Quote:
Originally Posted by ucsbgaucho
Team name and branding really don't have anything to do with that team's following, it's a mixture of history, success, community outreach and the market itself. The LA Chargers have no following in Los Angeles, and a change in team name and branding wouldn't do a bit of difference. The New Orleans basketball team was the Jazz, then they got the Hornets, then they now have the Pelicans name... They're not any more or less popular as the Pelicans as they are the Hornets, just depends on the success of the team.
People here won't decide to support or not support the team based on the name or branding. They may choose to buy less or more merchandise based on that, but the overall support of the team has nothing to do with the name. You'll support the players if you like them, or if they're winning.
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I get what you're saying but you're really arguing irrelevant points.
No one is saying the franchise would be doomed with a bad name. So, it's silly to kind of use that as the foundation for your argument, Moreover, the examples you list are not comparable. If this hockey team came to Salt Lake as the Coyotes, which I think most find a pretty cool name (and one that can work with Utah as we have coyotes too), established itself and then changed its name, that would be different.
But that isn't happening. This will be the name. So, not only are they going to work to establish themselves in a market that has never had another major league team (outside soccer) other than the Jazz, they're going to do so with a team that isn't the most successful right now. We hope that the young talent will lead to success but the franchise they're inheriting has made the playoffs just once in the last twelve years.
It's not going to make or break whether they succeed but it absolutely helps. Having a good name creates positive momentum and energy and helps sell the team to the local community that has never supported another major league like the NHL.
This is all new territory.
Hell, when the Jazz moved to Salt Lake, they were likely doing so temporarily. That's why they didn't spend the money they didn't have to change the name. Salt Lake was never a destination but a pitstop on the way to either Minnesota or Miami. But then the Jazz started winning and by the time it became clear they were going to remain in Salt Lake, the name didn't matter. They were winning.
Theoretically, this team is here to be here - not here just to get them out of Mullet Arena. Ryan Smith didn't buy the Coyotes operations just to temporarily move them to Salt Lake like with what we likely saw with Sam Battistone and the Jazz in the 1970s.
Regardless, new teams have a completely new world to navigate. Branding is much more a thing today than it was even when the Hornets relocated to New Orleans.
At the end of the day, a bad name might not sink the NHL team (one that is still trying to find its hierarchy in the Salt Lake sports scene) but it absolutely could be an avoidable blunder.
I do hope there's more names put out there because yeah the names tossed around so far haven't been great.