Identity and brand are important to sports. In order to keep up with the current trends, sports will re-brand their product in order to attract more consumers. This is no exception to Major League Soccer, the youngest professional sports league in the United States and Canada.
A few weeks ago, MLS unveiled their newest project, MLS Next. MLS Next is a complete re-branding of Major league soccer for the upcoming 2015 season. The 2015 season is an extremely special season for Major League Soccer. It marks the league’s 20th anniversary with two new teams (New York City FC & Orlando City FC) joining the league, bring the team count to 21. MLS will continue to make huge strides in media coverage with new TV deals from major companies such as ESPN, NBC, and Uni Mas. Most importantly, the league would be changing the crest.
The new crest is a complete re-branding. It has no resemblance of the old crest but still represents everything that MLS stands for. Here is MLS’ reasoning behind each portion of the crest:
WORDMARK: MLS stands for Major League Soccer.
SLASH: 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.”
STARS: The three stars represent the pillars of our brand: For Club, For Country, For Community.
PERIMETER: The perimeter represents the lines that mark off the field of play.
FIRST HALF AND SECOND HALF: The first half contains MLS and the three stars. The second half is an open white space that brings you in and out of the MLS world
What is very special about the re-branding of the logo is that each team will have a personal logo. While the logo’s are very similar to that of the league logo, the team logo’s express each team’s passion.
Major League soccer has come an extremely long way in the last 20 years. The league’s attendance has gone up and expansion clubs have appeared all over the country and Canada. The new logo represents the passion and loyalty that the fans have not only to their club but to Major League Soccer.
