Is the NWSL’s BOS Nation Brand Launch Really ‘So Bad It Feels Like Satire’?

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

There I was, minding my own business and clicking through the Boston Globe, when I came across Michael Silverman’s piece about the naming of the National Women’s Soccer League’s new Boston franchise.

Boston’s new professional women’s soccer team established its identity with what it believes is a boss move Tuesday.

The “BOS Nation Football Club” name is a play, team leaders explained, not only on “Boston” (with a nod to Logan Airport) but also on the “boss” mind-set needed by players to command attention and, ultimately, win championships here . . .

A number of billboards reading “There Are Too Many Balls In This Town” went up around Boston this past weekend, a cheekycampaign designed to show that the National Women’s Soccer League team that is scheduled to begin play in the spring of 2026 is intent on elbowing its way onto a vaunted local pro sports stage.

Kind of . . . well . . . ballsy – no, Doc?

– Jump Ball

Dear JB,

Here’s that billboard.

But wait! There’s more!

Via Michael Silverman: “A video accompanying the campaign features references to an array of ‘balls,’ such as old, new, steel, cold, and goat — the last mention followed by a quick video clip of Tom Brady saying, ‘Wait, what?’”

In general, the BOS Nation campaign has gone over like the metric system. First there was Print contributor Charlotte Beach’s blowtorching of the name itself.

BOS Nation FC is a terrible name for a sports franchise because, to put it bluntly: it’s corny as hell. “Lady Boss” culture and the “Girl Boss” discourse is over. In fact, it never started. It’s an inherently dated and regressive concept that is the opposite of empowering. “BOS Nation” is trying too hard. It wants so badly to be cool, and there’s nothing less cool than wanting to be cool.

Beach’s piece sports the “feels like satire” headline, but her thorough dismantling of this “lasagna of disrespect” should be read in its entirety.

As night follows day, the NWSL quickly moonwalked away from the balls-out advertising, as detailed by NBC News reporter Kyla Guilfoil (among others).

The National Women’s Soccer League’s newest team, Boston-based BOS Nation Football Club, apologized Wednesday after its name reveal and brand campaign launch garnered criticism online . . .

Many users on social media criticized the club’s ad for its emphasis on male athletes. “Why are we making our NWSL announcement about men?” one user on X wrote.

Other users complained that the campaign assumes that only men have balls, arguing that it makes the campaign transphobic.

The Doc’s diagnosis: The whole thing is bollocks.

How Long Before Ads on Uniforms Make Baseball Players Look Like Nascar Drivers?

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

There I was, minding my own business and tooling around ESPN.com, when I came across Ronald Blum’s Associated Press piece.

Padres 1st MLB team to reach uniform ad deal, with Motorola

NEW YORK (AP) — There will be a new pitch on Major League Baseball fields next season.

The San Diego Padres became the first team to announce a deal for ads on their uniforms, saying Tuesday that patches with a Motorola logo will be worn on the sleeves of their jerseys.

The March 10 memorandum of understanding for a new collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the players’ association gave the 30 teams the right to sell patch ads on uniforms and sticker ads on helmets. The sides adopted an Aug. 6, 2021, proposal by MLB to amend a section of the Official Baseball Rules which states: “No part of the uniform shall include patches or designs relating to commercial advertisement.”

Here’s what MLB is proposing: “Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything else in these rules, a club may license to third-party commercial sponsors the right to place their name, logos and/or marks on the uniform, provided that the patch or design is approved in advance by the Office of the Commissioner after consultation with the players’ association.”

What the hell, Doc – are baseball players as brand billboards the new national pastime?

– Logo NoNo

Dear NoNo,

You’re not the only one exercised about the branding of baseball players, at this letter to the San Diego Union-Tribune attests.

Corporate logos on Padres uniforms are a bad call

Re “Motorola patches to land on Padres jerseys in 2023” (April 19): I had read in the U-T that corporate advertising was going to be allowed on uniforms this year, but as far as this San Diego Padres fan is concerned, adding Motorola’s “batwing” logo to the team’s jersey is in poor taste and just clutters an otherwise classically great uniform.

It’s only a matter of time until the Padres Friar will have a “Support Your Local Developer” stitched onto the back of his robe, and Padres jerseys will look more like pro soccer’s, where the teams’ cities have disappeared and been replaced by only the corporate sponsor(s’) logo(s).