The team dropped a broad hint when it announced the day of its christening: Oct. 8, the anniversary of the blaze that leveled much of Chicago.

But Wednesday's formal festivities at Navy Pier gave no clue as to the months of brainstorming, research and negotiation that went into the choice of the name Chicago Fire for the city's new Major League Soccer franchise.

An entirely different name, the Rhythm, was all but set in stone earlier this year when MLS announced its expansion into Chicago for 1998. It had been conceived by sportswear monolith Nike, which held the first option to be the team apparel supplier, and approved by the league office. The Rhythm logo and colors, a coiled cobra in red, yellow and black, already had appeared on merchandise in soccer catalogues.

But there was one small glitch. The Colorado-based ownership balked at the name. Early this summer, the team backers dug their heels in and so did Nike. And while the situation eventually was smoothed out and Nike stayed in the fold, the struggle points up the high stakes involved in naming pro sports teams in today's market.

"A name is a very emotional item," said Fire General Manager Peter Wilt, who unveiled the logo, a facsimile of a fire department badge, amid a shower of pyrotechnics. "You don't want it to be something you're embarrassed about.

"We were getting tremendous pressure from the league to pick a name in short order. They wanted to make sure that they could get merchandise out in time for the first year. But I said I'd rather lose one year in merchandise sales than spend a lifetime with a bad name."

Which is the way oil, railroad and communications magnate Philip F. Anschutz, the Fire's owner, and team President Bob Sanderman regarded Rhythm.

Both Anschutz and Sanderman have a little faith in their own business acumen. Anschutz, with an estimated net worth of $2.2 billion, is not far from Nike CEO Phil Knight ($5.3 billion) on the recently released Forbes 400 list. Anschutz and Sanderman are majority owner and CEO, respectively, of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, and run another MLS club, the Colorado Rapids.

But they didn't have much precedent for going it alone. Sportswear companies have chosen the names and designed the logos for most of the 10 MLS teams. A notable exception was the Puma-clad Rapids, whose name was suggested in a contest entry by Sanderman's daughter.

When Sanderman and Anschutz nixed Rhythm, some feathers were ruffled at Nike. The company weighed its commitment to clothing the team and eventually decided to stick with Chicago, one of its flagship markets thanks to Michael Jordan.

But, Nike told the Chicago owners, they were on their own now.

"The time and money we invested in the design was huge, initially," said Steve Scott, Nike's soccer sports marketing manager. "I can say, honestly, that we thought Rhythm was going to cruise in. Our apparel graphic and design process is so involved, we didn't have the time or resources to do it again at that point."

Sanderman purchased a 15-page list of names, an astounding number of which are spoken for by the rapidly proliferating number of minor-league and women's teams. He quickly narrowed the finalists to 10 and then to three: Blues, Wind and Fire.

Blues was ruled out because of the close proximity of hockey's St. Louis Blues. Wilt liked Wind because of a potential tie-in with the local Spanish-language radio station, WIND, and the Windy City association. He went so far as to do a trademark search on it, but found consumer response wasn't good.

Wilt originally rejected Fire because it had been used by a defunct team in an extinct league--the Chicago Fire of the World Football League, who played here in 1974-75. But the more he and Sanderman talked about it, the more they saw marketing potential.

Once the name was decided, Sanderman hired a Denver design firm to produce a logo. In early September, just before the U.S.-Costa Rica World Cup qualifying match in Nike's hometown of Portland, Ore., team and MLS officials caucused with Nike designers, who made several suggestions that molded the final product.

"We're pleased with what came out," said Scott. "If we hadn't been, this might be a different conversation."

MLS Commissioner Doug Logan said he wasn't surprised by all the teeth-gnashing, but holds a fairly fatalistic view of the name game.

"Ultimately, this team will be followed or not followed, loved or hated, stuff bought or not bought, not on the basis of the name but on how they do on the field," he said.

A FEW DETAILS STILL HANGING FIRE

A few small details remain to be settled for the newly named Chicago Fire. Among them: the selection of a coach and players.

Fire General Manager Peter Wilt said Wednesday he expects to hire a coach within a couple of weeks.

Major League Soccer's expansion draft will be held in early November, and the Fire also expects to pursue several high-profile foreign players.