The Lingerie Football League (LFL), has been entertaining fans in sports venues across the U.S. with scantily clad women playing American football since 2009. Today, the LFL announced a major rebranding that will do away with most of the sexy (or sexist, depending on your view) aspects of the women’s football league.
The LFL will now be known as the “Legends Football League.” The women in the league will now wear “performance wear,” which will replace all of the lingerie parts of LFL uniforms. The shoulder pads worn by the athletes have been redesigned to “increase protection.” In addition, all “sexy female figures” that are part of logos will be done away with and the league’s tag line has been changed from “True Fantasy Football” to “Women of the Gridiron.”
“This is the next step in the maturation of our now global sport,” said Mitchell Mortaza, founder and chairman of the LFL. “While the Lingerie Football League name has drawn great media attention allowing us to showcase the sport to millions, we have now reached a crossroad of gaining credibility as a sport or continuing to be viewed as a gimmick. In the coming years we will further establish this sport in the US, Australia, Europe, and Asia as the most known form of American football globally. In order to reach the next milestone, we feel the focus has to be the sport and our amazing athletes.”
The LFL released a promotional video to coincide with the announcement. Presumably it depicts the future of LFL branding: a black and white montage of women working out and sweating profusely.