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Voting for Philly MLS team name officially begins

PhillyGroundbreaking (AP) 

Okay Philadelphia MLS fans, it is time to vote.

The Philadelphia Inquirer/Daily News is hosting the official ballot to name the 2010 MLS franchise in Philadelphia. The four choices are the same ones revealed two weeks ago, along with a write-in category that voters can chose to select something different.

More than 3,600 votes were cast in SBI's informal poll on naming the Philly team, and it was a very close race. Philadelphia City won the SBI voting with 30 percent of the voting while AC Philadelphia (27 percent) and Philadelphia Union (26 percent) followed closely behind. Philadelphia SC drew the least support among SBI readers with just 14 percent of the vote. In case you missed my previous endorsement, I am sticking with Philadelphia City as my favorite choice for the name.

Now that you have had some time to digest the choices for a Philly team name which name do you think should be chosen? Which would get your vote today? Which would make you the least happy? What write-in vote do you see making some noise?

Share your thoughts on the Philadelphia MLS team name vote below.

Comments

  1. Any name resembling Philadelphia Athletic is a lawsuit waiting to happen from MLB which still sells retro Philly A’s wear and has the Philadelphia Athletics trademark. Why repeat a Houston 1836 with a name which you likely have to change before you even have your first game. AC = Atlantic City in the Philly area – not sure why it even made the final 4 list given all of those strikes against it.

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  2. Philadelphia Commodores

    Independence FC

    Poor Richard’s FC

    It will never cease to amaze me that Philadelphia has so much potential and they’re going to end up being called Philadelphia City. It’s heartbreaking…it really, truly is.

    Maybe St. Louis will have the sense to choose an interesting, meaningful name. Gateway FC? The St. Louis Searchers? Please, please, St. Louis–let’s show America that you can choose a unique, meaningful name–no more Dallas Burns or San Jose Clashes; no more Real Salt Lakes or Philadelphia Cities.

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  3. Personally, I like the name “Philadelphia Athletic” bc of the history of that name associated with our city.

    Otherwise, I think AC Philadelphia is a good name bc it offers a possiblity of changing the name to Athletic in the future.

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  4. SoBs – some like Union, some like City, some like AC – it is not a Sounders-like majority vote.

    Union is the one which offers the most from a [1] historical (Philly’s role in Revolutionary and Civil War with Federal Union, Union Army, etc.), [2] team (union of team officials, government officials and fans) and [3] soccer (union used in PSV Eindhoven, AEK Athens, Palermo, Sampdoria, Lecce, LeMans, Ameria, Levante, Union de Sante Fe names) perspectives as well as a recognize Philly as being a blue collar city. It is also the only name of the 4 choices which follows the american naming style of city and a nickname (at least more so than City does). City is also a bit of an odd fit in that the team will play outside of Philly in Chester.

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  5. I’ve written in “Philadelphia Federals”, and here’s my reasoning (from the previous thread on SBI about the name):

    I don’t like any of the names, they’re all too generic. I’m not sure if there are trademark issues if the teams are in other sports, since (for example) there are the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Kings (different sports).

    But just to be safe, let’s assume that Liberty and Athletics are off limits–though I would maintain that ‘Athletic’ is different from ‘Athletics’, in the same way that ‘Cardinal’ is different from ‘Cardinals’ (to use a currently painful example).

    ‘Atoms’ and ‘Fury’ are possibilities, and though ‘Freedom’ was also used, it would depend on how much one likes Elton John whether the name ‘Philadelphia Freedom’ would be a valid one.

    After thinking about ‘Commodores’ (after Commodore John Barry, the namesake of the bridge near the team’s stadium) and ‘Continentals’ (after the Continental Congress, the one that was responsible for the Declaration of Independence), I settled on ‘Federals’ (after the signing of the Constitution in 1787 which created a federal republic).

    The only possible conflicts would be with the defunct Washington Federals of the USFL (1983-84), who became the Orlando Renegades, and a couple of amateur teams (one in Australia, one in Washington DC which uses the name ‘Federal Triangle SC’).

    I think ‘Federals’ is short enough, it can also be shortened (‘Feds’), I don’t see any trademark conflicts, and finally, it is alliterative with ‘Philadephia’ or ‘Philly’. Plus it’s still associated with BEN FRANKLIN!

    GO FEDERALS!

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  6. No AC, that is a fascist term created to appease Mussolini. And freedom, which would have been good, is taken by Washington’s women’s team. SC it should be.

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