Hide Transcript Show Transcript

IN NORTHERN KENTUCKY, THE FLORENCE CITY COUNCIL FACING A BIG DECISION. APPROVING A NAME CHANGE FOR THE BASEBALL TEAM, NO LONGER ARE THEY THE FLORENCE FREEDOM, IT’S NOW THE FLORCENE Y’ALLS A PLAY OFF THE CITY’S OLD SAYING. >> I LOVE THE NAME BECAUSE IT IS CLASSIC. IT IS NOT QUIRKY LIKE IT -- A LOT OF THE NAMES YOU HEAR THESE DAYS. THIS CAN BE ICONIC AND IT WILL LAST A LONG WHILE. GEORGE:

Advertisement Florence Freedom baseball team renamed the Florence Y'alls Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The Florence Freedom have a new name.The Northern Kentucky baseball team -- a member of the West Division of the Frontier League -- will now be known as the Florence Y'alls, a nod to the city's famed and quirky water tower.In October, its new owners gave the public the opportunity to help rename the professional baseball team in its name-the-team contest. They received more than 2,200 entries. Its owner said more than 39% of the entries referenced "y'all."Five names were then selected for the public to vote upon. Almost 70% of people supported the Florence Y'alls.The Florence City Council voted to approve the new name at a meeting on Tuesday.Florence Y'all Water Tower is perhaps the most well-known landmark in the city of Florence. It stands between the Florence Mall and Interstate highways 71 and 75, seen by millions of drivers annually.Built in 1974, the water tower was originally painted with the worlds "Florence Mall." But the tower gained notoriety when the "M" was changed to a "Y" to avoid legal concerns.In the 1970s, when the Florence Mall was under construction, the developers of the mall gave the land to the city of Florence to build the tower. They asked one thing in return: that the words "Florence Mall" be painted on it. It was destined to be a massive ad for the mall, which would open in 1976.But the state highway department ordered the "Florence Mall" etching to be covered, saying it was advertising something that wasn't there. The mayor devised a cheap plan -- calling it a "corny solution, but cost-effective" -- to change the "M" to a "Y" and adding an apostrophe.Florence Y'all has since become a motto, of sorts, for the town. And the city's baseball team is adopting that motto.It's the latest shakeup for the baseball team, which got new owners in 2019.Four business leaders formed Freedom Baseball Club LLC and acquired the professional baseball team from Canterbury Baseball LLC.The new owners asked for the public's help to rename the team, with two stipulations:The name must include the name Florence, and the name must hold some sort of significance to the community.The Florence Y'alls are members of the 14-team professional Independent Frontier League, playing out of UC Health Stadium off of Interstate 71/75.