What's in a Name?

Milwaukee Pro Soccer has launched their naming contest, and with it, comes the ability to put a stamp on Milwaukee's newest Pro team

On this day, 55 years ago, one of Milwaukee’s greatest institutions was finally given a name. It was R.D. Trebilcox’s winning submission of Bucks that nicknamed then-Milwaukee’s newest pro sports team and gave the city a basketball team they’d welcome with open arms.

A similar journey started today for the latest professional sport venture that is looking to capture the hearts and minds of Milwaukeeans. Milwaukee Pro Soccer will soon shed that name in favor of one that will be picked out of the thousands of submissions that had been turned in since they officially announced that the team would be launching in 2025 and playing in the USL Championship.

Once again, the public will play its hand in whittling down the submitted names in a knockout tournament-style bracket that will eventually lead to the winning submission and give Milwaukee’s soon-to-be soccer team a name to call it own.

Milwaukee’s history with pro soccer, just like the whole country, certainly has a checkered past. It’s been nearly 20 years since Milwaukee fielded a fully professional side with Milwaukee Wave United. Before that, it was the Milwaukee Rampage, and both sides had played in the A-League, an early predecessor of the USL championship, and both clubs played at Uihlein park, far away from Milwaukee's downtown hub. Flirtations with Major League Soccer, and long before that, the North American Soccer League (first iteration) always left Milwaukee on the outside.

In fact, when you think of Milwaukee soccer, there’s no question that indoor comes first. Holding the title of the longest continuous operating soccer franchise throughout the entire country is certainly one to be proud of with the Milwaukee Wave, given just the instability and tectonic shifts that exists with the sport in the country.

While Milwaukee’s history of fielding pro soccer teams has largely been untouched terrain, or better yet, unsustained, the fervent youth soccer scene in and around the city has planted roots in the interest in the sport. The same certainly goes for amateur clubs such as the Milwaukee Bavarians and Croatian Eagles, whose respective existences go back nearly a century ago.

The grassroots soccer scene that exists in Milwaukee is certainly something that has carried its weight as the city had long been among the biggest to not have a professional team in any of the top divisions throughout the country. That obviously won’t be the case any longer.

What makes this all the more thrilling is the fans and supporters’ ability to make an imprint on the club itself, all of which starts with the name. That involvement will be incredibly necessary to grow and develop the necessary bonds between supporters and the club itself long before the first kick two springs from now at the stadium that’s in the process of being built within the Iron District.

The momentum that exists in soccer across the country is at an all-time high and the wave is only due to get higher now that we are about three years away from the country hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup, along with Canada and Mexico. It’s never been easier to watch the best clubs overseas, whether on traditional or streaming services, and America’s growing investment in clubs, whether Manchester United (for now), Chelsea, even down to little ol’ Wrexham, has all played a hand in developing the sport over on this side of the pond.

Yet, the one thing that has remained elusive in my own interest in soccer is supporting a local club, especially one with Milwaukee in the name. It’s largely why, after many attempts to follow clubs from afar in the best leagues in the world, or even in MLS (like Minnesota United, for example), nothing has taken.

For some, there isn’t a problem in adopting a Premier League team, for example, learning the club’s history and getting to see the best players in the world on a weekly basis. Where it’s been tough for me personally is doing that stateside in MLS or USL, especially as the leagues themselves are developing and couldn’t stand further from one another.

MLS has positioned itself as the top flight soccer league in the country since its inception in 1996. It can lure the big names away from Europe and/or South America, land massive TV and streaming deal with Apple and pocket a reported $500 million expansion fee as they just did with with San Diego. Yet there is a hollowness that exists with following and watching MLS. And unless there is an investor (or investors) that has incredibly big pockets and can wield big political power, a city like Milwaukee just won’t come on to MLS’ radar. And nevermind the fact that it likely won’t ever reflect the desires of what American soccer fans want to see the most (i.e. promotion and relegation, align with the world’s soccer calendar).

USL, meanwhile, has positioned itself much differently from MLS, even as it had been partnered with the league in some capacity over the last decade by housing reserve teams of MLS clubs. USL has been open to promotion/relegation, playing on a fall-to-spring calendar like we see elsewhere, and much more. It’s patient, more community-minded approach has borne its own success as the league itself grows stronger, especially as it continues to expand.

Nonetheless, the arms race between USL and MLS, and all the way down to lower leagues such as NPSL (home of the Milwaukee Torrent), NISA and on and on has made the American soccer landscape very much like the Wild, Wild West. The fight to claim territories in the form of untapped markets will continue on and on as the roots for the sport continue to grow while the fans’ desires to see an open system to what we see all over Europe and beyond will always lead to a disconnect until the system itself changes (if it ever does). This is the picture that this Milwaukee USL team will soon be walking into. It’s a wearying, dizzying experience, but one that can bear fruit all the same.

You may be wondering whether this is something that’s worth investing in, in terms of attention, time and eventually, money. The sports landscape in Milwaukee itself is crowded as is between the Bucks and the Brewers, all the way down to the Admirals, the Wave and more. Can this club tap into something that is fulfilling a need and tap into something that isn’t being met yet within the state’s biggest city?

I know where I stand on that question, and what makes this coming journey all the more exciting is having the ability to stamp what the club will be, how it will look and what it will be called. Our collective investment in the team and how that will grow will soon mirror how the club will perform on the field.

That will come with time, but for now, let’s pick a name, shall we?