MLS team renamed Houston 1836

HOUSTON --The city's new Major League Soccer franchise is called Houston 1836, commemorating the year the city was founded.

The unusual moniker for the former San Jose Earthquakes echoes the practice of some German clubs, which include the year of their founding in their names: TSV 1860 Munich, Hannover 96, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, FC Schalke 04 and TSV Mainz 05.

"From this day forward, the Houston 1836 logo will be a symbol of a hardworking team," team president Oliver Luck said. "This is a team for Houston. If you live in Houston, you must like it here. If you like Houston, come out and support another Houston franchise."

Houston also becomes the fourth MLS team with a European-style nickname, joining CD Chivas USA, Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas.

MLS officials joined city leaders at a flashy news conference unveiling the moniker of the team, which moved to Texas last month. Its colors will be black, blue and orange.

The team failed in San Jose because owners were disappointed with low turnouts at home games. The Earthquakes drew an average crowd of 13,037 in 2005, eighth in the 12-team league.

In Houston, 1836 will play its first three seasons in 32,000-seat Robertson Stadium, home of the University of Houston football team. Luck, a former quarterback with the Houston Oilers, has been seeking corporate sponsors to possibly help build a soccer-only stadium.

As for luring fans, MLS commissioner Don Garber said Wednesday the team will flourish in Houston because of favorable demographics, most notably one of the nation's largest Hispanic populations -- about 1.675 million.

"We have always believed that combination of the diversity and the passion of the city's sports fans and the size of the market would lead to success for an MLS team," Garber said. "We've also had great success with the international markets, maybe as much as we've had in any city."

Hispanic soccer fans have flocked to Reliant Stadium in recent years for international matches involving mainly Mexican teams. An Interliga doubleheader earlier this month drew an estimated crowd of 25,000.