Major League Soccer feasibility in Cgy?

[Muta]

Originally Posted by polak

Isn't there a youth team called the Calgary Chinooks? And Calgary FC?

There is, but I doubt the Chinooks would stand in the way of an MLS franchise pursuing the same name in the city. They could dedicated their training academy to the same name, which is what the Calgary Chinook (and other local teams) could possibly contribute to at that point, anyways.

Actually, when you think about it, using an existing local club name would be hella awesome.

Chinooks
Blizzards
Rangers FC
Villiains
Celtics
Darts

There's actually tons of great names already. Villains, as a name, would also be sweet.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

So basically TFC, Real Sat Lake, Sporting KC, DC United, FC Dallas and Whitecaps FC are all taking the wrong approach? Clearly it's a broken formula if 1/3 of the league are borrowing European names.

But you're right, we should change it to the Toronto Skippers, Dallas Ragin' Cowboys, or Kansas City Cornhuskers just to follow NA "tradition".

Very odd statement.

I'd say yes, they are.

TFC? Since when has football been used in Canada? They play in Major League Soccer yet they're Toronto Football Club?

Real Salt Lake? A pretty much 100% rip off of Real Madrid, right down to the color scheme.

DC United sort of works with the whole Capital of the United States element, but it seem lazy. The FC thing is again sill with Dallas and Vancouver.

Oddly enough Vancouver did what I'd like to see more teams do, they use a name that means something to their location and is derived from their history. It is possible to name a team without going for full on rip off/faux history or the cartoonish route, I'm not sure why you think it's one or the other.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

So basically TFC, Real Sat Lake, Sporting KC, DC United, FC Dallas and Whitecaps FC are all taking the wrong approach? Clearly it's a broken formula if 1/3 of the league are borrowing European names.

But you're right, we should change it to the Toronto Skippers, Dallas Ragin' Cowboys, or Kansas City Cornhuskers just to follow NA "tradition".

Very odd statement.

How is it odd?

'Real Salt Lake'
'DC United'
'Sporting KC'

Tell me those arent stupid. Salt Lake is Royal? And Spanish? Salt Lake is about as Royal and Spanish as my last 'post-Taco Bell' bowel movement.

DC United? Really? How many teams came together, folded their various individual clubs in order to found that team? Grand total of zero?

Sporting Kansas City? Okay, I'll let them off because they have the most plausible excuse of being a sports team, however it is a naming convention stolen primarily from Portugal. There are probably more Portuguese in my backyard than there are in all of Kansas City.

I dont think TFC have done anything wrong. I like it. Vancouver Whitecaps? Great name. Montreal Impact? Nothing wrong with that. Fairly basic and not obnoxious like Vancouver Panthers or Montreal Francophones or something equally stupid.

You want to steal from European tradition? Go for it.

Barcelona FC
Manchester City
Liverpool
Stoke City
Fulham
Chelsea
Aston Villa
Reading
Southampton

They are clubs that are name after their cities. They'll add 'City' or 'FC' or something very simple to associate themselves as Soccer teams from whatever city it is that they're from. Whats the problem with that?

You want my suggestion?

Calgary SC.

Call it soccer club, or sports club or whatever. Its simple, its straightforward, its honest, it isnt stupid, theres no Cowboys or Oil Rig workers or Rednecks or professional assassins or anything.

Why do you need to steal or play off someone else's tradition? Do they not plan on being around long enough to build any of their own?

[Addick]

Originally Posted by Muta

There's actually tons of great names already. Villains, as a name, would also be sweet.

I think Villains F.C. would be a wicked name and would have some history behind.

While I much prefer the English naming convention, clubs in North America need to actually follow it rather than just mimic it. I don't mind TFC but in order to use 'Real' the club must have both royal and Spanish ties and in order to use 'United' two or more clubs have to be merged. Royal Victoria F.C. would make sense as would Alberta United F.C. if Calgary and Edmonton had NASL clubs that merged into an MLS franchise.

As I use the word football, I'd name my club the Association Football Club of Calgary (AFC Calgary).

[Muta]

Dude... AFC Calgary would be sweet.

[Locke]

I like AFC Calgary.

Or 'Calgary Villains SC' to go with the naming convention flow.

Or again, just Calgary SC.

[getbak]

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Locke

How is it odd?

'Real Salt Lake'
'DC United'
'Sporting KC'

You want my suggestion?

Calgary SC.

Call it soccer club, or sports club or whatever. Its simple, its straightforward, its honest, it isnt stupid, theres no Cowboys or Oil Rig workers or Rednecks or professional assassins or anything.

Why do you need to steal or play off someone else's tradition? Do they not plan on being around long enough to build any of their own?

So Calgary SC is great, but Sporting KC sucks?

Now it's just acronym pickiness.

Most fans of teams don't literally really care what the team name is, as long as people like it and it builds a brand.

Real Salt Lake has been named that for eight years. DC United for almost 20 years. Sporting KC has been around for damn near 20 years, mostly as the Wizards. Not only did they feel it was important to re-brand to more European sounding names, its also part of a larger consortium of soccer organizations, including rugby and lacrosse.

I don't think they would be ballsy enough to alienate fans with a re-branding if the Sporting label wasn't going to work. So far it has been a huge success for the local team, and as European immigrants and international audiences begin watching more MLS soccer (and MLS has grown significantly in recent years), I see absolutely no reason to continue using any NA traditions.

Times change, clubs change, and the fans follow suit.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

So Calgary SC is great, but Sporting KC sucks?

Now it's just acronym pickiness.

Most fans of teams don't literally really care what the team name is, as long as people like it and it builds a brand.

Real Salt Lake has been named that for eight years. DC United for almost 20 years. Sporting KC has been around for damn near 20 years, mostly as the Wizards. Not only did they feel it was important to re-brand to more European sounding names, its also part of a larger consortium of soccer organizations, including rugby and lacrosse.

I don't think they would be ballsy enough to alienate fans with a re-branding if the Sporting label wasn't going to work. So far it has been a huge success for the local team, and as European immigrants and international audiences begin watching more MLS soccer (and MLS has grown significantly in recent years), I see absolutely no reason to continue using any NA traditions.

Times change, clubs change, and the fans follow suit.

No actually it's not. One is a pretty basic descriptor, Calgary Soccer Club, which is a traditional name so it should be right up your alley. The other is basically a lazy grab of a naming convention used in Portuguese soccer, unless I'm missing a tie between Kansas City and Portuguese culture. The whole larger sporting club thing works so it's not that bad, but it's still lazy.

Real Salt Lake on the other hand is a 100% rip off. It's about as garbage of a name as the Macon Whoopee without the junior high humor.

[Addick]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Real Salt Lake has been named that for eight years. DC United for almost 20 years. Sporting KC has been around for damn near 20 years, mostly as the Wizards. Not only did they feel it was important to re-brand to more European sounding names, its also part of a larger consortium of soccer organizations, including rugby and lacrosse.

[...]

I see absolutely no reason to continue using any NA traditions.

By calling their franchise Sporting KC they are following the NA tradition sans any local connection. It just as contrived as Toronto getting another NHL team and calling them the Cowboys. Sporting KC is an MLS franchise, it is not a local sports club in Kansas City that ended up focusing their resources on the club's football team as the sport increased in popularity and so did the team's success.

Are they free to do this marketing gimmick? Yes?

Are we free to hate them and correctly ridicule them for it? Yes.

[Ozy_Flame]

Sporting KC is a sporting club with future rugby and lacrosse franchises. Also, the stadium is called Livestrong Sporting Park, intended for a sports team. So, you are incorrect - it does have some relevance to their current situation.

What do you guys think the best team name in MLS is?

I don't see why teams have to stick to tradition - what's wrong with honouring you club name after successful franchises elsewhere?

If you really want literal translations and hate these European "contrived" names, we may as well just call every team the "______ soccer team".

Oh look! Toronto soccer team vs. Montreal soccer team! Sounds like a hell of a match.

I guess I just don't share other people's hate for European names. If anything, it has given a sense of class and equivalency with other professional clubs, which these teams borrow from anyways in terms of players, coaching and staff composition. Not to mention half of their audience are immigrants not from NA.

[Muta]

Just to defend Ozy a bit here, giving teams names like Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City isn't necessarily a bad thing; those names are allusions to popular clubs over in Europe, and these types of naming conventions give the franchises a 'professional' feel to them. Almost like, giving the perception that these teams are on equal level with those in Europe. There is some credibility in this, even if the naming origins are out of whack.

Even moreso, these names have built tremendous brand value for said franchises, hence supporting Ozy's claim that 'Most fans of teams don't literally really care what the team name is, as long as people like it and it builds a brand.'

Back to Calgary though, I vote AFC Calgary. That has such as good ring to it, and makes sense.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Muta

Just to defend Ozy a bit here, giving teams names like Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City isn't necessarily a bad thing; those names are allusions to popular clubs over in Europe, and these types of naming conventions give the franchises a 'professional' feel to them. Almost like, giving the perception that these teams are on equal level with those in Europe. There is some credibility in this, even if the naming origins are out of whack.

Even moreso, these names have built tremendous brand value for said franchises, hence supporting Ozy's claim that 'Most fans of teams don't literally really care what the team name is, as long as people like it and it builds a brand.'

Back to Calgary though, I vote AFC Calgary. That has such as good ring to it, and makes sense.

I don't mind the Sporting KC name that much, it's lazy but whatever. The Real Salt Lake thing is just ignorant. It is the epitome of 'we can't come up with anything remotely original so we'll just take the entire identity of a storied organization and use that instead'. It's like a football team in Madrid calling itself the Madrid Cowboys and playing with silver helmets with blue stars on them.

[Addick]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

I guess I just don't share other people's hate for European names. If anything, it has given a sense of class and equivalency with other professional clubs, which these teams borrow from anyways in terms of players, coaching and staff composition. Not to mention half of their audience are immigrants not from NA.

Much to the contrary, I love the English naming convention but moreover I appreciate it. These names were not pulled out of thin air in an attempt to garner respect or legitimacy; that was earned through effort and creativity. If MLS franchises want to look professional and become respected they need to go out there, put in an effort, and earn it. In this case, it starts out with putting in an effort to come up with a club name that has actual, and preferably deep meaning.

The names of Sporting KC and Real Salt Lake make them plastic franchises much the same way I find Chelsea and Man City plastic because of their spending habits. And what do we say about them? Sh*t club, with no history!

[Matty81]

I personally don't mind the football club thing... I think gridiron doesn't have a monopoly on the name football.

The names I hate are Real Salt Lake - just a total embarrassment IMO, DC United, same deal, just trying to rip off a euro name - not the merger of clubs at all and New York Red Bulls. Hated red bull doing that #### in Austria, hate it here.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Addick

Much to the contrary, I love the English naming convention but moreover I appreciate it. These names were not pulled out of thin air in an attempt to garner respect or legitimacy; that was earned through effort and creativity. If MLS franchises want to look professional and become respected they need to go out there, put in an effort, and earn it. In this case, it starts out with putting in an effort to come up with a club name that has actual, and preferably deep meaning.

The names of Sporting KC and Real Salt Lake make them plastic franchises much the same way I find Chelsea and Man City plastic because of their spending habits. And what do we say about them? Sh*t club, with no history!

Exactly! Like I said, TFC is simple and honest. Okay, they went with FC instead of SC or whatever, in the grand scheme of things thats pretty minor.

New York Red Bulls? Its their sponsor, much like Chivas USA, although that would be better if you knew where they were from. I honestly thought they may have been a Mexican team.

[MillerTime GFG]

Originally Posted by Addick

I think Villains F.C. would be a wicked name and would have some history behind.

While I much prefer the English naming convention, clubs in North America need to actually follow it rather than just mimic it. I don't mind TFC but in order to use 'Real' the club must have both royal and Spanish ties and in order to use 'United' two or more clubs have to be merged. Royal Victoria F.C. would make sense as would Alberta United F.C. if Calgary and Edmonton had NASL clubs that merged into an MLS franchise.

As I use the word football, I'd name my club the Association Football Club of Calgary (AFC Calgary).

As someone who has played for Villains for years, I would fully support this! As long as I get an automatic roster spot.

[MillerTime GFG]

As for the feasibility of an MLS team in Calgary...I don't think there's a snowball's chance in hell. There just aren't enough "soccer fans" in Calgary to support a team, especially to make it through the first few years as an expansion team where we'd likely win very few games. Even Edmonton, as much as I hate to say it, has always had more soccer fans.

[troutman]

What I do like from England are the stadium names:

Old Trafford. St. James' Park. Anfield. Stamford Bridge. White Hart Lane.The Hawthorns.

Much better than the Tostitos Municipal War Memorial Coliseum.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by MillerTime GFG

As for the feasibility of an MLS team in Calgary...I don't think there's a snowball's chance in hell. There just aren't enough "soccer fans" in Calgary to support a team, especially to make it through the first few years as an expansion team where we'd likely win very few games. Even Edmonton, as much as I hate to say it, has always had more soccer fans.

Agreed about the soccer fans, but I bet you could increase the popularity of soccer in this city easily if it was taken more seriously somehow. There's a CRAPLOAD of soccer players in this city, and there's enough of an international presence here now that something can work (have you seen 17th even during Champions League finals, let alone World Cup?)

Once a dedicated, INDOOR multi-purpose stadium is in place... I bet you the fans come running. MLS is a higher professional league than CFL, and the city has enough people and money to support another franchise. If ticket prices are manageable alongside the Stamps, it's even better for this sports-mad city. Plus, how many soccer fans are in this city, ones that don't prefer hockey? We haven't had a clue to that number for ages, but I bet it's greater than we think.

The key, here, is the indoor stadium. SUCH A need for one, it's ridiculous.