Serie A club AS Roma has "taken steps to create a brand name that is recognized worldwide" under team Owner and Celtics investor James Pallotta, according to Julian Cardillo of BOSTON.com. This summer has "been of particular importance to Roma as they've unveiled a new logo, which according to Pallotta, will help the club generate more worldwide recognition." The new club crest "still depicts the Roman wolf feeding the twins Remus and Romulus, as goes the legend of Rome's founding." But it "simply states 'Roma 1927' instead of the acronym 'ASR' as in years past." The "ASR" acronym was "taken out because it stands for 'Associazone Sportiva Roma' (Rome Sports Association) which few fans outside Italy knew." Pallotta said of the changes, "It's not just 'ok we want to change the logo.' It's intellectual property. How many teams are in Rome that have ASR? The swim team? The crew team? It's ASR. We don't own that. Building the brand, a lot of people don't know what 'AS' is." Cardillo noted Roma also "unveiled a new jersey to go with their new crest earlier this summer." The club also could "further develop their relationship with American fans by continuing to travel to the U.S." Pallotta said of a visit to the MLS All-Star game, "Kansas City's Park is unbelievable. ... I spoke to [MLS Commissioner Don Garber] about that while I was out there, that we'd want to have a relationship with the entire league. What'll come out of it, I don't know, but I'm sure they would like to do something too, especially after the All-Star game" (BOSTON.com, 8/2).
