Five months after a disastrous rollout of their initial branding, officials from Boston's 2026 National Women's Soccer League expansion team unveiled "Boston Legacy Football Club" as the new name of the franchise.
A crest and wordmark will be announced in the coming months, the team said.
The team, which was granted an expansion franchise by the NWSL two years ago, had unveiled the name "BOS Nation FC" and announced itself using a tongue-in-cheek marketing campaign called "Too Many Balls" -- a pun about there not being enough women's professional sports in Boston -- last October.
A widespread pushback quickly followed, and the team removed most of the marketing campaign assets within about 24 hours.
"BOS Nation" was an anagram for the word "Bostonian," the club said in its explanations of the previous name.
Earlier this month, the franchise's majority owner, Jennifer Epstein, confirmed that the team's name would be officially changed following "honest and critical feedback" from supporters, ending months of speculation around the branding.
The new Boston Legacy FC name is meant to acknowledge both the city's long history and "its importance as a hub of future innovation," the club said in a news release.
The team also said that it went through a "quantitative analysis process" of fan feedback to come up with the name. A survey of 1,500 fans and brand professionals led to over 500 name suggestions before a shortlist of 14 names was created.
"Many names -- some popular -- were unavailable for legal or trademark reasons, while others missed the majority of our guiding criteria," the team said on its website this week.
Among the team's criteria were that the new name "require no explanation" -- as BOS Nation being an anagram did -- and could withstand the test of time. The team also said it sought to "steer clear of colonial, Revolutionary War, and nautical themes," which are popular among New England sports teams.
The Boston Breakers name and branding were used in all three iterations of women's professional soccer leagues in the United States.
The Breakers were won of the founding teams of the NWSL, which kicked off in 2013, before folding after the 2017 season amid financial troubles.
"Our name is just the beginning," Epstein said in a statement. "It's what we build together, through dedication, commitment, and grit, that will give it life.
"We aim for our values to reflect a city that breathes competition, passion, and pride, and to pay tribute to those who paved the way before us, including the gamechangers who helped build previous women's professional teams in Boston.
"We are also focused on the future, for the next generation of players and fans who will carry forward what we build today." Boston's forthcoming NWSL franchise has faced setbacks beyond branding.
The team's plan to renovate the dilapidated White Stadium and share it as a home venue with Boston Public Schools sports teams has drawn intense scrutiny from locals and become a polarizing issue in Boston's upcoming mayoral race.
Last week, the team began its defense in a trial seeking to halt plans for the stadium on the grounds that the plan privatizes public land. A decision in the case could be made in the coming days after a brief trial last week, and after the team won significant pre-trial motions.
Construction costs for the stadium project have roughly doubled from the initial estimates proposed in 2023. Demolition began at the site about a month ago.
Boston Legacy FC will begin play next year alongside a Denver expansion team that is yet to be named, which will bring the NWSL to 16 teams.
Denver recently launched a public team-naming process, allowing fans to help choose from a shortlist of six names.