5 Themes

• MLB
• NFL
• NBA
• MLS

San Jose Earthquakes

Neale notes, “San Jose was rich in soccer heritage, had a knowledgeable fan base, and had great equity in the Earthquakes name. But the team wasn’t leveraging that, and when we discussed it, it was clear that going back to San Jose’s soccer roots, and having a name that resonated instead of an arbitrary name, was best.” The Mercury-News, in its day-after coverage, wondered about naming the team for a disaster. GM Lynne Meterparel responded with an answer suggesting they’d anticipated this might be coming. “People in California, and especially in this area, feel earthquakes every single day. It's part of life here. It creates a community that is prepared, that works together to conquer the odds. That's exactly what you want to do with a team on the field.''

San Fransisco 49ers

Morabito was the sports pioneer of the West, bringing San Francisco its first major league professional team, the San Francisco 49ers. Before World War II, Morabito was convinced the San Francisco Bay Area was ready for a franchise in the National Football League. The Bay Area was a mecca for college football. Fans came in droves to Kezar Stadium to see the Wonder Teams of California-Berkeley and the Wow Boys of Stanford, led by Frankie Albert. St. Mary's, Santa Clara and the University of San Francisco were also area powerhouses that regularly defeated the University of Washington and Southern California inside the walls of Kezar.

Sorrell suggested the team be named "49ers" after the voyagers who had rushed the West for gold. It is the only name the team has ever been affiliated with and San Francisco is the only city in which it has resided.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Professional football began in Pittsburgh in 1933. Former baseball, football, and Olympic boxer Arthur Rooney saw an opportunity to establish a professional football team. For $2,500 he established the Pittsburgh Pirates, named after the city’s professional baseball team. This was not an uncommon thing to do in those days, as baseball reigned supreme in the professional sports world and football owners hoped it would spark an interest from the local baseball fans. The Pirates struggled mightily, however, going through five different head coaches in their first seven years and not doing so well sustaining fan interest. So after the 1939 season, Art Rooney decided it was time to change things up with a new name. 21 people submitted the name “Steelers,” and that’s the one that really connected with Rooney. He loved how it incorporated the entire city and its rich history in the steel industry. Much of the fanbase worked in steel mills and it would help them feel connected to the team. Even the logo is directly derived from the Steelmark logo that belongs to the American Iron and Steel Institute, with the word “steel” changed to “Steelers.”

New England Patriots

Why call the team the “Patriots?”Originally located in Boston, the team was named the Patriots because of the area’s heritage as the birthplace of the American Revolution. Why New England? At the beginning of the 1970s AFL and NFL merged placing the Boston Patriots in the East division. Taking into account that the Boston Patriots didn’t have a regular home stadium, which caused them to bounce from site to site, as well as a general lack of interest in professional football in the Boston area, the team took the decision to move to Foxborough.

“They were to play in the old AFL and when they moved out to Foxborough they were really trying to broaden their reach and become a regional team,” NFL historian Joe Horrigan said. “At the time most football fans in that area actually supported the NFL’s New York Giants.” Of course, it was fairly obvious to see that a change in name would be required and as such the New England tag was the obvious option.

Texas Rangers

Arlington is located between Dallas and Fort Worth, so there was no desire to play favorite toward either city. The franchise was identified as Texas. The next step was a nickname, and that was easy in 1971: the Texas Rangers. The namesake Texas Rangers are an investigative arm of the Texas Department of Public Safety. The organization unofficially was created by Stephen F. Austin, one of the key figures of the Texas Revolution, with a long and colorful history deeply imbedded in the psyche of the state.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In 1975, a fan-led contest culminated in the team selecting “Buccaneers” as its nickname. The swashbuckling name was inspired by the legendary pirates who annually raided Florida’s coasts (including Tampa Bay) during the 17th century. One infamous pirate in particular, a Spanish captain named Jose Gaspar – commonly known as Gasparilla – was said to have led the invasions and plunders of Florida’s western coast, but no reliable evidence suggests Gaspar ever existed. Still, the “Gasparilla Pirate Festival” has been held in Tampa every year since 1904 and draws almost half a million attendees.

Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies are a beloved Major League Baseball team whose nickname has an interesting origin story. The name “Rockies” was chosen to represent the Rocky Mountains, seen from Coors Field in Denver, where the team plays its home games. The idea for using the mountains as inspiration came during a meeting between club officials and Denver's tourism board members in 1991. They were brainstorming potential names when one member suggested “Rockies” as an homage to Colorado's most famous geographic feature. Everyone immediately liked it and decided this would become their official name. Since then, fans have embraced this moniker with pride and passion; it reminds us of how unique our state is every time we cheer on our favorite baseball team! The Rockies logo also incorporates mountain imagery into its design – two crossed pick axes overtop snow-capped peaks – further emphasizing their connection to Colorado's beautiful landscape. Fans all across the country recognize these symbols whenever they see them; even if you don't know much about baseball or live nowhere near Denver, chances are you're familiar with what "Colorado Rockies" stands for!

Minnesota Twins

Los Angeles Lakers

The franchise that would become the Lakers was founded in 1946 as the Detroit Gems and played in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1947, and its name was changed to the Lakers to reflect the Minnesota state nickname, “Land of 10,000 Lakes.” That same year the Lakers acquired George Mikan, who became professional basketball’s first dominant “big man” and the first in a series of great Laker centres. The Lakers joined the BAA (the official precursor of the NBA) for the 1948–49 season and won the final BAA championship. The NBA was formed in 1949, and the Lakers won four of the first five league titles, establishing professional basketball’s first dynasty. Attendance at Lakers games fell after Mikan’s retirement in 1956, and the team moved to Los Angeles before the 1960–61 season.