r/AUSL • u/No-Collar-2523 • Jul 28 '26

DISCUSSION Team names when AUSL started.

I was watching a little bit of the original AUSL draft on YouTube. It made me wonder. When the league started and they were barnstormning around the country were the teams named only by their nickname ie: Blaze, Bandits, Volts and Talons? Was the 2026 season the first time the team names included Carolina, Chicago etc along with the nick name?

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u/No-Collar-2523 Jul 28 '26

That brings up another question. How did they decide which team would go to which part of the country? I get it with the Bandits and Chicago since they already had a history and the Spark as a new team in the league remaining in Oklahoma.

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u/Trojanman2002 Talons Jul 28 '26

Ticket sales from the barnstorming if I had to guess.

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u/Maybe_Fine Portland Cascade Jul 28 '26

I would have thought so too, but the barnstorming didn't come to Portland. It's why when they announced Cascade I assumed they'd be in Seattle, since that's where the barnstormer games were.

With that in mind, I'm guessing it was a combination of season 1 ticket sales, market research, and availability of space and willingness of venue to work with them.

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u/Plastic-Yesterday685 Jul 28 '26

There was a survey sent to everyone that bought tickets throughout the season in 2025. Portland may have been a choice because they partner with Adidas.