Nick Silveira
Anchor Staff Writer
Pawtucket's new professional soccer team finally has an identity after the team unveiled its crest and name on Monday. The team, which will be known as Rhode Island Football Club, “Rhode Island FC,” or “RIFC” for short, will wear a unique hexagon shaped logo. The logo itself includes a Rhode Island insignia that has the “I” in the shape of an anchor going through the “R,” with a banner that reads “Rhode Island” beneath, followed by the letters “FC” below that.
The logo also demonstrates the inspiration for the team’s colors, with the color of the state’s flag, gold/yellow, navy blue and white, being used for the background, text and borders, respectively. The slew of announcements and graphics also came with a new team slogan: “Anchored in RI.”
No official uniform news has been released yet, but several forms of team apparel including hats, scarves, sweatshirts and t-shirts are available for purchase through the team’s official social media pages and website: shop.rhodeislandfc.com. Also available on the website are deposits for season tickets for their inaugural season. Each deposit of $24, for the 2024 estimated kickoff, will reserve one seat, and seat placement is based on a first come first serve basis. There is a maximum of ten deposits per account. At the time of publication, over 1,250 seats have already been claimed at Tidewater Landing.
The deposit numbers for tickets alone signal a promising development in the journey of Rhode Island’s professional soccer team, especially after a lot of criticism regarding the finances of this project. The main criticisms pertained to rising inflation causing $60 million needing to be shifted from what was earmarked for building housing near this stadium, to the project itself.
Interest for the team goes beyond ticket sales. The team is gaining quite the following on social media. RIFC’s social media pages already have almost 5,000 followers across Instagram and Twitter. The team is hopeful they can fill the void left in 2019 that followed the Pawsox’s exit and become a staple in both the USL Championship and Rhode Island for years to come.