A new women’s professional soccer club in Boston recently launched with an ad campaign that is facing criticism for transphobic messaging. The club has now apologized for the campaign, emphasizing that the league is inclusive of trans athletes.

On Tuesday, the National Women’s Soccer League’s newly formed Boston National Football Club (BOS Nation for short), launched its initial “Too Many Balls” campaign.

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“Boston loves its balls, but maybe there are too many balls in this town,” the ad’s voiceover says before introducing its women’s soccer club.

“For every person, in every neighborhood across every square mile,” the ad concludes. “This is our city, our new team, our new nation. We are BOS Nation, where anything is possible. No balls necessary.”

Although the ad’s “too many balls” line was meant to reference the male-dominated nature of the sport, viewers pointed out that the transphobic implications should have been obvious in a professional ad involving many checks to get out the door.

The other issue is that the ad is still largely talking about men (that is, “balls”) in what is supposed to be the celebratory announcement of a new women’s soccer club. Samantha Mewis, editor-in-chief of The Women’s Games, spoke out on this aspect of the controversy.

“It felt like an old iteration of women’s sports to me, from a time when we were fighting against men’s sports or…trying to demand a seat at a table full of men,” Mewis said. “To me, it feels like women’s sports are past that. …We don’t need to center men’s sports in our conversations now.”

“I do believe that intentions matter,” Mewis added. “I also believe in second chances when there is accountability and growth. I hope that the club takes feedback from the people close to the city and from the fans. I’m from Massachusetts so I am of course rooting for the club to succeed despite the rocky start.”

A day after the campaign launched, BOS Nation issued an apology for the ad. “While we had hoped to create a bold and buzzworthy brand launch campaign, we missed the mark,” BOS Nation wrote on social media.

“We fully acknowledge that the content of the campaign did not reflect the safe and welcoming environment we strive to create for all, and we apologize to the LGBTQ+ community and the trans community in particular for the hurt we caused.”

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