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Kansas City NWSL has announced their inaugural season brand. The crest, team colors and new website, all centered around the club’s commitment to play “For Kansas City.”
The expansion team will play with the KC crest for 2021 while the club works to develop a permanent name and brand for future seasons.
“It is important to us to articulate who and what we play for: our players, our fans and our city,” said KC NWSL Owner and Co-Founder Angie Long vie press release. “We are so proud of this inaugural crest and how it represents our city. At the same time, we’re excited to continue our long-term strategic branding process over the course of this upcoming year: taking the time to listen to our fans, starting with our Founding Members, and reflect their participation in the process.”
From the press release:
The team crest focuses on a large “KC,” showcasing the club’s mission to Play For Kansas City. The two stars represent Kansas and Missouri, while the stripes demonstrate the history of the region’s railways and crossroads, with a nod to the Santa Fe, Oregon and California National Historic Trails that cross Kansas City. The red and blue colors reflect the primary colors in the state flags of the region and the teal brings a fresh color and feel to the club, distinctly evoking the bright future of the team and organization.
“We are surrounded by an incredibly generous, hardworking region of visionaries and entrepreneurs,” said KC NWSL Owner and Co-Founder Chris Long. “There’s no better way to play our inaugural season than under this inaugural brand “For Kansas City,” and show the world what we already know: that there’s something special about living here, and something even more special about playing soccer here.”
KC NWSL has announced a Brand Advisory Council which will be led by KC NWSL Co-Owner Brittany Matthews. They plan to bring together design experts, soccer insiders, branding leaders and prominent Kansas City voices to guide the brand development process.
“We’re looking forward to adding to Kansas City’s championship history, and we’re bringing that same approach to the club’s name and brand,” Matthews said. “We want to create something that is distinctly designed to capture the fabric of Kansas City and to authentically represent our athletes and our sport.”
Along with Matthews, initial members of the council are Kansas City Sports Commission President and CEO Kathy Nelson and Steinberg Sports CEO Chris Cabott. The council will also include player representatives and designers who will work to ensure the brand reflects input from the fans, sport and players it represents.
The team plans to reaffirm their commitment to Kansas City throughout the season both on and off the soccer field. The organization has already pledged to investing 10% of all partnership revenue into programs to strengthen the community.
In addition to the new brand and crest, the club’s new website is up and running. Fans will have the opportunity to sign-up as a Founding Member, a limited-time membership only sold during the inaugural season with exclusive membership benefits and rewards.
Next up is the NWSL Draft Jan 13th, open tryouts on the Jan 15th and the opening of training camp on Feb. 1st.
Thoughts on the new colors and design? The two stars in the crest?