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Chicago Red Stars

Hello, Chicago Red Stars

June 3, 2008 - Women's Professional Soccer (WPS)
Chicago Red Stars News Release


CHICAGO (June 3, 2008) - When Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) launches next spring, some of the world's greatest female soccer players will be called Chicago Red Stars, the Chicago WPS team announced today. The team name and logo unveiling occurred at a ceremony at Toyota Park, which will serve as the home of the Red Stars when the team and league debut in April. The choice of Red Stars supports the popular vote of a two-month Name-the-Team Sweepstakes that saw the fans lobby overwhelmingly for Red Stars from ten nominated names, all of which incorporated the city of Chicago's civic lore.

The Red Stars also announced that season tickets, starting at only $99 for ten regular season and two bonus games during the inaugural 2009 season, will go on sale tomorrow morning, Wednesday, June 4, at 10:00 a.m. CT through a private sale with the Red Stars youth soccer partner Illinois Women's Soccer League. Fans interested in being the first to purchase Red Stars season tickets should contact 866-WPS-2009 or visit www.chicagoredstars.com.

"This team is going to be a part of the fabric of Chicago and its diverse soccer community," said Red Stars President and CEO Peter Wilt. "It is appropriate that the team takes its name, colors and logo from the City of Chicago's Municipal Flag."

Name: The four six-pointed red stars the team is named after each represent a landmark event in Chicago history, in order: Fort Dearborn, the Great Chicago Fire and the World's Fairs hosted by Chicago in 1893 and 1933.

"Today is an exciting day," said Red Stars General Manager Marcia McDermott. "We feel that our name not only represents the fans' choice, but also honors the rich history and tradition of the city. The logo not only represents one of the great symbols of the city, but also has the dynamic qualities our team aspires to."

One lucky sweepstakes voter, Tom Wendt, was chosen at random to receive more than $2,500 in cash and prizes including $1,000 cash, inaugural season tickets and suite tickets to its inaugural game at Toyota Park. Ten runners up will receive two tickets to the Red Stars inaugural home game, date and time TBD.

Other names considered were Progress, Towers, Stinking Onions, Massacre, Union, Blues, Riot, 1871 and Wind.

Colors: The official team colors replicate the colors of the City of Chicago's municipal flag: light blue (PMS 298), red (PMS 186) and white as well as navy blue (PMS 296).

Logo: Adrenalin, Inc. (www.goadrenalin.com), The Brand Expansion Team, and jlmvisual (www.jlmvisual.com) partnered to develop the Red Stars identity. The primary logo - seen online at www.chicagoredstars.com - combines two historic Chicago images to brand the team. The shape of the shield is taken from the shield inside the City of Chicago's official shield (displayed at http://csichicagoweb.com/chicagocitysealblk.jpg). The colors, stripes and stars in the logo are all inspired by the City of Chicago's municipal flag.

The blue stripes on the Chicago flag and the Red Stars logo represent the two branches of the Chicago River, the four stars represent the landmark events described above and even the six points on each red star has representation as described by the following link: http://www.loosetooth.com/IH/chicagoflag.htm

The six points on the large red star in the center of the Chicago Red Stars logo also have their own meaning to the team:

Entertainment (top point) Service (next point moving clockwise) Success Community Teamwork Leadership

"Sports organizations have long been ambassadors of their civic populations, particularly in Chicago, and even more so for an internationally appreciated sport like soccer," said JL Murtaugh, who created the original concept for the Red Stars logo then worked with Adrenalin to develop the final brand identity. "This made it very important for this club's identity to embolden and strengthen our collective pride of being Chicagoans while respecting the sport's global tradition. With the help of Peter, Marcia, and the Chicago Red Stars staff; as well as Adrenalin's branding expertise, we've done our best to meet that considerable challenge."

"Following the success of our work for Women's Professional Soccer developing the identity and logos for the league, Adrenalin was pleased to have been a part of the team identity development for the Red Stars. Throughout our long, successful history working with Peter Wilt we have always enjoyed the energy he brings to the table," said Daniel S. Price, Principal and President of Adrenalin. "Our goal with the project was to translate Peter's passion and the passion of soccer fans in Chicago into a team identity that resonates with players and the public,"

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