BOS Nation Considering Name Change After Intense Backlash

Topline

The latest addition to the National Women’s Soccer League, a Boston team called BOS Nation, is considering changing its name before it even plays its first game after a surge of criticism (“worst name possible,” complained one), and a campaign that jokingly tweaked the city’s history of famous sports teams by complaining it has “too many balls”—which was slammed as male-centered and possibly transphobic.

Key Facts

The name choice, an anagram of Bostonian, was immediately met with a negative reaction and called “the worst option you could’ve come up with” and “objectively awful” by critics.

This week, the team posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, to say it has seen the feedback and is “actively listening” to the criticism, and will launch a process to consider a new team name after gathering input.

The negative reaction to the BOS Nation name was compounded by a one-minute video shared across the team’s social media accounts during its official rollout last month, which says Boston’s legacy is filled with “Trophies, banners, rings and balls. Old Balls. New Balls. Steel Balls. Cold Balls. Even Goat Balls,” a claim accompanied by a clip of former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, often called the Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T.), saying “wait, what?”

The video then goes on to say, “Maybe there are too many balls in this town,” and suggests a new NWSL team could “add a new chapter to our city’s legacy.”

The announcement was criticized by fans on social media for its overall tone, and caught the attention of professional athletes including nonbinary and transgender Seattle Reign player Quinn, who called it transphobic and said it “doesn’t represent the league and is such poor messaging.”

The rollout was initially accompanied by the URL “toomanyballs.com,” which linked back to the official NWSL Boston website, but that domain was taken down, and a $35 T-shirt with the slogan “too many balls” was also removed from the team’s online store.

In addition to considering a name change, the team listed a series of actions it is taking to “create a club that represents the strength, diversity and passion of this community,” including appointing a diverse group of brand advisers and hosting listening forums.

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Chief Critics

Among those who slammed the rollout was NWSL Players Association director Meghann Burke, who told The Athletic she didn’t expect the team to be “so unserious.” “I’m holding out hope that this is an elaborate and ingenious joke and that the real team name and campaign telling us what they’re really about will be rolled out soon,” she said. Meg Linehan, who covers the National Women’s Soccer League for the outlet, called it “the worst NWSL launch I’ve ever seen in the history of the league,” adding, “the most insulting part is how much time they’ve had to release something this bad” (the team was officially announced more than a year ago). On social media, reactions from NWSL fans and players were swift and overwhelmingly negative. Racing Louisville FC player Bethany Balcer tweeted, “They’re gonna delete that video….right???” USA Today sports writer Meghan Hall posted, “Everything I have learned about Bos Nation feels like a giant misstep.” One user on X asked, “Why are we making our NWSL announcement about men?” and another said “If you hired me as a consultant tasked with coming up with the worst name possible for the Boston women’s soccer team I don’t think I’d even have the balls to submit BOS Nation as one of the options.”

Key Background

Boston had a professional women’s soccer team called the Boston Breakers from 2009 until the Women’s Professional Soccer league folded in early 2012. The Breakers then joined the NWSL and played from 2013 to 2017. It was announced in September 2023 that Boston would get a new NWSL team, slated to begin playing in 2026. BOS Nation is owned by the all-female Boston Unity Soccer Partners group and investors include Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman and actress Elizabeth Banks. It was reported the Boston franchise paid about $50 million in fees to join the NWSL. The team will play home matches in White Stadium in Franklin Park, which will get millions of dollars’ worth of upgrades ahead of opening day. No logo has been revealed for the team, but its main color will be “Championship Green” with accents of “Relentless Raspberry, Loyal Charcoal, Daring Pink, Rise Yellow and Orange Press, which speak to the rich diversity of Boston’s neighborhoods and the team’s values and signal a new era in the city’s sports landscape.”