Re: [nas] Burn to be FC Dallas

That's good. Nicknames are overrated.

--- Alan Balthrop <alan@kicksfan.com> wrote:

> 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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