The week of October 14, 2024, did not go as planned for the new Boston NWSL franchise.
(Note: The commentary in this post is not meant to be exhaustive regarding all the issues and concerns involving both the “Too Many Balls” marketing campaign and the announced team name. For more thorough discussions, see the linked articles in the “Aftermath” section.)
On Monday, the 14th, the proposed name of the team, “BOS Nation Football Club”, was leaked to Sandra Herrera of CBS Sports, who posted the news on x.com Monday afternoon (x.com post, related article). Reaction was swift and not positive (see replies to the x.com post and quote posts of it, also the Attacking Third x.com post and quote posts of that).
The Boston franchise had over half a day to reconsider their official reveal, which was scheduled for roughly 9:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday’s CBS Mornings Plus (a streaming-only extension of CBS’s weekly morning show).
However, there was no pause and the official reveal went on as scheduled.
The “Too Many Balls” Campaign
As part of the name reveal, two days before the official announcement, the Boston franchise also launched a marketing campaign centered around the phrase “Too Many Balls”. The campaign was created and managed by the Colossus Agency (website), which describes itself as an “advertising, design, and creative company”.
The campaign primarily used physical advertising in Boston, consisting of digital billboards, et cetera, with the sentence “There are too many balls in this town.” and promoted a website, “toomanyballs.com”. The website had a countdown clock that was mistakenly programmed to hit all-zeros at 4:30 a.m. local Boston time, five hours ahead of the actual announcement. After hitting all zeroes, the website’s countdown went negative, as shown in the next screenshot:
Eventually, the toomanyballs.com website was updated to include a now-removed one-minute video that focused on “balls” before transitioning to the National Women’s Soccer League and then ends with “BOS Nation” followed by a screen promoting the franchise’s season ticket reservation campaign.
The video began with the following voice-over:
Boston, the city of champions.
A legacy filled with trophies, banners, rings, and balls.
Old balls.
New balls.
Steel balls.
Cold balls.
Even goat balls.
Then, it cut to a quick scene showing retired NFL quarterback Tom Brady, who was a long-time New England Patriots player and winner of seven Super Bowls (Wikipedia), in an office, with a confused look before saying “Wait, what?”.
The voice-over then continues:
Yeah, Boston loves its balls.
But, maybe there are too many balls in this town.
So, let’s add a new chapter to our city’s legacy.
With new idols, new dreams, and a new league to cheer for…
The National Women’s Soccer League.For every person, in every neighborhood, across every square mile:
This is our city, our new team, our new nation.
We are BOS Nation.
Where anything is possible.
No balls necessary.
Well–
The voice-over cuts off after “Well” implying that at least some balls, as in soccer balls, are necessary.
(For those that did not see the video, Awful Announcing posted a copy on x.com.)
Missing from the “Too Many Balls” video was any mention of women’s professional sports in the Boston area. Namely, the Boston Fleet (Wikipedia) of the Professional Women’s Soccer League, the semi-professional Boston Renegades (Wikipedia) tackle football team, and the Beantown Rugby Football Club (website), which was originally founded in 1976 and now competes in the Women’s Premier League. All three teams play their home matches outside Boston’s city limits, as do the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution (both at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough), so excluding the women’s teams for geographic reasons is not a valid argument.
The video also fails to mention the original NWSL team in the Boston area, the Boston Breakers (Wikipedia), who played five full NWSL seasons, from 2013 to 2017, and played all three seasons in the Women’s Professional Soccer league (2009 to 2011) after being re-established following the demise of the Women’s United Soccer Association, where a Boston Breakers team played all three seasons (2001 to 2003).
The omission of the Breakers is made worse by using the phrase “a new league” to describe the NWSL, which implies that the 2026 Boston franchise is the first NWSL team in the Boston area. The erasure of the Breakers was a bad marketing decision as it could alienate a core constituency of the new team’s fan base: Long-time Boston-area women’s soccer fans, especially those that actively supported and attended the Breakers NWSL matches.
Additional significant issues with the “Too Many Balls” campaign include its juvenile nature (“ball” jokes) and implicit gender essentialism.
The Reveal
CBS’s streaming-only CBS Mornings Plus show was the vehicle for the official reveal of the team name. Halfway through the hour-long show, controlling owner Jennifer Epstein appeared live with the show’s hosts, while actor-director Elizabeth Banks (Wikipedia), who was born and raised in western Massachusetts, appeared remotely, and was revealed as one of the team’s minority owners. (According to a recent People.com interview, Banks turned down an opportunity to invest in Angel City.)
During the segment, Epstein stated that “BOS Nation” is an anagram of the city’s demonym, “Bostonian”. She also highlighted that “the team name is fan-centric [and] fan-first” and that the new identity is representative “of the diverse communities that live in our strong city”.
Technical Notes
The Colossus Agency was publicly announced as the agency hired “to create the brand identity and launch campaign” for the 2026 Boston franchise on September 20, 2024 (lbbonline.com).
However, the “toomanyballs.com” website was registered on August 5, 2024.
Based on a Wall Street Journal article (see next section), it appears that Colossus was hired much earlier, when the new Boston franchise was still in the process of settling on a name. So, perhaps as far back as the autumn of 2023.
The “BOS Nation Football Club” Name and Logo
The revealed team logo features “BOS NATION” in large bold lettering using a serif font. “BOS”, which is white, and “NATION”, which is bright green, are separated by an attenuated four-point magenta star. Below that, “FOOTBALL CLUB” is in smaller non-bold white lettering that is about one-fourth the height of the “BOS NATION” lettering. The kerning between the letters of both “FOOTBALL” and “CLUB” are exaggerated, as is the spacing between the words.
Bright green has been the unique color used by the 2026 Boston franchise since its launch (September 2023 archived version of the NWSL Boston website). Their placeholder crest was bright green and black, with a stylized version of the Zakim Bridge (Wikipedia), though only used the upper section of one of the twin pylons.
The branding name for the bright green, the team’s main color, is “Championsip Green”. The magenta’s branding name is “Relentless Raspberry”, while “Loyal Charcoal, Daring Pink, Rise Yellow and Orange Press” are the names for the team’s accent colors (NWSLSoccer.com).
Except for the pink shade, the accent colors were used in a social media outreach post (Instagram, embedded below). The post’s graphic had a darkened photo of the Boston skyline with “WE ARE” in English as well as multiple translations: Spanish, Haitian Creole, Chinese, and Vietnamese.
As part of the roll-out for the name and logo, one of the Boston franchise’s owners, Stephanie Connaughton, gave an exclusive interview to the Wall Street Journal. The article — “The Name for Boston’s Women’s Soccer Team Defies the Norms. That’s Not an Accident.” by Katie Deighton — was embargoed to coincide with the live announcement on the morning of October 15th.
Like Epstein in the CBS Mornings Plus segment, Connaughton also used “fan-centric” to describe the team name:
BOS Nation, an anagram of “Bostonian,” is meant to evoke “boss energy,” suggest a fan-centric identity and nod to the city’s three-letter airport code, the team’s owner said.
According to the article, the Colossus Agency was initially brought on while the franchise was still in the process of finding a team name:
Connaughton and her partners arrived at the BOS Nation name after hiring Boston-based design and advertising agency Colossus, brainstorming on their own, and asking potential fans to submit their ideas.
Additionally, the article provides some insight into why the franchise went with the “BOS Nation” name and logo colors.
BOS Nation’s branding, with its black, green and raspberry color palette, is less overtly feminine—deliberately so, she said. Market research found that 60% of the people who plan to become dedicated fans of the city’s NWSL team are male, Connaughton said.
“Femininity isn’t part of who we’re trying to appeal to,” she said. “It’s sort of irrelevant in many ways.”
Technical Notes
Based on the domain name registrations for “bosnation.com” and “bosnationfc.com”, the franchise first came up with the “BOS Nation FC” branding at least nine months ago, back in December 2023. The “bosnation.com domain name was first registered on Monday, December 4, 2023, while the “bosnationfc.com” domain name was registered 10 days later, on December 14, 2023. This is less than three months after Boston was officially announced as an expansion franchise of the NWSL (NWSL press release).
On Monday, October 14th, the league, which handles all trademarks for its teams, filed six new federal trademark applications. At least five are known to be related to the Boston expansion franchise, including its announced name, “BOS Nation Football Club”. The sixth filing is for the Latin phrase “Ad Urbem”, which means “To the City” (Google Translate).
That’s not how it works
As part of the team name reveal campaign, the new Boston franchise also launched a season ticket reservation process. The website’s page for reserving tickets has the following text:
In the second paragraph, the new franchise, which will not play a match for over a year, claims that Gotham FC and Angel City is its “biggest rivals”, which was probably news to both clubs.
Additionally, the franchise describes itself as a “powerhouse team”, which could have been tongue-in-cheek if it was headquartered in an old electrical substation or generation building, but for a team that has yet to play a match, let alone sign players, is excessive puffery.
The Reaction…
The following is a sampling of the notable, insightful, and/or interesting comments made before the apology.
…to the team name
Courtney Stith, co-host of the Diaspora United podcast (x.com):
I think that’s the worst team name I’ve seen in a while
Megan Knight [@MKlowcall] — the most ‘liked’ comment on Herrera’s x.com article post (x.com):
This is worse than not picking a name.
Meg Linehan, The Athletic reporter and Massachusetts native (x.com):
like listen, if you’re a new nwsl team you gotta find One Real NWSL Person who has BEEN IN IT to run your idea past before you push it live. like someone that saw furt in real time. we exist. i promise.
In a very unscientific x.com poll by The Equalizer, over 90% of the almost 500 respondents selected that the name was “awful” (29.1%) or “WORSE than awful” (63.2%).
Robson Dugnutt [@TheRobGeorge] (x.com):
I really want to know what the BOS Nation vibe was last night. Like we’re they thinking “nah it’s all good people will like it” or were they just like “ohhhhh fuuuuuuck we screwed up and it’s too late”
amsleympie [@amsleympie] (x.com):
As a longtime Spirit fan but whose mom’s side of the family is from MA & RI, I feel like BOS Nation is more of a Supporter’s Group name than an actual team name.
A Change.org petition requesting a new “decent name” for the franchise has over 1,750 signees as of Tuesday, October 22nd.
…to the “Too Many Balls” campaign and video
Meg Linehan, The Athletic reporter and Massachusetts native (x.com):
Using balls as a tee hee hee pr campaign in the year of our lord 2024 is embarrassing, plus Gotham already did it and I didn’t like it then either. The silver lining is Boston has time to not do this and try again again. Woof.
Racing Louisville forward Bethany Balcer (x.com) – 1,500 likes
NWSL player and Canadian international, Quinn (comment on now-deleted Instagram post, x.com screenshot):
Feels transphobic. Yikes.
Quinn’s original comment was subsequently hidden by Instagram’s moderation filters.
Sports/gender/culture journalist Frankie de la Cretaz (x.com):
The thing that bothers me the most about this campaign is how TERFy it comes across. At a time when trans women are being excluded from sport at every level, is “too many balls” really the tagline you want to go with here?
Just a failure on every level.
@NWSLtoughconvos (x.com):
Ball jokes don’t really seem appropriate for a league that has been and continues to be plauged by sexual misconduct.
Mike Pendleton (x.com):
This is so comically stupid. I’m a New Englander. I’m a soccer fan. I’m a women’s sports fan. This name and the “too many balls” campaign hits zero marks. It’s not offensive or provocative. It’s just dumb, lol.
Retired USWNT and NWSL midfielder Samantha Mewis (x.com):
As a Massachusetts native, I really want @NWSLBoston to succeed. I also want to shout out @PWHL_Boston, @BeantownRFC, and @GoRenegades as existing women’s pro sports teams here to support
Women’s hockey journalist, Melissa Burgess (x.com):
Pretty weird to not mention the long history of pro women’s hockey in Boston which includes two Clarkson Cups (Boston Blades/CWHL) and three Isobel Cups (Boston Pride/NWHL-PHF). There’s also a current pro w-hoc team in Boston, the Fleet of the PWHL.
The NWSL Boston Independent Supports Association posted the following statement on its Instagram and x.com accounts shortly after 4:00 p.m. Boston time on Tuesday.
As an independent supporters organization, we are wicked excited to have an NWSL team in Boston again.
Like many, we are disappointed in the choice of name and advertising campaign that the team has chosen for their brand reveal.
Our hope is that the team will listen to the concerns raised by its fans and thoughtfully reconsider their branding choices moving forward.
The Public Relations Response
On Wednesday, October 16th, at approximately 12:30 p.m. local time, the new Boston franchise posted the following statement to its social media accounts, including x.com and Instagram:
While we had hoped to create a bold and buzzworthy brand launch campaign, we missed the mark.
We fully acknowledge that the content of the campaign did not reflect the safe and welcoming environment we strive to create for all, and we apologize to the LGBTQ+ community and to the trans community in particular for the hurt we caused.
We are proud to be part of the most inclusive sports league in the world and are committed to upholding the unifying values that define the NWSL and our club. Thank you to all who have held us accountable by calling for us to do better. We hear you and we will, together.
The above statement was in the form of an image, while the body text of the social media post used the lead-in: “From us to you.”
The Colossus Agency also issued a short apology which was later replaced with a “more specific one”(Jackie Contreras – x.com). Here is the full text of the graphic (Instagram):
In an effort to create an introductory campaign for Boston’s newest soccer team, our work missed the mark.
And for that, we would like to offer a sincere apology, particularly to the trans and LGBTQ+ community, for the hurt and anger we have caused.
As an agency, there is clearly more work and listening to do – to which we are deeply committed. Thank you to everyone who has held us accountable.
We can and will do better.
In the statement graphic, “We can and will do better.” was italicized. That statement was also used in the text accompanying the statement graphic.
The earlier comment (screenshot via Jackie Contreras on x.com) was inside a white box that was superimposed at the top of a copy of the Boston franchise’s statement:
We deeply regret the hurt and anger our campaign has caused and share the sentiments of our brand partners below. As an agency, there is clearly more work and more listening to do — to which we are deeply committed. Thank you to everyone who has held us accountable. We can and will do better.
– Colossus
The Clean-Up
On Wednesday, October 16th, the “Too Many Balls” video was made private on YouTube and removed from all of the franchise’s social media accounts. Additionally, the “toomanyballs.com” website was scrapped, with the domain name no longer redirecting anywhere.
On the franchise’s website, all of the “Too Many Balls” merchandise was removed as well (x.com).
The Colossus Agency also removed their portfolio page that described the project as well as a celebratory Instagram post (screenshot on x.com by Alex Azzi), which included the following:
The next chapter of Boston sports starts now. In a town dominated by male athletes for far too long, we’re proud to welcom @nwslboston and the @nwsl to the city of champions.
Thanks to our brave clients for having the guts to be wildly provocative with this launch. And thanks to the @patriots, @redsox, @nhlbruins, @celtics and @nerevolution for your contribution and incredible sense of humor. High fives to @fchwpo, @davidpasternak, @popshotta3 and @tombrady for stepping in front of the camera.
The deleted post also included a shout-out to their “talented collaborators” at the Sunday Afternoon creative studio (website), which is based in New York City.
Technical Notes
The Boston franchise is still using the “NWSLBoston” handle for its x.com account and “nwslboston.com” for its main website.
For the website, the domain names “bosnation.com” and “bosnationfc.com” redirect to nwslboston.com.
On Instagram, the handle was changed to “bosnationfc“.
The Aftermath
As of a week after the official name reveal, the new Boston franchise has yet to confirm whether it is planning to re-do its team name (with “Proof Louisville” to “Racing Louisville” being the archetype example in the NWSL).
News Articles
The following are some of the more useful and thorough write-ups on this whole saga, which cover the fan reactions to both the marketing campaign and the name.
Autostraddle: “Why Is Boston’s New Women’s Soccer Team Ad Campaign So Transphobic and Bad” by Riese (originally published on October 15, 2024, but significantly updated and modified)
The Athletic: “BOS Nation, a publicity campaign gone wrong and an apology for the hurt it caused” by Steph Yang (October 16, 2024)
The Blazing Musket: “BOS Nation FC Celebrates Name and Brand Launch” by Jackie Contreras (October 16, 2024)
Out of Your League: “Boston’s new NWSL team already got a kick in the balls” by Frankie De La Cretaz (October 16, 2024)
Out: “Boston women’s soccer team fumbles debut with transphobic ‘Too Many Balls’ ad” by Mey Rude (October 16, 2024)
WBUR: “Boston’s new pro-women’s soccer team needs a do-over” by Laura Everett (October 17, 2024)
The Blazing Musket: “BOS Nation FC Fans React to Name, Too Many Balls Campaign” by Sam Minton (October 18, 2024)
The Blazing Musket: “Usseglio: Shocked and Disappointed — BOS Nation FC’s first impression was not a good one” by John Usseglio (October 21, 2024)
Other Reactions
Jordan [@10DollarHotDog] (x.com):
“Bos Nation FC” rollout disaster is one of the most insanely ill advised things of all time. There is no way sports marketing firms are paid this much to do this stuff. It was like a Gen-X white guy who has parasocial relationships with Barstool personalities’ idea of what’s cool
Soccer color analyst and podcast co-host, Jordan Angeli (x.com video):
I have no idea what happened. And, I think a lot of people have the same question. Is how did this name and this video get through so many different layers of approval before it got put out there?
“BOS Nation”, first off, I don’t know what the “BOS”, I know it’s short for Boston, but it’s boss spelled wrong. It’s only spelled B-O-S. And, then “Nation”. You’re talking about a city, and it’s not a nation, it’s a city. I just feel like they went wrong. It’s just so wrong. And, it makes me sad. And this is, as they said, an awesome sports city.
(Angeli is involved with the Denver NWSL franchise bid for 2026. — Denver Post article)
Haley Rosen, the CEO of Just Women Sports, posted an intriguing x.com thread, which ended with the following:
5. They need to change the name
I don’t like the name for purely aesthetic reasons.
But at this point, it needs to be changed for this ownership group to demonstrate to fans that they’re ready to be a part of this league.
Right now, the trust is broken. Changing the name is the next step in beginning to repair that relationship.
The team doesn’t kick off until 2026, meaning there’s plenty of time to make things right.
For a non-neutral and anti-trans perspective, here is Jennifer Sey’s polemic: “Boston’s new women’s soccer team launched with “Too Many Balls” ad campaign. And it was deemed offensive.” (https://jennifersey.substack.com/p/bostons-new-womens-soccer-team-launched) Sey was a USA Gymnastics National Champion in 1986. (Wikipedia) During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Sey was anti-lockdown and has since shifted to conservative culture war issues, including the anti-trans movement (The Mary Sue).
This is the paragraph she highlighted on x.com:
Ladies, I’m begging you . . . don’t apologize for saying women don’t have balls! (I can’t believe I have to write that sentence.) They don’t. Women do not have testicles. If you allow yourself to be convinced that they do, you are, in fact, both losing your mind and part of the problem.
One more thing…
Regarding the “Too Many Balls” marketing campaign, one of its fundamental flaws is how family unfriendly it was (x.com). By excessively focusing on targeting a male demographic, the new Boston franchise may have alienated, at least in the short-term, some potential major corporate sponsors for both itself and the entire league.
Specifically, one major brand comes to mind, and it will have a large presence in Boston by the time the new team completes its inaugural seasons: Lego.
The Lego Group is moving its Americas headquarters from its longtime base in Enfield, Connecticut, to the city of Boston (Lego press release). The move is suppose to be completed by the end of 2026. In 2022, Lego sponsored the UEFA Women’s Euro (lego.com, nationalfootballmuseum.com) Lego has also been a primary sponsor of U.S. Soccer in the past (Sports Business Journal article from 2001) and is currently a sponsor of Football Australia (sportbusiness.com).
If actual business priorities such as maximizing sponsorship revenue been properly centered when coming up with marketing campaign as well as the team name, the new Boston franchise could have avoided this whole mess.
Appendix: The Team Name Conundrum
The Wall Street Journal article mentioned earlier has a section on the difficulties in selecting a team name, including that so “many names are already taken”, intellectual property due diligence, and names that may have connotation issues, whether directly or indirectly.
Noted in the article is that the WNBA Toronto franchise recently published some examples of rejected names in a pair of Instagram posts (nature edition, cosmos edition) and a reason why the name was rejected.
Regarding legal issues surrounding team names, here are some useful articles:
- “The game plan: Conducting trademark clearance for new team names” by Brandon McCool (April 2022)
- Lavery (law firm in Canada): “Team trademarks: naming the champions” (June 2023)
- Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani: “Who Can Use the Names of Defunct Sports Teams: Residual Goodwill and Trademark Abandonment” (April 2024)
On the name congestion issue, the following soccer team names are currently in use, whether in Boston, Massachusetts, or Boston, England:
- Boston City FC (USL League Two)
- Boston FC (youth)
- Boston Town FC (England)
- Boston United FC (England)
- Boston Bolts (USL League Two)
Also, for reference, these are historical soccer team names:
- Boston Breakers (WUSA, WPS and NWSL)
- Boston Minutemen (NASL)
- Boston Beacons (NASL)
- Boston Rovers (United Soccer Association) — the “summer version” of Irish club Shamrock Rovers F.C.
- Boston SC (ASL) — nicknamed the “Wonder Workers” and later the “Bears”
For a full-ish list of current and past sports teams in Boston, Massachusetts, see the “Sports in Boston” Wikipedia page.
Some Example Names, Good and Not
One of the better ideas to be suggested is “Bostonia Football Club”, which was apparently first made by Laura Everett (x.com), who also mentioned the idea in a WBUR.org article she wrote. “Bostonia” is the Latinized version of the name “Boston” and is found on the city’s seal.
An issue with the “Bostonia FC” name is that it is already out in the public, which makes it more likely for a squatter to snatch up useful domain names and/or even file trademarks related to the proposed name. The renaming of the National Football League’s Washington Commanders provided an interesting example where an individual, who claimed “his goal [was] simply to get the team to change its name” (CNN article) had registered numerous potential “Washington” team names. From a team’s perspective, the major issue involving squatting is the time and money needed to challenge a bad-faith squatter and/or trying to negotiate with the person or entity.
One potential name that likely would not work would be “Boston Yards FC”, with the “Yards” referring to the Navy Yard (Wikipedia), as well as railyards, and even areas outside the city limits, such as Harvard Yard in Cambridge. The problem is that a potential nickname, whether for the club or a fan group would be “Yardies”, which is associated with Jamaican gangs (Wikipedia).
A clearer example of a name that is not acceptable would be “Boston Brahmins”, due to socio-political implications. “Boston Brahmin” (Wikipedia) is a historical moniker used to describe a subset of Boston’s upper class families. The term “Brahmin” (Wikipedia) refers to the highest caste in the Hindu caste system.
Note
This post may be updated with additional links to news articles and other coverage about the marketing campaign and/or team name.
Details
- Originally Published: October 23, 2024
- Last Updated: n/a
Past Updates
- n/a
(Minor updates involving corrections of simple typographic errors or non-significant adjustments in phrasing will not be noted.)
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