Teminsten St. Louis’s MLS expansion team did not copy the name traditions of early 20th-century predecessors, who spoke out in the U.S. Open Cup and produced several U.S. national team players while taking their club names from local department stores, breweries, and funeral homes.
Instead, the new club – which will take over the field in 2023 – follows the current and seemingly inevitable trend of giving American football teams derivative, European / British style names. St. Louis City SC became the fourth ‘City’ in MLS on Thursday – although Kansas City and New York City have the word in their proper names – and fall in line with all other FCs / SCs, United (and one Real) in a league full of copy marks.
A strong case can be made that no American city is more contained in Native American foot tradition than St. Louis. Look to Britain for the name inspiration of the new team represents an interesting choice. Owner Carolyn Kindle Betz said Thursday that she hopes the club would help St. Louis. Louis “put on the international map”, and that she became interested in the moniker “once I started getting an education on why ‘City’ is an international name.”
The last newly created MLS participant to select a unique, locally-themed name was the Philadelphia Union, which joined in 2010. That was the league’s 16th club. Republic of St. Louis and Sacramento (an original name!) Will be the 29th and 30th teams when they come on board in 2023.
Kindle Betz said Thursday that the club submitted more than 6,000 fans and received name suggestions, and that City “was the No. 1 – it was the most popular.” She then asked business partner Lee Broughton and his staff to develop a branding story that would bind the new name and brand together.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to expand the definition of city to … everyone in the region,” she said. “It also allows us to remember and highlight the diverse cultures and iconic neighborhoods, but also embrace the greatest traditions that St.
Broughton said the SC was a double entry that could also stand for “football capital”.
The new club club is a shield with the team name, its pinkish-red and dark blue colors and a series of lines that evoke the iconic Gateway Arch and the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated last summer, Kindle Betz was asked to share its first thoughts on team brands and colors.
“I really like pink,” she said.
She was wearing a pink dress when MLS handed her the team in August 2019. That approach helped inform the club colors. The red of the famous city flag of St. Louis is filled with a little salmon in honor of the league’s first female owner, Broughton said.
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