Seattle Sounders unveil new logo, wordmark

The Seattle Sounders unveiled a new logo and wordmark Tuesday, moving to a modernized look while still incorporating the Space Needle imagery. Here’s what you need to know:

• The refreshed branding comes as Seattle approaches the 50th anniversary of the original Sounders team, which competed in the North American Soccer League from 1974 to 1983. The year 1974 was added to the club’s crest.
• The Sounders added four tertiary logos, including an orca inspired by the club’s American Professional Soccer League and A-League-era logos and a carnation symbolizing the relationship between players and fans.
• The new Sounders’ wordmark is also inspired by the original NASL logo.

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

First impressions of the changes

The Sounders are the latest in a growing line of MLS clubs updating their brand identity. Gone is the blocky crest from their first 14-plus seasons, which seemed ripped from a panel in an early 2000s Marvel comic book. Instead, it’s a modernized version that still highlights an iconic local landmark to make it clear which club is donning the crest.

The lettermark pulls from the team’s history, reconnecting the MLS franchise to its NASL era. It’s interesting to see them lean into “SFC” as a potential shorthand, as “SSFC” had never caught on in national circuits. The fact that Sammy the Sounder gets a glow-up as part of this is the final touch on what, in this writer’s opinion, has the potential to be one of MLS’s top brand identities for years to come.

It’s far more in line with the successes of Houston’s brand update than, say, the short-lived identities of Chicago and Montréal, which needed immediate redos. — Rueter