I've said this before - It's not that I mind that they are using Football
instead of Soccer. To me it's one in the same... I don't squabble over the
Euro/American name thing. My issue is with the use of the term Club.
Is the new FC Dallas, going to be designed like a "Club"? Where members
are also stakeholders? Or is this another silly marketing ploy that will
be in name only, and as transparent as glass.
I've said all along that if this is the route the league was going, that it
should mean what it stands for, rather than just trying to cash in on the latest
and coolest idea. I mean at some point, the Clubs.teams have to stand on
their own merit and not on how well the organization is packaged.
Just some thoughts.
Paul
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2004 8:03
PM
Subject: [nas] Burn to be FC Dallas
It's Official. A beer to the guy that dug this up last month.
This story
just appeared on the Dallas Morning News Web
site:
Burn to be known as FC Dallas next year
05:26 PM CDT
on Wednesday, August 11, 2004
By STEVE DAVIS / The Dallas Morning
News
The Dallas Burn is out.
FC Dallas is in - or it will be
pretty soon.
The local pro soccer outfit becomes the team formerly
known as the Dallas
Burn upon completion of the current
season.
Major League Soccer and Dallas Burn sources have confirmed that
the
9-year-old club's new name will be FC Dallas. The complete image
makeover,
including a new logo and team colors, will be unveiled tonight
during a
6:30 p.m. ceremony at the Westin Stonebriar Resort in
Frisco.
The "FC" is a throwback of sorts, a reference to traditional
"Football
Clubs" around the world along the lines of FC Barcelona,
Manchester United
Football Club or FC Bayern Munich.
Burn general
manager Greg Elliott has been mum on the name and logo change
but did
indicate the team sought something more traditional, a moniker that
said
"soccer."
The name re-branding includes new uniforms. But because the
team will soon
change athletic suppliers, divorcing from Atletica, the
remodeled jersey
design must wait until later this year.
The
makeover is all about next year's move into the 20,000-seat Collin
County
stadium (which is being called the Frisco Sports & Entertainment
Center for now, pending its own title-sponsor driven name
change.)
"We needed to reintroduce our brand to the marketplace,"
Elliott said. "We
need to retell our story, who we are, what league play
in . We need a name
that when people heard us, there was no doubt they
know who we are."
Elliott said the announcement's peculiar timing - the
club has 10 matches
remaining and will continue to play as the Burn this
season - is about
launching a timely marketing push toward the Frisco
move.
As the team sells potentially lucrative sponsorships, season
tickets, etc.,
Elliott said, "We didn't want to refer to a brand name that
no longer exists."
Major League Soccer's San Jose club attempted a
similar re-branding in
2000, hoping to invigorate a dwindling
attendance.
But the San Jose Clash (1996-99) averaged 14,860 fans per
contest. The San
Jose Earthquakes averaged 10,994 over the next four
seasons.
Elliott compared the San Jose adventure to a new coat of paint
on the same
old house. He said the local club's plans are far more
comprehensive.
Hunt Sports Group, the club's ownership outfit, is not
attempting to
distance itself from nine important years of growth and
planting soccer
roots, Elliott said. He said the current management group
recognizes the
hustle and earnest effort of previous
regimes.
That's why several former Burn players, both previous GMs,
Billy Hicks and
Andy Swift, and even several former Dallas Tornado players
will be at the
Westin tonight.
"The name and the legacy can live on
without the actual mark being on the
uniform," Elliott said.
E-mail
stevedavis@dallasnews.com
---
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