NSC Minnesota is Name of New Pro Soccer Team – Logo Unveiled
The National Sports Center announced today via live webcast that “NSC Minnesota” is the name of the new professional Division II soccer team that is owned and operated by the NSC. The organization also revealed their new logo and team colors.
While the official name of the team is NSC Minnesota, the organization has named their team the “Stars”. The name “Stars” has significance for NSC in several areas. The NSC logo itself has a star in it representing the North Star which is the Minnesota State nickname. The North Star State” evolved from the State Motto L’Etoile du Nord or “Star of the North.” Also, North Star FC was the most popular name in the voting contest conducted by the non-profit. Because of a myriad of trademark issues that could have been an issue in the future, the organization decided to go with one of the other favorite choices in NSC Minnesota.
The team also unveiled the new logo with the team colors of dark blue and yellow. The shield is a variation on some of the newer shaped shields like Arsenal’s but has a harder angle at the top. It’s bordered with two vertical yellow lines and has the star in the logo.
The team also announced a temporary website until a specific one is built for the team. You can also go to NSCMinnesota.com, which will redirect you to the temporary website. No doubt, the latter will be the eventual home of the team.
During the webcast, Bjerkness also updated fans on some of the major developments coming in the near future:
- » The league will be announcing the game schedule early next week. As soon as that is finalized, the Stars will begin ticket sales.
- » A new coach will be hired within a week to 10 days.
- » Players will begin to be signed soon after a coach is selected. It will take about eight weeks to fill the team’s roster.
- » Coerver Coaching Minnesota has been selected as a partner to operate youth soccer camps and clinics for the team.
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Wow, if Super Rookie’s comment is correct, I’m really disappointed. I thought the plan to run the team as a non-profit was an ideological move, but if it’s not one they’re planning on continuing for the long haul, then I’m not sure I want much part of it right now. Really disappointing.
I clearly can’t spell.
Trevor- there are some legalities of what a “non-profit” is if they have public ownership options as discussed at the supporters summit. That is my understanding of it all.
Nothing to be disappointed about as the team is clearly being run as a non-profit at an awesome facility.
I need to get off the computer now, I bet I misspelled another 10 words in this posting.
I like the logo. Is that OK?
Sleepy, very sleepy after reading this.
Fair enough on the name.
Although, I sure hope they didn’t pay someone to do that logo. MS Paint for sure.
Did anyone see the awesome game Thursday night when the Minnesota Xcel Energy Centers defeated the Edmonton Rexall Places?
Yes I think naming a team after the venue is absurd. Oh they’re naming it after the ownership? My mistake, that must have been the Minnesota Sports and Entertainments defeating the Edmonton Rexall Sportses.
I do like that they are trying to incorporate the Stars nickname as one who voted for Northstar FC. Still it just seems silly to me to make the venue so prominent.
Maybe Polaris Snowmobile will be a jersey sponsor?
Go Etoiles! oy. Rather than “Dark Clouds” perhaps “The Fallen.” Pro sports teams change logos so they can change jerseys and sell new ones and make more money. So the logo will always “evolve.”
Leaving the blue in the color scheme is no surprise to me. I was actually standing in the stadium a few weeks ago and looking at the (relatively) new paint job and thought to myself “they’ll use the same blue for the new team so they don’t have to repaint the stadium – again”. Which avoids having to spend more $$ on paint that could go towards player salaries, etc.
As for a nickname, I’m confused. Why wouldn’t “stars” just be THE nickname? I’m not that I’m a big fan of it, but to have NSC Minnesota Stars and then a nickname just seems like overkill to me.
“NSC Minnesota Stars + Nickname” – ?
Yes Justin, it is ever so silly to name the team after the organization that is running the team.
Truth be told, it is your comparison that is absurd. Does the Xcel Energy Center own and operate the Minnesota Wild? Does Rexall Place own and operate the Edmonton Oilers? That would be no and no. Does NSC own and operate the team called NSC Minnesota? That would be yes. Other than those minor details, your analogy is spot on.
The past twelve hours have confirmed for me that people simply adore complaining. The Thunder are no more. If NSC had not stepped in, we would have no team. Instead of rejoicing, many choose to moan about the name, the way in which the team will be operated, who the team might be affiliated with, and the minutiae of logo design.
There is not a name or a crest that would have satisfied everyone. Let us all try to focus on the fact that there is an actual team to get behind.
for me they always were, and will continue to be, “the boyz from Blaine”.
The nessie is gonna be awesome this year!
Go lake monsters!
NSC = the North Star Club
Hate the new name! North Star FC would have been great, but this – - what a disappointment! Nor is the new crest (logo) all that exciting. (So much for listening to fan input…)
The name was not my first choice, but it is simpley that–a name. I am 100% behond the new team.
“(So much for listening to fan input…)”
Carl, I don’t think thats a fair statement at all. Fair enough if you don’t like the name or logo. But after what I wrote in the article and then what was posted in these comments would you prefer that they went with the North Star name and then lose the rights after a year or two? What sense would that have made?
My arm seems to have fallen asleep also… When do games start again?
I agree with BQ. I think NSC has made tremendous efforts to get the community invovled in the process, and I think their work is going to pay huge dividends in the future. Keep up the hard work NSC!!!
I think they blew it on both the name and the logo. Plain and simple whoever decided on those doesn’t know how to market a sports team. I am not a pro at this, but you need something with marketability, and this doesn’t do it. With NSC, they are trying to make a play off of Arsenal, but it’s a bad one. There are reasons you see FC Dallas, Toronto FC, AC Milan, Chelsea FC, etc. You’re announcing the team and their location with the name. What does NSC do? Nothing. Unless you’re from the northern ‘burbs, or a youth soccer enthusiast, you won’t know what it is.
Screw the legal issues. That’s what pro sports is about. Making the effort to providing a professional team and name and logo.
And on that subject. That logo looks like something a highschool art student drew up on their notebook. Unprofessional, uncreative, and not worth putting on any merchandise. I dabble in graphic design, and would have thrown that together in 5 min. Give me a day, and I could blow your mind. I hope they didn’t pay much for it.
I’m not sure what is worse, no soccer or a poorly thrown together team.
I am happy that xxlampsxx didn’t create the name and logo. This is because they aren’t professionals. Whew! Some people will never be happy with anything thankfully the NSC has stepped up to keep pro soccer in our state!
I’d like to get something straight. I plan on supporting the team, but there are major issues here.
thesuperrookie, you proved my point brilliantly. I co-own a startup web/graphic design company, so I’m not quite a professional, but yet I grasp the concept of marketability far better than these ‘professionals’ do. This logo is a complete rip-off of Arsenal, and if the ownership should be concerned in any way of TM issues, they may want to look into that. A point instead of an arc, doesn’t make it different. And, those lines following the sides of the crest are in the exact place as they are in Arsenal’s.
Another thing on this subject is how people continue to say that it’s just ‘a name and a logo’. This is a sports team, and it will live and die by those two things alone. You can be an awful team, but with the right marketing, you can survive. ie. Milwaukee Brewers. Their ball and glove logo is one of the most recognized logos in professional sports, and yet haven’t been competitive – until recently – since the early 80s.
Oh, and to the guy that said ManU is generic… Hello, they are the original. Everyone else has copied them.
xxLAMPS8xx… Exactly. Could not agree with you more.
My nice dream is now turning into a nightmare… Should I wake up and go to the bathroom, or wait for it out?
Jeff* wait it out!
Xxlamps* I think it is interesting that other designers have expressed their fondness of the logo and design. Not saying either is right just shows the difference people can have.
As you can imagine I like the identity and the use of NSC in the name. While not everyone will be happy with the entire thing I think people are overreacting. The NSC will prove their skills with this franchise.
Again thesuperrookie, I am more concerned about the lack of creativity. It isn’t a horrible logo by any means. Plain and simple, in my mind – having had a law course that dealt partially with intellectual property, this logo is very close to infringing on Arsenal’s rights (essentially the same shape, same design, same inclusion of logo in the middle and name at the top). Look at both next to each other, and you will agree. If you don’t, you’re just being stubborn.
I question whether or not anyone thought to look into this, and again is why I say that this is a poor logo.
NSC legal team – look into this!!!
I bet there are people that if they were dying of thirst would insist on bottled water. In a subset of that group would be those that would insist on a specific kind of bottled water. Digging deeper we would find a final subset that would only drink it if it had the right label.
Me, I would just be happy to get some water. And I would not whine about it!
(Spoiler Alert: the water is a metaphor for all this angst about the name and logo . . . look up “metaphor” if still confused).
The only rational way to solve the logo disagreements is to announce some players, the mascot (loch ness monster!), and most importantly, the beer list in the North End!
The stadium itself could be referred to as The Nessy.
“Gonna catch the game tonight at the Nessy.”
“Meet you in the North End at the Nessy.”
“The Nessy was in full voice tonight!”
From Fox Soccer Channel: “And from the Nessy tonight . . .”
I m preety sure the Loch Ness Monster is in Scotland duds
Chris A, my feeling exactly!
“Goin to catch the North Star Club at the Nessy”
Oh, and there was some talk about this club having a relationship with a MLS team. If that’s true, and that team were the Colorado Rapids, the similarities to the Arsenal crest (and the Colorado crest) would make a lot of sense. Since, Stan Kroenke is an owner of both clubs.
As an editor, I am constantly confronted with examples of people not going back to read what they have written. Here we have xxLAMPS8xx indicating, without apparent irony, “screw the legal issues. That’s what pro sports is about.” It is? This just in: legal issues are expensive. One should try to avoid them. After advising NSC to schtupp the legal issues, xxLAMPS8xx then indicates that he “has had a law course” and that the NSC legal team should look into intellectual property violation issues. Right. Which one is it? Should they look into it or screw it?
And this: “I dabble in graphic design, and would have thrown that together in 5 min. Give me a day, and I could blow your mind.” You could? Do not break your arm patting yourself on your back. And as far as blowing our minds, you might be able to blow your mind, and impress a few other people, and the rest would be people like you taking to the Comments sections of blogs or posting on message boards about how badly your logo sucks, and how they could have done better. If you doubt this, give it shot. Post your mind-blowing creation on the NASL/USL Discussion board and then wait for the scorn.
Note to xxLAMPS8xx, some of my most consistent commenters on this site are attorneys. So I would be careful throwing around your one law class you took. There are also a lot of marketing people and some graphics people as well.
Again, everyone has a right to their opinion and I have no issues with anyone who says they don’t like a logo or a name. Just be consistent and honest in your evaluation and you needn’t try to inflate your own value to do so. I’ll listen to you no matter what you lot in life is. You don’t have to be an expert and if you claim to be an expert in all fields and pump yourself up, most people will tend to ignore you.
More talk about the Mascot and who wants to be my teammate for the Futsal tourney?!
nathan3e: If you were a good editor, you would have not taken the comment out of context and realized that I did not request that NSC “schtupp the legal issues.” I requested that they should spend the money to get the name that makes sense and has the fan approval. I am also not the only one (I would say there are at least 20 or so) that has pointed out the logo is amateurish. Oh, and if anyone from the club asked me to, I would design one in a heartbeat.
Brian: I have not once attacked anyone in my posts, and yet somehow I have become the victim of such attacks for raising VERY valid issues and opinions – from the blog leader none-the-less. You of all people should know my arguments are correct. If you know soccer as much I think, and you suggest you do, you know everyone on this blog – yourself included – that is happy with the name and logo are settling, period.
Any person with an ounce of legal thought would know that this logo is bordering on a TM infringement, and I would welcome an opinion on this issue from a IP attorney.
Being in the legal profession myself, and in the process of starting my web/graphic/image development business, you can imagine that IP is of great interest to me, and I have done much needed research on the subject.
Any person that cares about this team would also think the way I do about spending the money to get the rights for a good quality name. If the team wants to be viable 10 years down the road, maybe even reach MLS consideration, they need to focus on creating a quality club and promotional structure from the very beginning. They cannot simply throw something together. The MLS is growing in popularity today, because the newer teams have begun doing just that, and even from years before the beginning. If the money doesn’t exist NOW, then it should not be done NOW. That is why teams fall apart.
I love soccer just as much as the next guy. My weekends are basically devoted to it. I was a season ticket holder for the Thunder, and if I couldn’t make the game, I handed off my four tickets to someone that would enjoy it, and I did what I could to follow the game on my own. I want soccer here in MN and I live for the day that there is a MLS team here; because I think it can happen.
People here are too desperate to have a team. Well, how about we be desperate about having a quality club with a quality ownership team and structure, that is well promoted, well marketed, and looks fantastic when they take the pitch. LET’S NOT SETTLE.
xxLAMPS8xx – I am a good editor, I have successfully made a living doing it for nineteen years now. I did not take what you said out of context, in fact I quoted you. And what you wrote was “Screw the legal issues. That’s what pro sports is about. Making the effort to providing a professional team and name and logo.” I am sorry, that makes no sense. If legal issues prevent adopting a certain name, then you do not plow forward and spend the first months of existence spending your budget on legal fees.
In all seriousness, I am glad to see that you were a season ticket holder and that you are a devoted soccer supporter, but your inflated sense of self importance is nearly awe-inspiring. “Any person that cares about this team would also think the way I do about spending the money to get the rights for a good quality name.” Any person who cares should think the way you do? Your assertion presupposes many things you could not be privy to. What name? How much would it cost? Are the rights holders even willing to sell? Perhaps they should sign some players before they blow the budget on a name you approve of?
“I have not once attacked anyone in my posts.” No you just asserted that anyone who likes the name or logo is “settling”, that “any person with an ounce of legal thought would know that this logo is bordering on a TM infringement”, that the people that designed the logo are “unprofessional” and “uncreative” and that this is a “poorly thrown together team.” Other than that you have been a true diplomat.
Given that you have asserted that your are “in the legal profession myself, and in the process of starting my web/graphic/image development business”, I remind you that you stated outright that you could design a crest that would blow our minds. Let’s see it. It is always easier to be the one standing outside, throwing stones.
nathan3e: Again, context is the entire post, not just a sentence. The rest of the post is about needing to pursue a quality name. Hence, we need to spend the money to get one, if that is necessary. Whether you like it or not, this is settling on something that could be better.
I’m done posting on this. I’ll support the team regardless, but everyone on this post still knows that I hold valid arguments for creating a viable team.
And again, if someone from the team asked me to do a mock-up I’d do it.
I think this horse has been flogged … let’s move on and put our energies into filling the stands, and growing the fan base, for it is us, the soccer fanatico who can make up for the lack of advertising in the major media that will face the team.
Peace and futbol.
xxLAMPS8xx – Context is context, be it one sentence or not.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/netdict/context
I am equally ready to be done with this, as your argument remains the same. The logo is not good. The name is not good. Because you say so. Anyone who disagrees is settling.
No one from the team is going to ask you to do a mock-up. I will ask you to do a mock-up because you have told me me that you could blow my mind, and I enjoy calling people on it when they tell me how great they are.
And yes Neal, my apologies. This horse has been well and truly flogged and I have played my part. It just annoys the shite out of me when instead of celebrating what has been done to this point people start in on I Could Do Better.
I like the logo – no problem with the name, although maybe they should have been clearer that the club name is NSC Minnesota and the nickname is the Stars… I like that they are open to additional nicknames growing organically as well!
oh, and just in case anyone didn’t catch it… I like the logo!
xxLAMPS8xx, being actually licened to practice law, I think you are way off base. I also think Arsenel would waste a lot of time and their own money going after something like you suggest. Besides, any suit would likely be venued in MN. Can you “home field” atvantage!
All/BQ, the more I look at the logo, the more I like it. I think they did a great job! I also like the name more.
Chris, I like the name “The Nessy.”
The assertion that this logo is a copyright infringement of Arsenal is a joke.
whoever said “North Star Club”, i dig it.
chros, spot on! i also love the oddness NSC Minnesota name.
i do think that NSC would be wise in having some sort of “Design our Shield” contest. that shield does seem a bit amaturish to me.
Lawyers can give bad advice and editors can make mistakes. xxLAMPS8xx was not, in my interpretation, writing that the team should have gone with ‘North Stars’ regardless of the legal concerns. He or she used confusing wording, though, and I had to read it twice to get the point.
Now on the matter of the trademark infringement with the logo, xxLAMPS8xx is way off. Arsenal doesn’t operate materially in the US, to my knowledge. I am assuming that their logo is not registered here. They would have to sue the NSC in a US court, would have to prove that their design is original and that they were the first to use such a design. Then they would have to convince a judge that the NSC logo is similar enough to be infringing. Then they would have to assign a damage amount–difficult when they are not operating a business here–or agree to some sort of change to the NSC logo that would satisfy their claim. All this while knock-off Arsenal jerseys are selling in Vietnam for $2 each. To say that there is even a case worth considering in there is asinine.
I am really liking “North Star Club” too.
whoever said “North Star Club”
That was Lou Nanny in 1978.
Skippy, thanks for all that. I was aware of what you said. The main reason I brought it up was that Arsenal clearly has a large following in the US which could influence a decision to take such action. Also, though a good point, the rip-off jersey business in Asia is a little off since US courts would be far friendlier to such action. But good points anyway, and you’re more than likely right.
Jtd: I like your idea of the contest. A previous poster challenged me to do so, so I am.