NWSL Boston expansion team, BOS Nation Football Club, unveils name and branding to mixed reviews

The NWSL is continuing to grow, and NWSL Boston is on its way. The new club, which is set to be the 15th franchise in the NWSL, unveiled its name and branding ahead of a launch ceremony in downtown Boston on Tuesday.

The team is called BOS Nation Football Club (BOS Nation is an anagram for "Bostonian") and have green and black as primary colors, with pink among the accent colors for the club.

The "tongue-in-cheek" marketing campaign is called "Too Many Balls," noting the number of successful men's teams in the area and pointing out that it is time for a women's team. (Notably, the campaign did not include the Boston-based PWHL women's hockey team, the newly named Boston Fleet, when listing local teams.)

The rollout has already received significant backlash, with some lamenting the name, and others the tone of the campaign and exclusion of Boston Fleet in the discussion of teams in the area. The backlash began after a report about the new name on Monday from CBS Sports' Sandra Herrera. Per Herrera, multiple posts on social media were removed following her report, and while some retailers had links for merchandise, those links were also removed following CBS Sports' report.

A fan also created a change.org petition soon after the announcement, calling for the new franchise to "Give the Boston NWSL Team a Decent Name — Rebel Against 'BOS Nation.'" The petition decries what it calls "a cringey name completely devoid of regional identity."

"We implore the leadership of the NWSL’s Boston FC to allow fans to vote on a better, stronger, culturally significant and altogether less stupid name for this team that we so desperately want to love," the petition reads.

In terms of the branding, the swift level of backlash may result in a pivot. Racing Louisville FC, an expansion team that joined the NWSL in 2021, was originally called Proof Louisville FC, a reference to bourbon whiskey. The team later underwent a total rebrand after receiving mixed reviews from fans.

Boston was awarded an expansion bid a year ago, and will begin play in 2026. Another city is also set to receive an expansion bid, with NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman telling ESPN in April that the league plans to announce a 16th team before the end of 2024. That team would also start in 2026, with cities like Cincinnati, Denver and Cleveland currently competing for the spot.

The league added its 13th and 14th clubs this past season with the addition of Bay FC and the Utah Royals.

The new team will mark the second iteration of a Boston franchise in the NWSL — the Boston Breakers, one of the NWSL's inaugural clubs when the league was formed in 2013, folded in 2018.

BOS Nation FC is a separately run organization from the Breakers, led by Boston Unity Soccer Partners. BUSC is an all-female ownership group — one of few in the NWSL — and the leadership has local ties to Boston.

The team also announced Monday that it had added two new investors, with former Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman and actress and producer Elizabeth Banks joining the group.