"If you look here in Chicago at Soldier Field, two top Mexican clubs — Chivas and Club America — sold out Soldier Field a few weeks ago.

Use the brand for what it’s supposed to do: rebuild. ... We've had one hand tied behind our back with the location here in Chicago, so we're addressing that.". Maybe the irony is lost on ownership, but it certainly isn’t on me; to be successful, they need the people of Chicago to join arms and brick by brick, game by game, rebuild professional soccer and its culture in this city. Fire fans can thank his three kids. The Great Fire was a disaster, but it also required a lot of changes to be made with the regulations of buildings in the city, forcing builders to use more high quality materials when building anything. Yet there are two compelling reasons to embrace a rebrand, one that should’ve been obvious from Day 1 and one that couldn’t have possibly been predicted in the late 90s: In other words, a rebrand makes plenty of sense from a business and public relations perspective, if not from a sporting one. The stadium move impacts will certainly be felt by many fans, but those who care will continue to make their voices heard.

As a Chicagoan it means a lot to me, the Chicago Fire name. Also a contributor for MLSsoccer.com, the Associated Press, MLB.com and elsewhere.

Further, the Fire have built a considerable history with their current identity, one that includes the 1998 MLS Cup, the 2003 Supporters’ Shield and four U.S. Open Cup titles.

From my perspective, I love the name. The US men's team lost to Mexico here in August, but it was full. Full Throttle: Chicago Fire dominate Houston Dynamo in 4-0 win, Berić, Herbers, Medrán and Sapong scored for the Fire in the team’s best performance of the season, Player Ratings: Chicago Fire 4-0 Houston Dynamo, There are some high scores after Chicago’s best performance of the year, STH sign-up portal on the Fire’s website last week, Chicago Fire fullback Miguel Ángel Navarro is making a name for himself in MLS, Boris Sekulić opens up about his strange first season with the Chicago Fire, Double Duty: Remembering DaMarcus Beasley’s USMNT-Chicago Fire doubleheader, Straight Hustle: How Tyler Terens worked his way to the Chicago Fire broadcast booth, The inside story of how the Chicago Fire landed Arlo White, How Raphael Wicky is changing the culture of the Chicago Fire. More specifically, there are plenty of renaming possibilities in that realm that could pay homage to the club culture and even civic history. Current ownership’s answer is to strip the club down back to its base, create a shiny new brand and set of fans to go with it. I write about MLS, American soccer and occasionally Baltimore sports for Forbes.com. You may opt-out by. The Chicago Fire have won six major domestic trophies in their 22 seasons, and and any rebrand or... [+] name change should respect that past history. Earlier this month, team president and GM Nelson Rodriguez said no final decision has been made on a new name or new colors. This club has been broken for years. Don’t rebrand this club. #cf97 pic.twitter.com/JffWCKfZPq, — Section 8 Chicago (@Section8Chicago) April 4, 2019.

Some examples (Just to begin the brainstorming process): Another route would be to embrace the imagery of present day firefighters or first responders. That Tradition, Honor, and Passion. The team name celebrates a terrible disaster, theGreat Chicago Fire, that killed approximately 300 people, left 100,000 homeless. Off the field.

"If you did want to change anything, when you move would be an opportune time to do it. That honor …

The best single piece of professional advice I ever received came from a high school football coach when I was 22: “Be better, or be different.” Aspiring to cover the 2021 World Baseball Classic and 2022 World Cup in person. Those outside of Chicago commonly misunderstand why the club bears the name of the Great Fire of 1871, but the story of the disaster does not begin and end with the destruction that was left at the feet of the people in this great city. The demand is there. It’s becoming apparent that the conspiracy theories that Nelson Rodriguez was the man to guide the Fire into MLS 2.0 under a new name, stadium and entirely new way of operating may not be a sick joke after all, and very might well be the reality when it comes to professional soccer in the city of Chicago.

He initially bought a 49% stake last July.