This month's INSIDE SPORTS examines the trend among colleges
to change logos, as retail sales of collegiate licensed products
are expected to hit $2.75B in '95. William Wagner writes, "After
decades of slumber, university athletic departments have awakened
to the fact that sport apparel can bring in big bucks." Wagner
notes "at least three-dozen" major colleges have tinkered with
their look or added logos in recent years. However, Wagner adds
that "it's possible the strategy could backfire if schools tweak
logos too frequently." Joseph Michael Essex, of Essex Two Inc.,
a Chicago designer: "What's happening here is that identity
issues are being driven by the manufacturers instead of by the
institutions." Essex adds that businesses that have "an
investment in an identity should realize that the value is just
as much historical as it is in the present." Essex is
"skeptical" of some new designs because many are based on
caricatures. Essex: "Contemporary people don't buy critters
(INSIDE SPORTS, 1/96 issue).
CHANGE IS GOOD: With two NBA expansion teams and ten teams
now sporting alternate road jerseys, there's a "new look
throughout the league," notes Dwain Price in this morning's FORT
WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM. Price adds, "Clashing colors. Pinstripes.
Logos. Anything goes in today's uniforms." However, not
everyone is pleased with the broad changes in the league's look.
Mavericks GM Norm Sonju: "I don't want us to feel we have to have
new uniforms just because everybody else wants to have them."
Sonju said his team most likely would not change its look until
it moves into a new arena. Sonju: "There's nothing on the
drawing board." NBA Dir of Marketing Communications Peter Land
believes "making money is not usually the driving force in
changing a team's look as much as gaining and holding fan
interest." Rockets VP/Basketball Ops John Thomas, whose team
decided to change its look before winning two titles, says the
Rockets changed after fans told them they needed a fresh design.
Thomas: "The unfortunate part of all this is that it is becoming
portrayed as a money-making venture on the part of the team" (FT.
WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 11/29).
ABSENTEE BALLOT FOR TRADITION: ESPN's Karl Ravech noted
that when forming a new basketball league in China, franchises
picking names "shied away from Raptors, opting instead for Ducks
and Squirrels." The first name chosen in the league was Rockets
("SportsCenter," 11/28).
