Let’s chat about one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to naming sport teams: region over city. I think the regional association has a common-sense logic for attracting fans. In this state, the Panthers of Charlotte went with Carolina as the geographic signifier. I think Charlotte Panthers would’ve worked just fine and sounds better to me. I don’t like the smarmy assumption that potential fans will see the region they live in and decide to follow that team accordingly… and there simply isn’t much evidence that this happens at all. As if an MLB team named the “Raleigh ____” will appeal less to a fan in Wilmington than the “Carolina ____.” I don’t want to dive into the Carolina Hurricanes for this exercise. I feel like recent success might muddy a consideration of the concept at hand.
In terms of data, each team spends time doing market research to narrow down marketability. I’d argue this is not as important as measuring existing team data rather than hypothetical fandom. It’s a bit like the difference between polling data and actual turnout in elections. What people “might do” if they voted is one set of data. But what actual voters did do is always a better guide. If you’re running a campaign, for instance, you pay attention to polling data. But the more valuable predictive data is past voter history. This data is a better reflection of likely electoral outcomes. Similarly, the initial market research indicates what fans might do. However, when you look at actual fan behavior (attendance, loyalty, spending) there is no solid evidence that regional names attract more than city names… and sometimes the opposite. I’ll cite here an example of studies that consider this topic: link.
I grew up playing baseball in the early 90’s in Colorado. I became a Cubs fan mostly because of WGN broadcasting games everyday (and playing 2nd base while Ryne Sandberg played). I bring this up for two reasons- 1) the Rockies happened less than two years after I left for high school in Texas. Oof. That hurt in a retroactive way. It probably explains my extra interest in being present for an expansion team this time around. 2) The same broadcast availability explains many fans in this region (the Carolinas) being Atlanta Braves fans. TBS was the east coast equivalent of WGN as a free superstation.
Notice those fans- many of whom are still loyal Braves fans- are fans of the Atlanta Braves. Not the Georgia Braves or the Southeast Braves. The deciding factor for most was basic broadcast exposure. Meanwhile the team I narrowly missed out on went with Colorado rather than Denver. This seems like a special case because the Rocky Mountains are a long chain of mountains and the phrase Colorado Rockies indicates that particular piece of the larger range. It was already a phrase in-use so I can see the appeal over the Denver Rockies. Here, though, I’ll point out that it didn’t have to be Rockies anything. To be sure, it’s a fine name as is (Colorado Rockies)! But I’m guessing I would’ve preferred whatever name accompanied Denver more.
How about the other expansion team names? Diamondbacks, Rays, and Marlins. First- the Arizona Diamondbacks. Meh. Phoenix Diamondbacks? Is that better? No, I guess not. The Diamondbacks logos are all pretty solid. Can’t argue with Arizona too much here. Again, I bet there is a Phoenix name I’d like better, but I digress.
Next up, Tampa Bay. This one works for me. It’s a more discreet region than some and really does kind of live as one area. Not to mention, the team doesn’t even play in Tampa right now (and may never)! Is Tampa Rays better? No, not really. You know what does roll off the tongue though? Raleigh Rays. Raleigh Rays is more appealing than Tampa Bay Rays… and much better than the original Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Now on to the most important (for my purposes) case- the Florida Marlins. I hated this name from moment one. Florida is a big state, so the “regional-name=affiliation” logic was in full swing here. Miami isn’t central to Florida and isn’t really that Florida of a place. It never made sense. And guess what? They changed it! Miami Marlins is a far better name. Especially since the state gained a second team in Tampa thus nullifying the region-logic.
Time to introduce an important language variable- alliteration. I prefer any Raleigh name over any Carolina name. But let’s say the leading name candidate is “Copperheads.” Well, I’ll concede that Carolina Copperheads is superior to Raleigh Copperheads. Here’s a weird wrinkle- Carolina Reapers makes sense as the pepper’s name, but alliteration wins with Raleigh Reapers. That’d be a close call though.
I don’t want to get too far down the hypothetical names train of thought here, so let’s see what lessons we can learn from the other recent expansion teams. Arizona Diamondbacks- regional (state) signifier with an okay animal name. Their logos are great, but Phoenix ___ would have been better. And no alliteration. Colorado Rockies is tough to take issue with, but, again like the Phoenix case, I’m guessing some Denver alternative would’ve been my preference. The AAA team when I lived there was the Denver Zephyrs. Pretty great.
Tampa Bay makes sense, but what would the Raleigh equivalent be? Raleigh-Durham? This certainly means something to the rest of the nation as I often see the area reported as such in national coverage. The problem is… it’s not a real place. Two rather different cities, 30 minutes apart. And there is the issue of the Durham Bulls. RDU feels like it’s stepping all over those toes. The one scenario where I could see this working is by stealing away the best and most storied minor league franchise and elevating it to MLB level: Durham Bulls or Raleigh-Durham Bulls. I know I know, let’s not go down that rabbit hole either right now. For the purposes of this post, those would both be preferred to “Carolina.”
I guess you could throw the Triangle in this Tampa Bay equivalent bucket. The research Triangle area is fairly similar in size and population to Tampa Bay. I suppose there could be alliteration possibilities with Triangle, but let’s be honest… they’d be terrible. No Triangle nothing for me thanks!
The Florida Marlins is the most glaring mistake with regional naming. They were able to undo that mistake while gaining alliteration! Great adjustment.
One more appeal for a city over regional signifier: symmetry! Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Hornets. Carolina Hurricanes… Raleigh MLB!
