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Sources: MLS to unveil new logo on Thursday

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By FRANCO PANIZO

While Major League Soccer has undergone a host of changes since its inception, one thing that has remained the same is its logo.

Plans to alter it have been in the works for some time, however, and MLS is ready to go with a new look.

MLS has scheduled a major announcement in New York City on Thursday regarding “the future of our league,” and sources have informed SBI that it will be the unveiling of a new logo.

MLS has long stated that it would design a new logo to commemorate the league’s 20th season in 2015, but part of the reason why it will be unveiled on Thursday is because MLS wanted it to be included in the newest edition of EA Sports’ extremely popular soccer video game, FIFA 15.

FIFA 15 is scheduled to be released in the United States, Canada and the rest of North America next Tuesday, but EA Sports is, not by coincidence, having its launch party for the game in New York City on Thursday. The new logo will be in the game, helping to usher in a new era for MLS.

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What do you think of MLS’s plans to unveil a new logo? Hoping to see minor or drastic changes? Should the league just continue with the one it has or is it too plain for your liking?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  2. Logo is fine . . . Never understood why everybody is always bitching about it. I don’t see the NFL, NHL, NBA, or MLB changing their logos. Just makes the league look Mickey Mouse imho.

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  4. I thought the logo was garbage from day one. I’m excited to see the new logo but I’m not holding my breath that it’s going to be a great improvement.

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  5. This is a long time coming…

    Most anything will be better than the current cartoon style logo that screams early 90’s. I just hope it’s a “classic” look that can work for 50+ years.

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  6. It’s that GODAWFUL Columbus Crew logo that needs to go… The League local is very likeable, but whatever.

    Instead of worrying about the logo, why not worry about the fact that there isn’t enough incentive to finish first in the league. The playoff format still makes it way too easy to settle the championship on a fluke, with a game like soccer. Playoffs are for Cup formats, not League Titles. At the very least your #1 seeds should have a sizeable advantage for finishing first in their conference.

    MLS needs to find a way to have most teams in the table playing for important things late in the season. That means punishing the worst teams, rewarding the best and keeping the rest of the table in the hunt for something.

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  8. Yep… I think Landon Donovan’s silhouette is going to be on it. Fitting for the greatest American player of the modern era. There won’t be anyone like him for a long time.

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  10. Really? Don’t they have something better to do??
    How about if you guys change the system too at the same time??
    If u know what I mean son!

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  11. To be accurate, the new logo should show Garber as a puppeteer, dangling players on strings and dropping them into various clubs as he sees fit.

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  12. Please oh please oh please just make sure that there’s still a soccer ball in it so I don’t get confused about which sport I am watching.

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      • Fair enough. I’m not opposed to any display of a ball in a logo, but the prominence that the cartoon ball enjoys in the current MLS logo (and USMNT crest) is what bugs me. You made another comment that you are an “artsy” person; surely you can appreciate the need for some subtlety?

      • It’s a soccer league, every major league in the country shows their sport in their logo. Several foreign soccer leagues show a soccer ball in their logos. Could the logo be improved artistically? Yes. Does/should that involve removal of a soccer ball? No, I think that would be bad marketing. You want for it to communicate to non-traditional fans, not confuse them or only be clear to fans inside the loop already. Should it not be a 70s style hex patch ball done in cartoon realistic fashion? Maybe not. But I kind of think the ball needs to be in there to communicate what the league is. The point to a logo. Make it expressionistic or cooler looking.

        That’s only if you feel like you need to do this. I don’t see the fire burning that this needs to put out, or the urgency in making it a big media item. Just change the website one day. I rarely see people with MLS logo gear. This is not going to move merch or really have much marketing effect, IMO. So what.

    • The kid’s a junior in high school: is he already playing for a U-21 team or academy? If not, then this could be more football’s loss than soccer’s gain.

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      • The article hints at as much. He faces much stiffer competition going the soccer route since it’s the global game. But I’m all for following one’s passion, risks be damned. More power to him. I hope he succeeds.

      • I’m not sure I buy the article’s point that it is more difficult to make a career in soccer given it’s global appeal. If you want a career in NFL or NBA, true you are competing against fewer athletes, but you also have a very limited number of professional leagues to apply to. Soccer, in contrast, supports several tiers of professional (and semi-professional) leagues. I dunno.

      • Yeah, that’s a good point. I thought about that too. NFL = smaller pool and fewer opportunities. Soccer = bigger pool and more opportunities. So, all things being equal (we’ll just say the variables cancel out), he should pursue the sport at which he excels.

  15. One thing that has really surprised me since I started visiting this website frequently is the number of people who really care about logos, crests etc. I never gave them a second thought but since a lot of people apparently do I guess this kind of stuff is important. Should be interesting to see the new MLS logo.

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      • Name this issue and somebody here will fight you over it. Combine them for real fireworks. For example, if you were to make an argument that the new logo needs to present well on artificial field turf because it is the way of the future, your children would be likely be kidnapped. Drag instant replay into it and I will do the job personally.

    • As a visual and somewhat artsy person, I do find it a little interesting, and there is often room for improvement, particularly in the founding-era stuff. But should it be such a big deal? No. Will it fix all our issues and make us sanctified Europe? No. The best attended team in the league is Seattle, which plays in a football stadium, plays on turf, and calls themselves a mascot-style nickname that’s been around since NASL.

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      • I really only understand one out of three of your complaints against Seattle:

        1) Football stadium: how would making it “soccer-specific” improve anything?

        2) turf: I understand this criticism

        3) calls themselves a mascot-style nickname: This is pretty normal around the world: “Gunners,” “Red Devils,” “Spurs,” “Die Adler,” “Mussi Volanti” (my favorite), etc.

      • (But what I really don’t get is why someone calling themselves “NASLfan” would agree and +1 your comment that showed disdain for anything NASL-era.)

      • I’m not complaining about Seattle. Opposite. I’m saying the best attended team in the league has not pursued many of the checklist items that a certain breed of MLS fan thinks are necessary. SSS? No. Grass? No. Boring Europhile FC name? No. And yet it works. FC Dallas follows every checklist item and even rebranded and where are they?

      • they voted for the sounders nickname, thats why theyre called that. and the bandwagoners all think its the same team thats been around since 1974.

      • Well, the team presents itself as being the same team that’s been around since 1974, so it’s odd to blame the “bandwagoners.”

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