FSG TGL entry goes green, feels froggy
Boston Common Golf after local connection
A 389-year-old park, a frog who has swallowed a golf ball, a capital “B” leaning at a 9-degree angle, a flagstick in a lily pad, a pop of neon lime green.
These are the answers to the questions that were facing Fenway Sports Group as it pondered the name, logo, and brand to capture the essence of Boston and FSG for its fledgling franchise in the TGL golf league that is scheduled to begin play in its Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., home venue Jan. 9.
The team name will be “Boston Common Golf.” Everything else flows (or hops) from there.
“We felt it was absolutely paramount that there was an established deep connection through the name and identity system to Boston, and with the venue not being in the market, establishing this connection to Boston was even more critical,” said Boston Common Golf governor Teddy Werner in a recent presentation with the Brooklyn-based Doubleday and Cartwright creative agency.
That’s why the team’s name springs from the first public park in the country and the primary green space in the heart of the city.
Because FSG was firmly set that the team name not be gimmicky, not include a reference to Fenway, and not include the word “club” (used by two other TGL franchises, the Los Angeles Golf Club and Atlanta Drive GC), the definition of “common” also conveniently played into TGL’s quest to weaken the strong associations golf still has with exclusivity and elitism.
“We really want to lean into the fact that we’re trying to ‘commonize’ the game of golf,” said Werner, son of FSG chairman Tom Werner. “We want to make golf something for all, something for everyone.”
Choosing an animal to become part of the brand was not a requirement. Before opting for an amphibian that played off the Common’s year-round Frog Pond gathering space, a bird was under serious consideration.
“What was great about having these two options was one was definitely more irreverent, in the not-take-your-self-so-seriously space,” said Werner. “The other system around a bird was more traditional, more classic. There were people on both sides.
“But as we talked through it, we said FSG is part of the reason why we’re interested in this, as it’s pushing the envelope a little bit, it’s a little bit different. TGL is intended to be a different iteration on the game of golf. This is a mark that was going to be a little bit more out there, a little bit more mysterious. It got people asking, ‘Why the frog?’
“And we just felt from a fashion standpoint, a frog was going to be a little cooler than a system around a bird.”
The golf-ball dimples in the throat/chest area of the still-unnamed frog add a bit of whimsy to the mix.
“We feel that an animal sort of adds a humanizing touch and a feel of play, speaks to the fun of this,” said Werner.
It won’t hurt merchandising efforts, either, should the league and name take off.
There are other intentional touches to the brand. Another froggy logo element is a flagstick that sticks out of a lily pad.
The layout of the wordmark, with “Boston” arching over and “Golf ” underneath the largertype “Common,” loosely replicates the “Entering (your city or town here)” signs that greet Massachusetts drivers.
There’s another Easter egg built into the bold sans serif “B” logo — it’s leaning at the 9degree angle favored by most pros on the face of their drivers.
Boston Common Golf’s color theme is based on the green palette, with TGL guaranteeing the other five clubs won’t be able to rely on verdant hues. The primary green shade is a dark forest “Common Green,” the other a vivid lime “Boston Volt,” with an earth white and navy blue also in the mix.
The “Common Green” is meant to evoke Boston’s green spaces and its Irish heritage, as well as a callout to the ubiquitous green at FSG’s Fenway Park property.
TGL, co-founded by Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and TMRW Sports CEO Mike McCarley, last week announced its 24-player roster of PGA Tour pros for its inaugural season. How they will be split into six rosters of four is expected to follow soon.