Atlantian
Registered User
I recently came across a rumor that Jacksonville was rebranding from the Icemen to the Narwhals for the 2020-21 season. Has anyone else heard anything about it? They have a big announcement coming on Saturday.
While I suppose a narwhal could make for an interesting logo (as long as the team hires an actual talented graphic designer), the choice as a team name seems very odd considering it's an Arctic creature.
The Connecticut Tigers of the New York-Penn League (Short Season A Minor League Baseball) have just rebranded to the narwhal-inspired Norwich Sea Unicorns...
The big news was not the rebrand as I had hoped. Instead, Jacksonville will be hosting the 2021 ECHL All Star Classic.
People on the JAX Facebook page were pretty mixed about the rebrand rumor. While they do have a good brand now, I believe if they were going to rebrand, they should have done it when they were relocated from Evansville.Perhaps it's for the best. All things considered, it's not a bad logo or jersey for minor league hockey standards. And considering how many bad ones are out there, a rebrand might not be a good thing.
The brand came south with Ron Geary, and I'd imagine his sale price to SZH Hockey LLC last summer included a fair portion (or probably not, based on history) for the Icemen name & brand marks. If the latter is true, the current owners would be inclined to consider recoupment of that portion of their investment in any team name change decision.... While they do have a good brand now, I believe if they were going to rebrand, they should have done it when they were relocated from Evansville.
The logos for the newly dubbed Sea Unicorns are all very well done. I'm not a fan of the name but the trend in minor league baseball seems to be those off the board nicknames lately.
If a rebrand of the Icemen was my decison, I would bring back a modernized version of the old Lizard Kings identity.
That is a milb trend with the unusual nicknames. Some of them have been successful some of them have been disastrous Babycakes fans love the team, not the nameNow that the news is out, I can safely say this... When it comes to a rebrand, be careful what you wish for. By my understanding, the majority owner is Andrew Kaufmann, who is also the majority owner of the minor league team in Fort Myers that just did this: