#mascot-change

#mascot-change

110,000 participants - an overwhelming sign from our red and white club family, thank you to all members for taking part! We're delighted with the fantastic participation in the vote for our new membership card for the 2026/27 season.

World Cup kits are a big part of the experience for many football fans around the globe, with new releases more important for some than the group stage draw.

The Brewers for example, went for the combination of (1) really ugly, and (2) a locational nickname that you totally definitely hear people saying all the time.

"The superbloom concept became a framework for this design language, providing a vibrant color scheme as well as the visual form of flower petals to guide the graphic treatment."

U.S. Soccer just dropped its new USMNT team kits this week ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and they're instant classics. If you expected the usual home whites and away reds or blues, hold on. This time around they went for it. We are given two kits, two distinct personalities, and a design process that actually involved the players who'll be wearing them.

"Any time you have to explain your name, you're essentially apologizing for it," says Alexandra Watkins, the founder of naming firm Eat My Words. Her deal-breakers for names include 'looks like a typo' and 'hard to pronounce.'

Wash.a city north of Seattle that claims to be the original home of the name seahawk for its high school mascotthe name arose as a nickname for the osprey because of its talons that are uniquely fit to catch fish. Ospreys go by other names, too, including river hawk and fish hawk, and they embark on these long, arduous journeys and have to survive a lot of obstacles, says Robert Domenech, executive director of the Raptor View Research Institute in Montana.

Personalization is a tried-and-tested way to boost engagement while gathering valuable information about existing audiences - and is proving to be a key driver for the sports industry, says Rawnet's Harry Daniel. For brands looking to score with digital marketing, personalization is a winning long-term business strategy. Personalizing the user experience (UX) via websites and apps keeps fans engaged and enhances brand loyalty. It can help brands to grow, by extending their reach to new users and unleashing untouched opportunities for victory.

Yet rights holders are also meant to protect the value of their products-a value that's currently being chipped away by an endless stream of clips, highlights and post-game interviews. All this churn comes at the expense of creativity, social media talent - and, fundamentally, consumer engagement. The result is the enshittification of sports marketing. Let me explain. So much for creativity

Ahead of its 12th season in Major League Soccer and its final campaign at Yankee Stadium, NYCFC has tapped into city culture for the announcement of its official mascot, Sky Scraper, a pigeon and local New Yorker. As the club prepares for the start of a new era, it only feels right that Sky writes his own chapter into club history.

"Dougan joining Kettering put us on the back pages but also the front pages with this shirt, this initiative,"

In the Bundesliga, the obvious starting point is Borussia Dortmund. Their Yellow Wall is iconic, the atmosphere incredible, and the tradition undeniable. Yet the nonstop "underdog versus Bayern Munich" narrative can feel exhausting. You respect the passion, but the moral-victory energy after narrow losses? That can grate. Then there's Schalke 04. Even during seasons when Schalke aren't competing near the top, the anti-Bayern Munich sentiment never fades. Maybe it's regional pride, maybe it's history,