Game Plan Sports Group Files ‘Inter Toronto’ Trademark

The York United ownership group has filed a trademark application for Inter Toronto Football Club, suggesting that the group is either considering a rebrand or has potential plans to utilize the identity in another fashion.

While the application for the name itself was filed back in August 2024, the ownership group recently followed up by uploading a logo just weeks ago.

The logo’s discovery has triggered fan chatter online about another potential rebrand for Game Plan Sports Groups’ CPL side, though how Inter Toronto FC comes into the fold remains to be seen – after all, the league has already approved multi-club ownership models, while the commissioner has held firm in his belief that Toronto could host multiple CPL sides.

Game Plan Sports Group entered the Canadian football scene after purchasing York United in November 2023, sparking an end to the club’s uncertainty following a period where Canadian Soccer Business had purchased the side from its original owners in the Baldassarra Family.

York United is now in its seventh year of operation, having launched as York9 FC in 2019 before rebranding to York United ahead of its third season. Playing out of York Lions Stadium on the north end of the city, the club has struggled to bring in significant crowds, though the university-owned venue was never intended as a permanent home.

It’s worth noting that many trademarks are registered as part of a formal thought process: for example, the CPL still holds trademarks for ‘Port City FC’ and ‘Hamilton Founders FC’, though neither ultimately became club names, while the company also uploaded logo applications for League1 New Brunswick, League1 Manitoba, and League1 Nova Scotia, none of which are confirmed.

Brothers Ricardo, Eduardo, and Miguel Pasquel have kept the YUFC club branding untouched since taking over, with their CPL side even launching a League1 Ontario team this year that adopts existing club branding, allowing its athletes to wear York United kits as tie-in branding with the first team.

The Inter Toronto FC logo shows a departure from what we know as traditional York United colours of green, blue, and gold: in the Inter Toronto logo, we see that yellow takes the predominant colour splash on a backdrop of black, while the logo’s central visual design itself comes in a sleek coat of white.

In a hypothetical situation where this is a new club versus a rebrand, it would adorn a similar strategy to Vancouver FC in boasting a name very similar to an MLS team already in the city. Where this club would play is also unclear: Lamport has long been considered for CPL, with NSL side AFC Toronto also hoping to see that stadium renovated, though plans for such aren’t formalized as of yet. In fact, the new AFC Toronto majority recently talked about adding seats to York Lions Stadium.

Canadian football fans around in 2006 may find ‘Inter Toronto’ rings a bell, too: back then, when MLS announced it was expanding to the city, fans were polled on their preference between ‘Toronto FC’, ‘Inter Toronto’, ‘Toronto Northmen’, and ‘Toronto Reds’. Evidently, Game Plan Sports Group is a fan of option number two, though it remains to be seen where that will go.

A representative from the ownership group did not respond to inquiries regarding the trademark application at press time.