How The Seattle Kraken Listened To Their Fans
Local hockey player Mark Siano runs into Seattle Kraken CEO Tod Lieweke after last Thursday’s name reveal. (Photo by Mark Siano, original work)
A team name is vital to its identity. When choosing their name, the Seattle Kraken listened to their fans.
It’s been just over a week since the 605 day-old NHL Seattle franchise revealed their nickname. The mostly-virtual ceremony at “The Greenhouse,” or as many fans are now calling it “Davey Jones’ Locker,” was only announced 16 hours beforehand after a public wait since autumn 2018. The Seattle Kraken is here.
“Release the Kraken” was the cheer city-wide shortly after 9 a.m. on July 23. With tell-tale signs like Pirates of the Caribbean filmmaker Jerry Bruckheimer as part-owner, the mayor’s lobby, and a California blogger’s January leak, this was one of the least-kept secrets in the history of team name reveals. Nothing about the name itself compares to how Oak View Group and the rest of the ownership group were not only committed to listening to the fans but actually practiced what they preached.
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The morning of the name reveal, Seattle native and thespian Mark Siano strapped on his rollerblades and ran into some team staff near the arena.
“I feel like the team did a good job of listening to the fans,” he said. Which is hard when everyone and their grandma has an opinion. We had a bit in one of my theater shows where we mentioned potential hockey team names, and Kraken always got the loudest response.”
“I think the focus groups on the logo worked well too. People definitely wanted a classic look and feel, not something cartoonish. The ‘S’ on the chest looks fantastic and really shows they were honoring the wishes of the fans about Seattle’s hockey past.”