Written by: Caroline Kanaley ’28
A new team will take center stage at Foxborough Stadium this upcoming Spring. The “Boston Legacy” will kick off their run as part of the National Women’s Soccer League in full force despite prior controversy with the groundbreaking teams’ roll out. Such issues came to my attention this past fall when I was invited to attend their name and logo reveal party. The event, which took place at the Dick’s Sporting Goods on Boylston, was flooded with local food venders, local sports journalists, team shareholders, and even Mayor Wu, who gave a rallying speech.
I went home with stickers and a soccer scarf in the team’s raspberry and green colors, however, all under a different name: BOS Nation. The name was intended to be an anagram for “Bostonian” but many early fans of the club believed the word “nation” resembled “nationalist” and disregarded the diversity of the city and the players within the league. Instagram comments under the announcement post sing a similar tune. “This has to be a joke. You literally could not have come up with a worse name than this,” writes @audreyrkl. Additionally, @likes_dags said, “Sounds like a tech bro conference.” Safe to say, the name was far from what excited fans wanted to cheer from the stands.
A month after the name rollout, the team posted on Instagram to respond to the unignorable backlash. The post stated, “We share your high expectations, and together, we will build a storied club that reflects the essence of the beautiful game,” and “We want to assure you that we have heard your feedback and are actively listening.” The team subsequently dropped the name BOS Nation and supposably went back to the drawing board.
It was later confirmed in March of 2025 by majority owner, Jennifer Epstein, that they were searching for new names that honored the city’s history while not garnering imagery of a segregated past. New names had to fit both the team branding while also not posing a trademark and legal risk. After a survey of 1,500 fans, the team announced on March 26th that fans can look forward to cheering on the “Boston Legacy”. This announcement came with its own backlash that the team has opted, probably in the interest of budget and at least having a name before the season approaches, to ignore. One commenter on the announcement post, @saraneush.,on Instagram summed up the general fan consensus, “Better, but still not great.”
Emmanuel College The Hub 
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