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Linehan: Boston NWSL club missed the mark with BOS Nation FC and marketing campaign

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The Boston Breakers didn't die because of this.

Six years after the Breakers, Boston's previous attempt at an NWSL club was called off, players scattered through a dispersal draft, and a history dating back to the post-1999 World Cup and the rise of WUSA came to a sad end. The second attempt at a first division franchise has a new name and club colours.

The 15th NWSL team was announced in September 2023 as one of two expansion teams to join the league in 2026. Called BOS Nation FC . The ownership group announced the name and club colors through a marketing campaign centered around the idea of ​​'Too Many Balls'.

Tuesday's launch was officially confirmed Report from CBS's Sandra Herrera It drew an immediate and overwhelmingly negative reaction on Monday, including some who called it a transphobic campaign with “too many balls.”

But no one could have been prepared for this announcement video.

One day, they will study the launch of this team as a case study. do not have What to do in marketing class. If you play that video, students will probably raise their hands and ask, “Did they really use the word 'goat ball' in the video about starting a women's soccer team?”

fork. Yes, they did. That's somehow not the worst element of this video, just the most puzzling.

On Wednesday, the club issued a statement saying it had “missed the mark” with its brand launch campaign and specifically apologized to the LGBTQ+ and transgender communities.

“We are proud to be part of the world’s most inclusive sports league and are committed to upholding the unifying values ​​that define the NWSL and our club,” the club said. Ta. “Thank you to everyone who has held us accountable for our improvement. “We hear you, and we will do it together.”

Between the name and the campaign, this is the worst NWSL launch I've ever seen in league history. This may be the worst brand launch I've ever seen in American soccer, although some other universally hated rebrands may resist. MLS is especially good at rebranding teams, and they should be rebranding again soon (see: chicago fire and my favorite, club de foot montreal ).

However, as a MassHole and someone with an extensive history of direct involvement in Boston Women's Professional Soccer across multiple leagues…Boston, you are embarrassing me in front of my friends. Stop it. please .

The most insulting thing is how long it took them to release something this bad. The team is Officially announced in September 2023 . After more than a year, what are the results? Honestly, we should be thankful that they weren't ready to remove the new crest at this point. At least you'll have less work to do all over again.

BOS Nation is an anagram of Bostonian, as has been explained many times, including in an announcement on CBS's morning show. This explanation does not help justify the choice of name. Aside from the inherent contradiction of a team from one city being somehow called a Nation (complicated further by the fact that not only the USWNT but also the league itself uses “National”, I don't think such a conversation ever took place). I'm worried that it may have happened).

Anagrams aren't necessarily groundbreaking in terms of getting potential fans on board with a new team identity, but they are very close to what could serve as a central concept to build upon: the Bostonians. It was.

The club's website explains the concept as follows: identity. badge of honor. And it's a title proudly worn by millions of people in 23 districts and 48.4 square miles. ”

If this is the basis for maintaining your new club's identity, why not choose Bostonian or Bostonian Football Club as your name? Perhaps they're too simple and easily get lost in search results, but those problems are easier to solve than the ones your team is facing.

“Sarcasm is the mother tongue here. $3.48 coffee is the best food,” the part continues. Who is this for? Because such copy is not written for Bostonians or Mahales or even New Englanders, the target audience or customer base.

There's a lot more going on with this launch than just the name issue. If you keep reading the website, there's a Too Many Balls campaign, but there's also a lot of slogans like “WE ARE THE MANY” and “COMMONWEALTH, MEET NATION.” Everything is so hard. It all feels like the first step in ideation. There, you write a million ideas on a board before narrowing them down to one that works. (And “we are many” means ” please be a lot ” when talking about the product for reasons you don't understand. )

The season ticket deposit page informs potential buyers that they should not miss the rivalry games against Gotham or Angel City. A team that won't be on the field until 2026 can't have any rivals. While it's true that there are historic rivalries in men's sports between Boston and New York or Boston and Los Angeles, acting as if they automatically carry over into the NWSL is a violation of BOS NATION FC and its women's culture. This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the approach. soccer. It's fair to say that Boston already has a culture, thanks to its long history spanning three professional leagues dating back to 2001.

To me, the tone of the “too many balls” campaign falls far short of the cheek they were looking for, but there are more problematic elements. Seattle Reign's Quinn commented on the NWSL's campaign launch video post, but his original comment has since been hidden.

“Calling transphobia should not be hidden!” they wrote . “This is not representative of the league and is a very poor message.”

And at an event to celebrate the launch on Tuesday, a fan brought a sign saying there was no place for transphobia in the league.

“The intention behind the brand is to be inclusive and we take that very seriously. And we're happy to talk to the player and think through why they felt the way they did. We’re looking forward to it,” controlling owner Jennifer Epstein told reporters at an event Tuesday.

We understand the urgent need to differentiate this team from the Boston Breakers as a new team and a new brand. But the disappearance of other existing women's sports teams playing in Boston is yet another worrying sign that this team is treading into incomprehensible territory.

Again, there are many layers to this apparent dissatisfaction with the final product. There are so many experts, players, and other stakeholders who could help understand why this is such a bad idea.

“Many of us played for the Breakers, played against the Breakers, or went to games. Some of us grew up in New England.” Megan Burke, NWSL Players Association Director When asked about the reaction to the launch, she said Boston is already full of women's soccer fans and general sports fans.

“The town and the players who represent them deserve so much more,” Burke continued. “Having worked hard to build a solid foundation for Boston’s 2026 launch, I honestly never expected this team to be so unscrupulous. It's an original joke, and we hope that a campaign will be announced soon that will tell the real team name and its true meaning.”

Congratulations to anyone who bought a black T-shirt that said “TOO MANY BALLS” for $35 on Tuesday. You are the owner of an NWSL collector's item.

There is a glimmer of hope here. It's never too late and it's never far away. And Boston isn't the first team to need to get back on track. Toomanyballs.com (yes, the real URL, which I still can't believe was used to promote a new women's soccer team) has been decommissioned, so we've already started tweaking it late Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning. It is clear that there are.

However, you don't have to stop there.

Racing Louisville FC ultimately made the right decision and has some of the best colors and kits in the NWSL. But before that, in November 2019, they released Proof, which also has a coat of arms on its original name. By April, they started having second thoughts. By July they unveiled a new identity (Designed by Matt Wolff) I was so relieved.

Boston still has a long runway. Other teams, like the Kansas City Current, or even entire leagues like the PWHL, have realized that sometimes it's better to extend the deadline than get it wrong on the first take. Sure, this is a painful lesson for the Boston NWSL club, but it doesn't have to taint the entire project.

(Photo by Barry Chin/Boston Globe via Getty Images)





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