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The NWSL 2026 Boston expansion team unveiled its team name and branding Tuesday.
By Wednesday, most of the marketing campaign had been taken down.
The team’s new name, Bos Nation FC (an anagram of Bostonian) and color scheme of green, black, and white with accents of pink, orange, and yellow remain on social media posts celebrating the new team. But the curious “Too Many Balls” campaign—claiming that Boston had been dominated by men’s sports for too long and it was time for a change—has mostly been wiped from team social media platforms.
“Yeah, Boston loves its balls. But, maybe there are too many balls in this town. So let’s add a new chapter to our city’s legacy,” the narrator in the promotional video says. (It was finally deleted from Twitter on Wednesday afternoon.)
Many NWSL watchers were unhappy with the rollout, with some calling the campaign transphobic and disrespectful toward the city’s existing professional women’s sports teams. Seattle Reign player Quinn, who is transgender and nonbinary, immediately called out the rollout. “Feels transphobic. Yikes,” they commented on the Instagram post. U.S. women’s national team legend Sam Mewis showed support for the PWHL’s Boston Fleet, Women’s Premier League rugby team Beantown RFC, and the Renegades of the Women’s Football Alliance.
The team apologized Wednesday afternoon.
“While we had hoped to create a bold and buzzworthy brand launch campaign, we missed the mark,” it said in a statement, which still used the Bos Nation name.
“We fully acknowledge that the content of the campaign did not reflect the safe and welcoming environment we strive to create for all, and we apologize to the LGBTQ+ community and to the trans community in particular for the hurt we caused.”
A spokesperson for the league declined to comment on the fan response to the rollout.
“BOS Nation FC is live – and we officially welcome Boston into the NWSL,” NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said in a statement to Front Office Sports. “Boston is one of the most iconic sports cities, and the return of women’s soccer to this market is an exciting step that is responsive to the fervent demand for women’s sports there. The city’s rich history and complement of professional sports is now joined by a first-rate women’s soccer club. We look forward to watching BOS Nation Football Club take the pitch in 2026.”
Tuesday’s marketing campaign did not mention the Boston Breakers, which played in three professional women’s soccer leagues including the NWSL before folding ahead of the 2018 season. The narrator in the “Too Many Balls” video mentions a “new league to cheer for: the National Women’s Soccer League,” as if Boston was entering the NWSL for the first time.
The Boston-based advertising agency Colossus was behind the campaign. The company was recently awarded “gold” by Ad Age among small agencies in the design category. Colossus limited comments on its announcement post before deleting it entirely; as of Wednesday morning, all posts related to Bos Nation have been taken down from Colossus’s social media pages, and even the press release announcing their partnership has been removed. A website that previously redirected to the team’s site, TooManyBalls.com, went to a default GoDaddy page Wednesday.
“We are bringing a whole new perspective to Boston sports,” the agency’s GM of design, Allison Doherty, said when the partnership was announced. “NWSL Boston is quite literally changing the game in a town that is deeply rooted in tradition. But there is also an appetite for something new and exciting and radically inclusive in this city. It’s not about normalizing women’s sports anymore. It’s about showcasing brilliant athletes in every form. That kind of provocative approach is a perfect fit for us.”
Doherty and another representative from Colossus did not respond to requests for comment.
A group called the NWSL Boston Independent Supporters Association has been active online throughout the year. The account posted a statement Tuesday condemning both the team name and marketing strategy.
“Like many, we are disappointed in the choice of name and advertising campaign that the team has chosen for their brand reveal. Our hope is that the team will listen to the concerns raised by its fans and thoughtfully reconsider their branding choices moving forward,” the post read.
If Bos Nation were to rebrand, it wouldn’t be the first time an NWSL team has done so. Racing Louisville FC was originally called Proof Louisville FC as a reference to bourbon whiskey, but rebranded after poor feedback from fans. A Change.org petition to get a “decent name” and “rebel against ‘Bos Nation’” has gained more than 1,000 signatures.
“The town and the players who will represent them deserve so much more,” Meghann Burke, the director of the NWSL players’ union, told The Athletic. “I’m holding out hope that this is an elaborate and ingenious joke and that the real team name and campaign telling us what they’re really about will be rolled out soon.”
A group called Boston Unity Soccer Partners maintains ownership of the team, led by Jennifer Epstein, Anna Palmer, Stephanie Connaughton, and Ami Kuan Danoff. In response to the supporter group’s statement, Epstein said, “I love that we have an independent supporter’s group that is already thinking about our team. … [Supporter groups are] vital to our future and we’re going to really work on those relationships.”
The team held a launch party for fans Tuesday night at a Boston Dick’s Sporting Goods that included former players from the Breakers and Revolution and Boston mayor Michelle Wu. One person attending the event held a sign reading “No home for transphobia.”
When asked about Quinn’s comment saying the campaign felt transphobic, Epstein said, “The whole intent behind the brand was to be inclusionary,” according to “The Blazing Musket.” “I would look forward to talking to that player and thinking through [why] this made them feel that way.”
