We’ve known for a while that Seattle would be getting a professional women’s soccer team in the new National Women’s Soccer League.
Now that team has a logo (pictured) and a name: Reign FC.
You can follow the team on Twitter and Facebook. A team website will launch in March prior to the start of the league season.
If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Seattle’s women’s basketball team in the ABL from 1996 to 1998 was also called the Reign. That’s no coincidence.
“Today’s announcement is the result of a thoughtful process to identify the name that best represents the values of our club, articulates our long-term ambitions and celebrates the community within which our supporters live,” said owner Bill Predmore in a news release.
“Seattle Reign FC meets all of those objectives and at the same time honors the legacy of professional women’s sports in Seattle. Like the Seattle Sounders, whose fans selected a name that honored those who pioneered the sport of soccer in Seattle in the early 1970’s, Seattle Reign FC was, in part, selected to pay homage those visionaries — the leaders and players of the Seattle Reign women’s basketball team — who pioneered professional women’s sports in Seattle. ”
Reign FC, whose team colors are white, platinum, royal blue and midnight black, will begin its preseason and March with a 22-game regular season starting in April. There will be three matches apiece against the seven other teams in the league (Portland Thorns FC, DC Spirit, Chicago Red Stars, Western New York Flash, FC Kansas City, Sky Blue FC, Boston Breakers) and one extra against regional rival Portland. The NWSL championship will be Aug. 31.
Amy Carnell, who served as general manager of the Sounders Women this past summer, will assume that same role for Reign FC.
Further announcements will be coming in the next few weeks, including the hiring of a head coach, additional front office hires, the establishment of a home stadium, ticket information and a league schedule.
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What do you think of the new Reign FC?