MLS fans have snapped. It's hard to understand what it was about Kansas City's decision to re-brand as Sporting Kansas, but it's pretty clear. Somehow this was the one that crossed the line. MLS has jumped the shark on Euro-style names.
One of the ways that this is different is the way people are reacting to the change. It's not anger. It's not even a ha-ha-aren't-they-stupid smack talk sort of thing. No, it's been completely dismissive. No one is taking Kansas City seriously. On Twitter last night the #futuremlsfranchise hash tag started in reaction to the announcement. In it, fans thought up of absurd euro-style names and attached them to "potential" MLS cities.
Hearts of Midland, TX, Akron Stanley, Partizan Bel Air, Kentucky Derby County, Aspen Villa and the hilarity goes on and on and on...
So when Wizards CEO Robb Heineman tries to claim that K.C. is somehow different than Real Salt Lake or FC Dallas (his example), no one can hear him over the laughter.
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Heineman argues that the former Wizards are going to actually operate as a sporting club. Thus the name. Like other clubs in the world that have the Sporting Club name attached there will be several other properties. Of course none of those properties are currently involved, but you have to start somewhere, I guess.
What K.C. isn't, Heineman stresses, is a rival to Benfica. Sporting Lisbon may be the most famous Sporting in the world but K.C. is not naming itself after them.
Heineman forgot to tell the league itself, as MLS spokesman Dan Courtemanche is quoted in the linked article comparing K.C.'s move to other MLS team's decision to "return to traditional soccer names."
Here's the thing. After reading Heineman's quotes and talking to a K.C. official over several hours last night I believe them. They are sincere in their position. They really don't think they are naming themselves after Sporting Lisbon, nor do they consider the move to be the same as other MLS team's decision to go Euro.
Of course no one else on earth will see it that way. I guarantee you at least one irrationally angry K.C. season ticket holder of Portuguese heritage has called to cancel his seats today. I know that several so-called Eurosnob fans in the U.S. have snorted milk out of their nose upon reading the news and have made another mental check as to why MLS is a "joke pub league."
A significant number of MLS fans have yet to wrap their head around the idea of a wildcard team crossing over to the other conference for the playoffs. They aren't going to even remotely understand the nuance at play here.
K.C. didn't do itself any favours either. They are "Sporting Kansas," not the Sporting Club of Kansas City or Kansas City Sporting Club." Sporting Kansas sounds exactly like a rip off of Sporting Lisbon. That's especially hard to get past when you share a league with the single most ludicrous name in the history of professional sport -- Real Salt Lake. Sometimes people involved in a re-branding exercise get so ingrained in their own think tanks that they fail to see what is bloody obvious to everyone else outside of their organization.
Sporting Kansas is Real Salt Lake 2.0. As stated, I don't believe that was the organization’s intent, but it's the result. The idea of creating a true sporting club and to fully integrate into a larger body is a good one. I wish K.C. luck. But, I also hope that the re-branding exercise is a total failure and they are back before us with their tail between their legs in a year or so.
Many people might wonder why I care so much about a name. It's frivolous, they might argue. It's not. It's the first impression that many fans have of your club. The impression Sporting Kansas gives is that MLS is trying too hard to be something it’s not. Names like this hurt the very credibility of the league, especially amongst the type of informed fans that have yet to sample MLS -- the Eurosnob. We can make all kinds of brave proclamations about not needing that type of fan, but it's a lie. We do. For MLS to grow beyond its niche status it needs to be a default destination of all soccer fans in Canada and the United States.
Sporting Kansas is a set-back in the battle to win those sceptical fans over.