By DAN KARELL
Major League Soccer is saying good bye to the old boot and ball logo as they enter a new era for the league.
MLS dropped their new logo on Thursday morning, featuring an updated crest that ditches the old design in favor of a customizable logo that has personalized color schemes for each team in the league, as well as a standard scheme for the league.
“The new brand’s design is intended to say “soccer” without the literal ball and cleat,” reads a press release on the MLS website, part of their “Next” rollout. “In the end, we decided that the inclusion of a ball and cleat is unnecessary as it dates us very quickly (due to the fast pace of innovation in our game) while many other ways exist to signal we are a soccer league. Our new brand will build meaning over time so that our new crest signifies soccer in North America and has a unique place in global sports.”
The new crest, in the form of a shield, similar to the NFL and NHL logos, bears the MLS name in the top left corner as well as a slash extending from the top right through the bottom left of the crest, which separates the dominant colors. The top half of the crest also contains three stars, which represents “for club, for country, and for community.”
According to the MLS website, the slash, “refers to soccer’s speed and energy. The slash begins outside the perimeter and drives upward at a 45-degree angle to illustrate both the nonstop nature of our game and the rising trajectory of our league. It bisects the crest to create a “first half” and “second half.”
As mentioned above, each club will have their own version of the MLS logo that corresponds with their clubs colors, as you can see below.
“It means each club will get a version of the league crest, which better reflects their clubs identity and local market,” the MLS press release states. “This is not a replacement for the club brand; instead the new league brand compliments and allows the club to be the real hero. We want to reinforce the ethos of the new brand, which encourages clubs to “own” and adapt the crest to match the colors they and their fans associate with and support.”
MLS is rolling out the new logo in conjunction with FIFA 15, which is being launched in New York City on Thursday. MLS finished their logo in time to have it present in the game this coming fall.
Teams will continue to wear the original logo throughout the rest of the season, but it will slowly be phased out in time for the start of 2015.
“The new MLS brand will begin to appear in 2015-related programs and products this fall, and will be fully launched at the MLS Combine and SuperDraft in January 2015,” the press release said.
The press release adds that fans of New York City FC and Orlando City SC will be able to buy their team’s new MLS uniforms before the end of the year, while the rest of the league will likely unveil their new kits during “jersey week” next March.
Fans can download both the standard MLS logo as well as their specific team’s versions here.
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What do you think of this logo? Do you like it? Miss the old boot kicking a ball?
Share your thoughts below.
I think they could have put a Maple Leaf in as well as a star or at least let the Canadian teams substitute the stars for Maple Leafs. I realize that the three stars are to represent Club, Community and country, but what does a star represent for Canadians – just reminds us of the US flag – a truly North American league would have either included a maple leaf or used a more neutral symbol.
Options for the three symbols:
– Stars
– Maple Leafs
– Soccer balls
– Smiley faces
– Cats
– Thumbs up!
– Three letter “C’s”
– Corporate logos from sponsors (imagine: logos within logos!!!)
– Three wolves, howling at the moon
Who needs a boot and ball when MLS can have a more generic logo that would work just as well for selling cheese.
Atrocious. Vomit-inducing. Minimalist to an extreme. UGLY!!!
What’s with the f’cking line going outside of the shield?
Did anybody tell them that in soccer stars on the emblem mean championships won?
Bravo to the agency that made this! They got paid for such garbage!
I’m not an artist and I know that too much negative space is a bad thing.
Omg!!! So many colors to choose!! Woohoo!!
Nothing could be as bad as the foot and ball. Nothing so meaningless and boring as this new crest.
The border represents the rules…the line extending outside that border represents MLS working outside their own rules when deciding who gets signed by what team…
not bad…