Back in 2008, the Bay Area rejoiced at the news that the Tampa Bay Rowdies would be returning to action. The original Rowdies, founded in 1975 in the North American Soccer League, was Tampa Bay's first major sports franchise and is heavily rooted in the sports history of the area. That team eventually folded in 1993, but in 2008 it was announced that a new incarnation of the Rowdies was set to begin play as an expansion franchise in the USL First Division in 2010.
Unfortunately, a trademark dispute foiled the plans of using the Rowdies nickname. The team that bore the traditional green-and-yellow stripes was forced to be formally called FC Tampa Bay, and existed for 2 season with that name. In everyone's hearts, however, they were still the Rowdies.
But now, that trademark issue has been resolved, and Tampa Bay's soccer team is officially the Rowdies once again. The ownership group revealed the "new" logo on Thursday, which is almost a direct throwback to the original team script. The star on top honors the original team's championship, also the first in the Bay Area.
In my opinion, I think taking the old logo and modernizing it would have been a better approach to the new logo, sort of as an homage to the past but representative of the future. Sharper edges and crisper lettering would have been great updates. That said, I also think the new logo is great in itself as a throwback; either way, everyone is glad that they are once again the Rowdies.
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