To form a more perfect union: The MLS names its Philadelphia expansion team.

By Eli Altman
May 12, 2009
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Filed under Branding, Positioning
Philadelphia is once again the home of the Union. Image: MLSnet

Major League Soccer has a new team: the Philadelphia Union. On Monday, the name and identity of the league’s 16th team were unveiled. While it may sound more like a newspaper than a soccer team, the Union definitely works on a few levels. It clearly relates to the history of Philadelphia. It has some class and it’s not overly aggressive or clichéd. While many MLS teams have opted for pseudo-European names that seem un-rooted and out of place (Real Salt Lake, FC Toronto, DC United), The Union is unmistakably American. It speaks to teamwork and unity in a non-Disney way.

The Union will share a division, and some branding territory, with the Columbus Crew and the New England Revolution, but there seems to be enough of a distinction to keep them separated.

Speaking of branding (and revolutions), the Union branding aims to pull in some 1700s Americana. The logo prominently features a snake referencing the Gadsden flag and Ben Franklin’s “Join or Die” political cartoons, originally published in Philadelphia in 1754. The only problem is that Nike has been using the same snake as a symbol for the US National Team since the 2006 World Cup. It’s a blatant rip-off.

So to sum it up: good name, good logo (when Nike came up with it the first time).

Nike Soccer: Don’t tread on our brand.