One name for different franchises in different sports in NA.
- Thread starter Chukcha
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Gil Gunderson
Registered User
New York Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates happened. It doesn’t seem like the best idea in the world.
I think in Europe they all belong to parent sports club/academy.
I think in Europe they all belong to parent sports club/academy.
BigBadBruins7708
Registered User
Chukcha
Registered User
Thank you. Why do you think so? Some names are actually great. I'd like to see Seattle Supersonics in the NHL.
ponder719
Haute Couturier
It's tricky establishing two teams with the same name at this point, because the only way to ensure no legal issues over the team name would be for both teams to be under the same ownership in perpetuity. It could be done (and people have pointed out examples - including one, the St. Louis Cardinals, where the team name existed prior to the city affiliation for the football franchise), but if you don't have the legal issue cleared up front, you'll lose more money in court than you'll make in merch.
It's also harder for an NHL and NBA team in the same city to share a team name, because the seasons are largely concurrent. Have fun speaking casually to a friend about going to a Sonics game; you'd either have to clarify immediately which sport you're talking about, or you risk some interesting moments of confusion. You'll note that there is only one example in this thread that didn't involve an MLB and NFL team sharing a name, that being the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1907-08 and 1925-30, and the hockey team's season did not overlap in the slightest with the MLB team's season.
Edit: What might be plausible is for an NHL and minor league team in the same sport to share a name, like you sometimes get in soccer; frex, the USL has 5 MLS-affiliated teams that share a name with the big club. (Atlanta United 2, New York Red Bulls II, LA Galaxy II, Portland Timbers 2, and Seattle Sounders FC 2) If the NHL Seattle team were to buy the Seattle Thunderbirds, they could conceivably name the NHL team the Thunderbirds and the major-junior club Thunderbirds II, or something like that. It's odd, but it could theoretically happen.
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Centrum Hockey
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- Aug 2, 2018
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BigBadBruins7708
Registered User
1. Branding. neither team gets to have its own true identity due to the other
2. Licensing. cant have to different organizations with a trademark/hold the rights to 1 name
3. Fan Confusion. just way too confusing to have 2 teams in 1 city with the same name. makes reporting, supporting, etc a headache
4. Inferiority. Inevitably one of the 2 teams will have more success/be more popular. That automatically devalues the other and makes them look like a knock off/the B team
cheswick
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Centrum Hockey
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Barclay Donaldson
Registered User
It's one sports club or sports society sponsoring all those different sports. CSKA Moscow is one of the most well known, it started off as the Red Army sponsoring a number of different sports from soccer and hockey to basketball and volleyball. Real Madrid is another, Barcelona too, and a number in Eastern Europe who sponsor soccer and basketball as the big ones along with other lesser followed sports.
It 100% would NOT work in North America for a multitude of reasons. The easiest to explain would be that our entire market is based off of franchises for separate sports and these examples are part of the minority. North American sports fans wouldn't be able to handle the European promotion and relegation let alone this.
It 100% would NOT work in North America for a multitude of reasons. The easiest to explain would be that our entire market is based off of franchises for separate sports and these examples are part of the minority. North American sports fans wouldn't be able to handle the European promotion and relegation let alone this.
garnetpalmetto
Jerkministrator
Why, yes, Hutch, that's where they are now, just as the Boston Braves are now the Redskins. But in 1932 they were both in Boston. The baseball Braves played in Boston from 1871 until 1952, at which point they moved to Milwaukee.
IU Hawks fan
They call me IU
BigBadBruins7708
Registered User
With different names in different sports, you just need to refer to the team name to uniquely identify the team (at least in the local market) as opposed to having to add the sport or league as a modifier. For example, in Toronto, you can refer to the Leafs, Jays, Raptors, or Marlies and sports fans will know what you're talking about, whereas if all Toronto teams were named Maple Leafs, at a minimum, you would have to refer to NHL Leafs, MLB Leafs, NBA Leafs, and AHL Leafs.
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Brick City
Ignore me!
Super technically, the remaining New York Giants are legally the "New York Football Giants" as they were the one time tenant of the original New York Giants baseball team at the Polo Grounds. This was a time when baseball was still preeminent over football of course.
Vamos Rafa
Registered User
Laker fans still confuse the Kings with the NBA team in Sacto. That is why the Kings organization themselves would have to market themselves as the LA Kings all the time to avoid the casuals from wondering why LA has a sports team named Kings. Can you imagine if the Lakers-Kings heated rivalry in the early 2000s coincided with the Kings' Stanley Cup runs in rhe early 2010s? "I can't root for a team named Kings!!"
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Are people in LA really that stupid?
There was a time when this was common, but a very long time ago. There were a couple of different Brooklyn Dodgers football teams and at least one New York Yankees football team. However, that was a long time ago and no one would do it now for marketing reasons. The reason the Sacramento Kings are called the Kings was that before they were in KC their name was the Royals and when they were going to KC, there was the baseball team. When they were contemplating moving to Anahiem they trade marked "Anahiem Royals"
DowntownBooster
Registered User
That seems a little odd since the LA Kings have been around since 1967 whereas the Sacramento Kings have only been around since 1985.
KevFu
Registered User
Don't forget where they started.... The 1951 NBA Champion, Rochester Royals
That is the way most sport clubs have traditionally worked in Europe. These clubs also usually have junior teams starting from little kids which I suppose is not the case in NA pro sports.
Fun fact: Fc Barcelona also has a hockey team. They have been playing in the Spanish hockey league since 1972.
Fun fact: Fc Barcelona also has a hockey team. They have been playing in the Spanish hockey league since 1972.
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End on a Hinote
Registered Abuser
I dont like the idea of same names for a markets sports teams, but I love the idea of teams that use/used the same colors for their teams like Pittsburgh, Seattle and Montreal.
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