Next up for Philly MLS: name the team

Several representatives from Philadelphia's MLS franchise, including CEO and operating partner Nick Sakiewicz, stopped by yesterday to say hello and talk about their timetable leading up to their first season in 2010.

This is the team with no logo and no name but with a boisterous fan club called the Sons of Ben that numbers more than 3,000. Safe to say that no other team in any sport in this country has made provisions in its stadium plan for a section that will accommodate its fan club. That area will hold around 2,000 people. Construction should get under way soon on the approximately 18,500-seat stadium that will rise out of Chester's waterfront.

Ahead for the franchise is the naming of their president and an announcement on their seat pricing later this fall; the coaching staff should be intact and introduced by next spring. Before all of that will be a contest to pick the team name, and you'll be reading more about that in the next couple of weeks. The team plans to give fans three or four options for names, along with a chance to write in a suggestion. Fans will be able to log into the team site, and likely the site of the party that will partner with the franchise, and cast their vote. Sankiewicz noted that the winner in Seattle turned out to be the write-in pick.

Look for the contest to last several weeks and the official announcement of the team name to come in November, after the election.