National Major league but be a league watched worldwide. So obviously the names of MLS teams are just a cynical corporate decision but I think it’s a good decision for fans as the team is unambiguously representing a city rather than being a brand that happens to be located in a city.
Some of the rebrands are goofy to be fair. I completely agree that a team in a country with no monarchy can’t just decide to be called “Real”. But for example Inter Miami is a great name. Inter Milan took the name inter because of their willingness to hire international players. Inter Miami has players from all over the world so I do think using inter is very appropriate. Also many teams use inter if that lawsuit mentioned is real it literally has no weight.
Anyways like I said in the beginning it’s a matter of opinion and taste really. If you don’t like them there’s nothing wrong with that.
Exactly lol
Caroline Kindle Betz has said that the SC part also stands for Soccer Captial. Also Real Salt Lake would have make a little sense as they were close to being relocated here to St. Louis since St. Louis is named for a king. But I think with CITY sc were good now.
Great video, I really hate mls branding, it's so soulless, apart from Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers and maybe LA Galaxy, I wanted to recommend some video themes on snap, but I didn't get a response.
truth.....the names just doesnt connect with the culture of football
I have always loved the Chicago Fire -- but of course, I am biased, lol
I live in the UK and our “American sports” teams use US-style names. So in ice hockey we have Belfast Giants, Sheffield Steelers, etc. - it would be weird to have Manchester Ice Hockey Club. Why shouldn’t it be the same for soccer in the US using traditional naming conventions like United and FC?
In hockey playing countries like Sweden and Czechia, teams have European-style names instead of “FC” its “HC”. In fact many of hockey teams are affiliated with soccer teams, like Djurgarden in Sweden and Sparta Prague in Czechia
i care about the city the team plays for, not the mascot. i want to watch Vancouver vs Seattle, not the whitecaps vs the sounders, city over mascot
I get that. However as someone who grew up a hockey and baseball, the team name and branding are important
MLS team names wouldn't bother me so much if Major League Soccer actually understood the foreign sporting culture that it is *blatantly* trying to imitate for the mere sake of sounding foreign.
Waited for someone to talk about these boring nameless MLS teams that don't have a actual meanings to them. They should just switch to cool names, reflecting what's the symbols the cities represent on their flags or the culture.
Agreed
Couldn’t agree more, and we already call the sport soccer and not football, so why not also call the teams different things instead of a boring cf or fc. Maybe id actually watch MLS if it tried to be its own thing instead of basically just a minor league system for bigger leagues and also living the European shadow
I like the old MLS logo better!!!! Another thing, why in the world they would want to be Europeanize?!?! We live in North America, not Europe!!!!
Exactly. You think MLS would think that way but nope
As an American league, you should be bringing your own people to the sport, or go bankrupt!!!! It is that simple!!!!
I agree with you 100%! I’ve been saying the same thing for years!!
I’ve been saying this for so long the only good names are the Philadelphia union and the Portland Timbers
Timbers yes, Union no. They should be called the Snakes
No. Fc dallas is proper and austin fc
Agreed! Doop!
Unfortunately San Diego is pretty much confirmed that it'll be San Diego FC
your team has “soccer” in its name. so shush
All of the S.C. and FC tags are so freaking boring.
Exactly. It's even worse when it's the name for the team. I'm not a fan of referring to teams by their city. I prefer team names
You are wrong. Most have a fans given names. So TFC is the reds. And of course Atlanta is the 3 stripes
In regards to the USL, Indy Eleven should change its name to Racing Indy or Indy Racers. What say you?
Indy Racers could work
The Indianapolis Racers played in the old World Hockey Association. They some kid named Wayne Gretzky, I don’t know whatever happened to him.
Ah yes because the nba g league team "capital city go go" is a great name isnt it, worst name ever. Why is a team from one city called the "patriots" surely everyone in america is somewhat patriotic. "New york jets" is ironicly funny because 9/11. "Houston texans" very creative indeed. The city and state. "Minnesota vikings", never once was minnesota under the rule of the Vikings. "Carolina panthers" Panthers are extinct in carolina. "Chicago bears" no bears live in illinois. "LA Rams" name a team in one of the most urbanised places after a sheep. Makes sense. The 49ers were founded in 46 and entered the NFL in 1950. I know lions cant be found in detroit without even having to use google. I understand packers, and support their ownership. "Kansas city royals" neither Kansas nor missouri is a monarchy. Your real salt lake logic means they should be called the san diego fathers. "Philadelphia phillies" great job, well done. "Oakland athletics" athletics is a different sport.
The reason the 49ers are called the 49ers is because 1849 was a year during the California gold rush which brought many new people to that region, so the team's name pays tribute to that. As for the other team names, I definitely see your point.
Um 😐 it isn’t because they were ruled by Vikings but because there is evidence that they were there. Just look up the Kensington Runestone. Not A Vikings fan but a Saints fan. Also Lions was come up with by the owner so.
@@calebpepper3834 lions isnt the owners name tho is it
@@samuelpinder1215 It doesn’t matter though because the owner is the one who chose the name because Lions are the King of the Jungle he wanted them to be Kings of the NFL while it aged poorly no doubt. Many Teams are named after animals that aren’t Native to the US Tigers,Bengals,Bearcats,Penguin’s (Youngstown State and Pittsburgh)
Heck the Mascot for Alabama is an Elephant for Pete sake.
@@calebpepper3834 yeah that's why its stupid, not using native animals. Mascots are designed for children, in Europe no one above 10 cares about the mascot
Inter Miami has no reason to give up their name. There are a bunch of teams named “inter”
So what is the significance of attaching that to the name? And who are the other teams that use that?
@@fantasticvoyage262 Inter Milán was the first. SC Internacional, Inter Leipzig, Atlética Internacional, and a host of others. Yet the only team Milan objected to the use of “Inter was the US team.
@@Bismarck.1871 The name would sound a lot cleaner if they just went with Miami (whatever the team nickname is that isn't City, United, FC, or SC).
@@fantasticvoyage262 American style names don’t sound appropriate on soccer teams.
@@Bismarck.1871 At least they would be unique and not copy half the other teams in the league.
DC United sounds cool.
Why do you believe that mascot names are better than the more generic names?
Because logos and the brand
I actually could never get into european football because their logos looked pretty wack but i'm sure it's just as interesting as the MLB or NFL
I mean at least NFL jerseys aren't stapled with sponsors on the front
David "Beck-Ham"??? Are we supposed to take this video seriously? I legit don't know if this is sincere and stupid or sarcastic and just not funny.
MLS=Minor League Soccer
Minor league names that's for sure
@@PenguinNote67 I won't watch it because of the names, Real, Inter and Sporting, just stupid.
That's what pisses me off about MLS. And part of the reason why I will never become interested in it. Most of the team names sound completely ridiculous. And mysteriously use similar shield or circular logos for some reason.
Many of the logos don't even reflect whatever the team name is. Is that supposed to be the arch inside the St Louis shield? If not, what is it? And why is the team name sideways inside the shield? Why is Austin's logo some random tree? Why do multiple teams use crown logos? Why did Orlando pick a lion inside a shield? Yet the Lions isn't even the team name. Could neither LA team really not come up with something that required more effort than putting with a star inside a shield or some wings on the name? Does so many teams really to have have United, FC, or SC in the name? Is creativity not allowed?
Quit pretending it's football here. It's soccer. Always has been here. And always will be. We're the United States Of America. Not Europe. Stop trying to infiltrate Europe's culture over here. It makes the league look woefully pathetic and inept.
Thanks for doing this. I knew I couldn't be the only person that has given this thought.
Agreed. In a country where AMERICAN football dominates the landscape. Calling a team FC or Football Club is dumb
@@PenguinNote67 Exactly. No one is ever going to mistake it as football here. It's always going to be soccer. It's almost like the league intentionally wants to be mocked. And alienate as many potential new viewers as possible.
Chelsea has a Lion in their logo and their team name has nothing to do with Lions yet you don't seem to have a problem with that. Kind of weird to go after MLS teams for that but not teams from other continents.
@@CharlieND Not really. I'm not from Europe. Therefore I don't closely follow any of their sports aside from the rare Sportscenter highlight. In case you haven't noticed, the video specifically pertains to the MLS.
@@PenguinNote67 because the game is actually football....it is played by kicking the ball with the foot
When will San Diego get a name for their team?
No idea
They do its san diego
😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆Dude isn't even watching MLS games because if he did he would know that not all of the teams have those names anymore, they are opting for more traditional soccer team names.
I know their traditional soccer names. And most of them suck
@@PenguinNote67irrational hate for no reason, I dont get it...
I don't see what's wrong with Philadelphia's "union" name.
But Philadelphia Snakes would be cooler
Every FC team name >>>>> cringey NFL styled names
But why? Where is the team name? How do you make a brand?
only if nfl was actually 'football'
2:45 it's more Asian than European tbh.
This opinion is dumb.
Why?