After unveiling a new crest Thursday, replacing the 20-year-old current logo, MLS shows that it is going all in on the future of American soccer. Major League Soccer unveiled their new league crest as part of a buildup campaign titled MLS NEXT for the 2015 season.
2015 proves to be a very big year for the North American League being its 20th season of play, With new clubs debuting this coming March, the MLS felt it would be a good time to bring the traditional MLS crest a new and cutting edge look to ring in the next era of top-tier soccer in North America.
The MLS executives wanted to give the new crest a more traditional look that resemble a lot of the unique crests many clubs throughout the world.
Here is an explanation of the new crest a long with a few added details about the visions the league has to accomplish by the year 2022.
“Slash: The Slash Refers to Soccer’s “Speed” and “Energy”. The Slash begins outside the perimeter and goes upward at a 45 degree angle to depict both the nonstop nature of the game and rising trajectory of the future of the league. The slash bisects the crest to create a “First and Second Half” to resemble the halves in a soccer match.
Stars: The Stars within the crest represent the high ideals of the MLS. “For Club, For Country, For Community” which essentially binds the entire league together.
Perimeter: The Perimeter represents the lines that mark off the field of play within a soccer field.
First and Second Half: The first half contains “MLS” and the 3 stars represent, “FOR CLUB, FOR COUNTRY, FOR COMMUNITY.” The second half is an open white space that brings supporters in and out of the MLS world.”
Essentially, the MLS is bringing together the next generation of Major League Soccer and is also becoming one of the fastest growing leagues within the football world.
2015 marks the 20th Season and by far will be one of the league’s most historical and busy seasons within the football world here’s why, per MLS.com:
“New Teams: 2015 will debut new clubs such as the New York City Football Club inspired by the owners of the Manchester City Football Club across the pond with world-class signings such as Spanish International David Villa from Atletico Madrid and English International Frank Lampard formally a member of the Chelsea Football Club and is currently on loan at Manchester City FC.
Down south, the Orlando City Soccer Club will join the MLS after having a successful term in the USL Pro boasting two league titles and signing Brazilian International Kaka formally a player for AC Milan out of the Serie A in Italy.
The MLS will also be working towards new expansion teams such as Atlanta and David Beckham’s Miami MLS Franchise looking to debut in 2017.
Currently, there also rumors of the MLS adding NASL Clubs such as the league’s 2014 Expansion team the Indy Eleven, or Oklahoma City. Only time will tell if these speculations come true.
New Venues: Currently the MLS houses 15 Soccer Friendly Stadiums throughout the United States and Canada. new venues will be coming to the league will include a new stadium in San Jose California, and another in Orlando, Florida.
Rumors also speculate the new MLS Club NYCFC will eventually build a venue in the Queens area of New York City.
More World Class Players: Such as US Internationals Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, and Jermaine Jones. English International Frank Lampard, Spanish International David Villa, Brazilian World Cup Champion Kaka and the list continues to grow!
Bigger Media Sponsorships: Next year you will be able to watch your favorite MLS Club on many different sources throughout the United States and Canada. Media Sponsorships in the USA include ESPN, Fox, and Univision as for Canada the MLS made deals to continue sponsorships with TSN and RDS.
The new brand for league will take in effect this fall along with other products being released to up the 2015 Campaign.”
Here a few unique things to watch for with the new MLS brand:
“- The crest will be worn on each club’s kits for the coming season with unique colors for each club.
– NYCFC and Orlando City SC Fans will be able to order their 2015 kits with the new MLS brand later this year.”
This definitely is a big move for Major League Soccer, in an effort to grow the next generation of American soccer fans and the image of soccer in the United States as a whole. The league’s vision and ultimate goal is to become one of the world’s best soccer leagues by the year 2022 and little things such as changing branding are first steps to putting together the next generation of the league’s relevance in the world of sports.
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