The name: San Diego Football Club, or San Diego FC for short.
The crest: 18 lines futuristically linked together like a soccer ball, representing the county’s 18 cities.
The colors: officially chrome and azul, but with a logo that also includes splashes of yellow, orange and red that allows for multiple uniform combinations in the modern era where clubs have several different jerseys.
The announcement: premature.
San Diego’s MLS expansion franchise has a Brand Reveal Festival scheduled Friday night outside Snapdragon Stadium, where it will begin play in February 2025. Any suspense was removed Thursday afternoon when The Athletic obtained a leaked copy of the crest and posted a story about it.
The World Wide Web took care of the rest.
Reaction, as is often the case for team branding, was positively mixed.
“Haters can hate, but I actually love it,” one Twitter post said. “Represents San Diego sunset and the 18 cities. Good vibes, and lots of color options for kits and merch.”
Another: “This might be the worst sports logo I have ever seen. Definitely top 3. I thought it would be ridiculous to not a team based on the logo, but I am sitting here seriously considering that option.”
Pro: “Most people weren’t fond of the Loyal name/crest when it was released either and now it is a legit identity. I wouldn’t say this is terrible as much as I would say it is underwhelming. These things grow on you over time so we will see. Either way it’s OUR team!”
Con: “The San Diego Shower Drains?”
The name isn’t a surprise. Back in May, club CEO Tom Penn hinted it would be either San Diego FC or FC San Diego, ing the 10 other MLS teams with the FC designation popularized in England. And the website the club has been using is sandiegofc.com.
The “18” theme in the crest was telegraphed by the 10-foot mirrored ball revealed at the May franchise announcement. The idea is to take it to each of the county’s 18 cities between now and the inaugural game so a local artist can paint an expression of its soccer culture on a .
The club also charged an $18 season ticket deposit.
According to The Athletic, the branding was created by Pupila, a Costa Rican firm that designed the crest for its national soccer team as well as the Right to Dream youth development academy that San Diego FC will build on the Sycuan reservation. Pupila worked in collaboration with The House Of, a San Diego-based creative agency.
The crest embodies the county’s four “principal virtues” as identified in months of community meetings, focus groups and lengthy surveys: gratitude; proud, not loud; diversity; and a state of flow.
“The flow,” an explainer quoted by The Athletic says, “symbolizes how we perform at a peak level while embracing San Diego’s unique rhythm of life.”
The Friday night event is still happening and open only to those with tickets. Gates open at 6 p.m. The official unveiling is scheduled for around 8 p.m., followed by the first chance to purchase club merchandise.
