Two huge moments in New England Revolution history took place this week and I can’t quite decide which was less climactic. On Sunday, the Revs lifted the supporters shield, their first MLS trophy in their 26 years in the league. They were able to do so despite losing 1-0 at home to Miami because they had officially earned the trophy 2 weeks prior, when Seattle fell out of contention by losing to SKC.
Another big moment came this past Thursday with the reveal of the new Revolution rebrand; one that we have all known was coming since early June. In a season with a lot to celebrate, both felt inevitable. Both are emblematic of a club that is trying to turn the page and break into the upper echelon of MLS.
For years the Revs have often felt like a team that was incapable of stealing the spotlight. When they have had moments as the center of attention, they have often been characterized as a club that the league was leaving behind. Their 5 MLS cup appearances now long in the rear view mirror, they were overshadowed in the minds of Boston fans by the successes of the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins, and Celtics. Local sports media hasn’t traditionally provided a ton of coverage to the Revs, and during the lean years in Foxboro, neither has US Soccer media at large.
Ownership seems to have taken notice. In the past few years, New England has built a new state of the art training facility, increased their investment in players, hired one of the winningest managers in MLS history, and now have won their first MLS trophy.
Bom dia #NERevs pic.twitter.com/lwaf6GW0ky
— Boston Strong Brasil ? (@BostonStrongBR) November 8, 2021
I do want to take some time to focus on this celebration and the season that made it possible, but with plenty of downtime before the playoffs start let’s talk about the other major development from this week.
A New Visual Identity
If you’re like me, and spend too much time on twitter, then you very likely saw some vocal backlash against the Revolution’s newly revealed logo. While the design leaked back in June, the official announcement was made just days before the final game of the 2021 season.
It's Time. pic.twitter.com/pbbtUVuzFv
— s – New England Revolution (@NERevolution) November 4, 2021
There were plenty of positivity about the new design, and in particular fans seemed to rally around the “Proudly not another FC” aspect of the rebrand.
Still, it doesn’t take much scrolling to find the re-brand’s detractors. Comments referring to the logo as “uninspiring”, “boring” were interspersed among others pining for the reinstatement of the “Crayon Flag” that had been the club’s crest since it’s inaugural season.
— Save the Crayon Flag (@WolvesBoiWonder) November 4, 2021
Couple these negative tweets with articles like this one, or with comments on recent podcast episodes, and you could easily come away with the impression that the new logo is a flop. You might leave thinking that the new logo is boring, the release is poorly timed, the rebrand is devoid of character. That, and an overwhelming sense that the Revs should have just stuck with their original logo.
So about that original logo…
The original Revolution logo consists of a grunge/paintbrush stylized American flag with a soccer ball in place of the stars. It made it’s debut with the club in 1996 and is heavily modeled on the 1994 US World Cup logo, with the exception being that it looks like it went through the wash a few too many times.
Let’s be clear. The old logo isn’t…good. I think even the most die-hard supporter would have to concede that fact. When I first became a fan of the Revs, the one aspect I hated more than any other was the loud, obnoxiously 90s “crayola crest”. Buying Revolution gear was nowhere near my to-do list. Outside of Revs games, I worried I’d spend most of my time explaining why I love grungy ‘Merica enough to have the flag plastered on my shirt.
Over time, however, I’ve grown to like the old logo, just like many other fans. There’s something nice, almost admirable, about staying the course in the face of a league that is constantly changing itself to fit with modern trends and sales metrics. While other MLS clubs were falling over each other to appeal to the broadest possible audience, the Revs held firm. That obstinance persisted until the flag started to look kind of retro. The sketchy US flag version of Stockholm-syndrome, if you will.
Unfortunately, as much as I have grown accustomed to the old logo, I think we all need to admit; Just because something has been around a long time doesn’t make it good. This should be obvious to those of use who spent the month of October trying desperately to avoid candy corn.
The Revs are entering a new era as a club. They’ve been investing more heavily off-the-field for a while now, and the quality on the pitch has risen to match that investment. The pieces are all there for the Revolution to grab some of that MLS limelight, usually reserved for the Seattles and LA Galaxys of the world.
For the first time in over a decade people are starting to take New England seriously. The rebrand is a necessary part of that.
Polling the fanbases
I was curious after reading all the negative comments; how much of that hate is just a natural reaction to any sort of major change? Perhaps the Revs simply touched on something all fanbases experience when their team re-brands.
Opinions from fans of recently rebranded teams
I remember seeing similar negativity surrounding other MLS rebrands. And there are plenty of rebrands to look at! By my count, the Revolution are the 5th team this season to undergo some sort of logo/name change.
The Houston Dynamo, CF Montreal, the Columbus Crew, and the Chicago Fire have all undergone a reboot this year. Houston and Chicago got a logo refresh, with Chicago’s being a re-do of their disastrous 2019 attempt. Meanwhile Montreal and Columbus rebranded both in logo and in name. The Montreal Impact became Club de Foot Montreal and Columbus changed from the Crew to “Columbus SC”. In both of those cases, the names have been modified again in response to fan outrage. Montreal eventually settling on CF Montreal and the Crew caving to backlash by returning the original name and modifying the new logo to boot.
I remember feeling at the time that those rebrands left something to be desired. Some of them were better than others, but there was a lot of negativity surrounding all of them.
Perhaps hating rebrands is universal?
So how does the Revs rebrand stack up to fans of those teams?
Fans of recently rebranded MLS teams! I'm collecting opinions for an article. What best describes your thoughts on the new Revolution logo (as seen in my tw pic)? #HoldItDown #CFMTL #CFFC #CF97 #Crew96
— Andy From Revs Nation (@AndyRevsNation) November 5, 2021
I targeted a poll to fans of those 4 teams with recent rebrands, and asked them what they thought of the new NE logo change.
The majority sentiment among fans of those 4 recently rebranded teams was that the new Revolution logo was “above average” with about 2/3rds of the vote. “Below average” earned roughly 1/4 of the vote, with the remainder being split amongst “among the best” at 7% and “among the worst” at 5%. Those are pretty good numbers, from a sample of fans that recently underwent a brand renewal themselves.
So where do Revs fans think the rebrand stacks up among the litany of brand updates?
Yo #NERevs fans, one more quick poll.
With the Revs announcing yesterday, which 2021 MLS rebrand was the best?
Let's use the post-"Columbus SC" version for the Crew and the newest crest for Chicago.
— Andy From Revs Nation (@AndyRevsNation) November 5, 2021
This one is a landslide in favor of the Revolution. About 7/10 Revs fans think their own is the best of this years rebrands, with Chicago’s newly released second-attempt garnering the next most votes. Perhaps rumors of the new logo’s death were greatly exaggerated?
For full disclosure, I also polled the remaining MLS team fanbases by hashtag, conducting 2 polls. Neither one garnered more than 17 votes and they roughly cancelled each other out. One poll leaned 80/20 in favor of the new logo, and the other 70/30 in favor of the old.
The new logo appears to be popular
Alright #NERevs fans. Poll time. With it now being official, which best describes your opinion of the new crest
— Andy From Revs Nation (@AndyRevsNation) November 5, 2021
In a straight poll of Revs fan opinion on the rebrand, it seems as though the answer is clear. Most Revs fans like the change, even if they are a little sad to see the Crayon Flag go. Over 85% of Revolution fans had a positive opinion of the new branding. For the Revolution front office, that must come as something of a relief. With all of the branding controversies this year in MLS, they seem to have struck the right notes.
I understand it will be hard, for many, to say goodbye to the Crayon Flag. It represents the history of the league as much as it does the history of the club. Its the symbol of a community of fans, friends, tailgaters, and families. It saw the team through tough seasons, and was worn proudly through 5 MLS finals. The new logo doesn’t have that history. But it will. Here’s hoping the Revs send the grunge-‘merica logo out with their first ever MLS cup victory. Then let’s go win 5 more with the new one.
At least let’s agree that this is a suitable compromise.
Still think my crayon version of the new #NERevs shield is a good compromise for folks who can't let go of the crayon flag #WBZ pic.twitter.com/JWkbNuf0wQ
— Joe Giza (@JoeGiza) November 5, 2021
