Hornets deny report of new name for club

[FlyGirl]

The Orlando Sentinel had a name the team contest. Challengers was the most popular out of names like Juice, Astronauts, and Orbits. A panel of judges and team officials reviewed the choices and went with Magic.

[Hornetnojersey]

But you do know that a lot of team names have something to do with the cities/states their teams are in though right?

Yea, but how many of them changed their name 10yrs later to have something to with the city? Again, I like the name and I would be mad if they didn't make it official but I can also see why some are mad about the change .

[Hornetnojersey]

The Orlando Sentinel had a name the team contest. Challengers was the most popular out of names like Juice, Astronauts, and Orbits. A panel of judges and team officials reviewed the choices and went with Magic.

Haha I still find it funny that the Houston Texans are named the Houston Texans. Names like Texans, Magic and Thunder make me appreciate the Pelicans

[rt0307]

But you do know that a lot of team names have something to do with the cities/states their teams are in though right?

Here's the history behind Hornets and Charlotte.

During the Revolutionary War... British Gen. Cornwallis was welcomed to the city so... ummm... nicely... that he said it was like being in a "hornets nest"

it stuck

just like LSU being called the "Fighting Tigers"... it's not about the animal (Lord knows tigers are nowhere near indiginous to Louisiana)... it's a name given during wartime that's now handed on to a sports team or something affiliated with the city/state

[FlyGirl]

Yea, but how many of them changed their name 10yrs later to have something to with the city? Again, I like the name and I would be mad if they didn't make it official but I can also see why some are mad about the change .

I haven't done any research but how many owners have come in to buy teams that are already in their hometowns?

On Nola.com there were a few Letters to the Editor with people suggesting names. I saw Riverboats, Krewe, Domino, Brass, Flambeaux, Yats, Creoles.

http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.s...ns_a_lett.html

[Panic Hoops]

"Times Picayune columnist Jeff Duncan polled his Twitter followers about the proposed name change and wrote that the Pelicans nickname was viewed as a dud. Duncan proposed the name Dukes and according to the Yahoo! report, Brass and Krewe were also considered."

I am not Jeff Duncan and I proposed the Dukes name.

[42]

Let's not confuse beta testing with market surveys. Products are constantly tested and consumers are constantly surveyed on what they want and how to improve product lines. I know people that fill out surveys all day because these things offer cash. The new Blackberry phones are another example where both consumers and enterprise needs have been harvested over the past few years to culminate in their new product offering in February.

Any smart profit seeking enterprise will survey first instead of just throwing out what the board of directors personally likes.

I agree with you. Someone up their confused them

[Ceedee M]

People have become survey-happy these days not really to understand the market but to advertise more. You go to the store, they give you this receipt and there is a small section asking you to fill out a survey. They may offer an incentive like a discount or chance to enter some sweepstakes. In order for you to receive the discount, they want your email, phone number, home address, etc., so they can advertise even more to you. That is the actual marketing they are doing.

[hornets415]

A/B testing far more a out requirements verification and.software validation than testing out the desire for the product in the market.

Try again.

If you read Lean Startup they talk about how Intuit developers using Google Ad words to direct traffic to lead gen pages where they gathered emails for products that don't exist in order to gauge demand for whether they should actually build the product.

Creating a rumor to gauge interest costs $0 to the organization. Rebranding is upwards of $3m.

[hornets415]

Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they were using a social media tool to measure positive or negative sentiment on the Pelicans name.

[Atarwii]

After all these jokes in the past few days, I would deny it too.
Gale Benson better bring her butt back to the drawing board.

[da ThRONe]

Would we want an owner that was so weak minded that he would float out a trial balloon with the fans? Don't we want a leader that makes up his mind and pushes forward regardless of what the fans immediate reaction is? I know I do. When fans have a say in a rebrand, you get names like the Wizards. No thanks.

This idea that he is floating out a name is wishful thinking. Accept Pelicans people. Bite your pillow and just accept it

Only a fool ignores his customers. That not leadership it's pig headedness.

It's his business to do what he likes, but I guarantee if he named any of his business something that rub people the wrong way sells would decrease.

[hornetstime247]

Yah sorry but I burst out laughing at the notion that only weak minded leaders go out and ask the consumers what they want and how they feel about certain things.

If a company puts out a product and everyone says it sucks... it sucks.. sorry. Lets face it..if some team...say Orlando or whoever else rebranded to the Pelicans all of you right now would be mocking the name and laughing your asses off just like most people are doing right now to you.

[42]

And a parent always gives into wishes of a screamimg child who wants candy for dinner, another iphone, or a.mercedes for their first car.

And about the 'free research': this is not the way to do that. With no structure to the data, it's much less informative compared to a cheap, structured experiment.

Let me guess, those you guys are anti-Pelican, right? But thesr are objective thoughts? If this were your favorite name, you'd be saying it might not stick, well other people don't like it so it must change, etc., right?

[all2neat]

Let me guess, those you guys are anti-Pelican, right? But thesr are objective thoughts? If this were your favorite name, you'd be saying it might not stick, well other people don't like it so it must change, etc., right?

Within that group, how many of them are not from or living in the NOLA area, and / or are originally Charlotte Hornets fans.

[hornetstime247]

There will never be a unanimous decision about anything period...do i think that that the Hornets name is the best..YES...would I have been content with other names such as Krewe, Knights, etc..Heck Yes! It Tom Benson's team so he has the right to do whatever he wants whenever he wants but there is no denying that this a cheesy, childish name that has been universally panned and mocked. The people who like it only like it because it is different than Hornets. Thats it. If that is enough to satisfy them than fine.

But there is no denying one thing...If this was floated out there to get public/consumer opinion than that is great and I hope the team got the message. If this is the name period and they don't care what the consumers think than that is unequivocally bad business. The NBA is an entertainment industry, they still have a product that they must sell to fans. If you think that it is ok to just overstep any and all practical businesses ideals of ensuring consumer satisfaction than that is their right..it doesn't make it right but we have to live with it. But don't tell me that Tom Benson is right for just picking a name and sticking to it and telling the majority of fans to suck it.

If Iphone puts out a product that looks like s*** and everyone complains are they going to tell everyone to suck it up and deal with it? No every single product in every single market field known to man goes through some sort of testing, consumer feedback response, survey, etc etc etc. Seriously, some of the arguments presented here are just mind-bogeeling to me...

[hornetstime247]

Within that group, how many of them are not from or living in the NOLA area, and / or are originally Charlotte Hornets fans.

who care's are we Hornets fans? Yes... Have I spent more money on this team than probably 90% of other fans... yes. I have a right to voice my opinion. If the majority of hornets fans (NO residents or not) were on board with this i swear I would be totally fine. but clearly they are not and this rebrand therefore accomplished nothing it set out to do. Instead people are just happy this name is different than Hornets... that is not ok with me. I will suck it up and deal with it..but until its official i will voice my displeasure.

[The JNR]

I think what bothers me is the people who hate the nickname throwing out the phrase "Everybody hates it." Not everyone hates it. There may be a lot of public backlash, but there is also public defense of the name. I just don't like this sentiment where people feel just because THEY hate it means the hate for it is the only reaction that matters.

I keep preaching perspective. "Pelicans sucks as a name" is not a fact. It is an opinion. One you're allowed to have, but it doesn't mean Gayle needs to "go back to the drawing board."

[WhoDatPelican]

You say this, but if this team were to be named the Flying Snotbubbles with lime green and bright yellow designs, tell me you'd fell the same way.

There will always be outliers but an NBA franchise needs the masses to buy in.

Actually i'd be very much down. Oregon Ducks (wow, another aquatic bird imagine that!) are one of my favorite college team uniforms. Lime green and bright yellow are awesome in my book.
Flying Snotbubbles reminds me of Flying Spaghetti Monster so i am down as well.
I am a man who wears bright orange shoes all the time, everywhere. (S&WB colored...)

It's almost like you don't read my post when i say I DONT CARE WHAT THEY CALL IT AS LONG AS IT'S WANT BENSON WANTS.
I've only said it about 20 twenty times in the past few days and you keep doubting it....

Luckyman if you are sooooo concerned about the name why didnt you buy the team? Seriously, you could have done whatever your heart desired.

[BIGBREED]

Only a fool ignores his customers. That not leadership it's pig headedness.

It's his business to do what he likes, but I guarantee if he named any of his business something that rub people the wrong way sells would decrease.

Take A Picture!

Bcuz I agree with you on this DaThrone! Mac just made a very off comment/statement which shocks me honestly! No wonder Louisiana lacks Fortune 500 companies.

[all2neat]

who care's are we Hornets fans? Yes... Have I spent more money on this team than probably 90% of other fans... yes. I have a right to voice my opinion. If the majority of hornets fans (NO residents or not) were on board with this i swear I would be totally fine. but clearly they are not and this rebrand therefore accomplished nothing it set out to do. Instead people are just happy this name is different than Hornets... that is not ok with me. I will suck it up and deal with it..but until its official i will voice my displeasure.

You are a Hornets fan, i'm a New Orleans ___ fan. If it has NOLA on the uni, i'll support it. You support Hornets, regardless of city. There is a huge difference.

I think benson's group has made it clear he cares about New Orleans and the area surrounding. He doesn't care about the random fans outside of the market the team is physically in. So in a sense if you are more than a few hundred miles away or fit one of the other random groups he'll gladly sell you a jersey or whatever but if you don't like it he won't care either way.. In a sense, your opinion doesn't matter. Personally I'm fine with the Pelicans. Most people here I talked to at first hated the name, but after a few days it's starting to grow on people. If you are not from the region, as I see it, you have two options, accept the name and move on, or move on from the organization. Not trying to be disrespectful or anything, you have a right to voice your opinion, just don't act like it's the only opinion.

[WhoDatPelican]

i'm a New Orleans ___ fan.

I have been trying to get this across to people for days now. I don't know why this concept is so hard to comprehend. It's beyond ridiculous.

Reminds me of a philosophy class I took where the class couldn't understand the concept of "Thinking about thinking"....whaaattttt?

[Veritas]

Pelicans is a unique name and representative of Louisiana, once we see the logo and uniforms everyone will accept it. Then once they start winning people across the country will love to sport a "Pelicans" jersey because it is so unique and unlike any other name in the NBA.

Don't be afraid of being different and unique, embrace it.

[da ThRONe]

Pelicans is a unique name and representative of Louisiana, once we see the logo and uniforms everyone will accept it. Then once they start winning people across the country will love to sport a "Pelicans" jersey because it is so unique and unlike any other name in the NBA.

Don't be afraid of being different and unique, embrace it.

This is assuming the Anti-Pelicans crowd don't like the name because it's unique. I speak for myself, but my strong dislike for the name has nothing to do with it's uniqueness.

[504fan]

I'm born and raised in the New Orleans area and I don't like the name Pelicans. Not one of my co-workers, friends, family, or patients like the name. So believe me where a person live have no bearing on whether they like the name. I have resigned to the fact that the name has no bearing on whether I support the team.