NWSL Boston team rebrands itself after backlash

After negative public reaction to its initial name, the Hub’s new professional women’s soccer team has rebranded itself as Boston Legacy Football Club.

The name change follows backlash to the National Women’s Soccer League expansion team’s “Too Many Balls” campaign and comes after “five months of fan listening, research and consultation,” the team announced on Wednesday.

“Our name is just the beginning,” club controlling owner Jennifer Epstein said in a statement. “It’s what we build together, through dedication, commitment and grit that will give it life.”

The new name, per the team statement, keeps the focus on Boston while invoking both its long history and its importance as a hub of future innovation. The new soccer club aims to create its own legacy in a city with decades of sporting legacy.

“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,” Epstein said. “We are also focused on the future, for the next generation of players and fans who will carry forward what we build today.”

The team, owned by Boston Unity Soccer Partners and slated to take the pitch at a rehabbed White Stadium in March 2026, announced plans for the name change at a watch party for the start of the NSWL regular season earlier this month.

The change comes after negative fan reaction to its prior name, BOS Nation FC, and backlash to its accompanying “Too Many Balls” campaign.

The video accompanying that campaign launch included cameos from Boston sports players, past and present, and messaging “playfully pointing out that in a city filled with championships, its sports heroes need not all be male.”

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The team later apologized for offending the LGBTQ+ community and the “trans community in particular” with the campaign.

The public push for the team to change its name is one in a series of controversies that have accompanied the club’s foray into Boston professional sports.

Boston Unity Soccer Partners’ public-private partnership with the City of Boston to rehab Franklin Park’s White Stadium into the club’s home pitch has divided the community.

The $200 million plan has city taxpayers on the hook for roughly half the cost. A Suffolk Superior Court trial considering a lawsuit that seeks to stop the project was held last week.

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