The Sharks' farm team "soon arriving in Silicon Valley" as part of the AHL's new Pacific Division will be called the San Jose Barracuda, according to sources cited by Nathan Donato-Weinstein of the SILICON VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL. The sources said that the moniker "follows a multi-year 'presenting sponsorship' deal" with California-based IT security company Barracuda Networks. The team, currently called the Worcester Sharks and based in Massachusetts, is "slated to play" its first games at SAP Center in October. The new Barracuda team logo "reflects the tech company’s swoopy fin logo but otherwise does not ape its brand messaging or typeface." The art, in black, teal, orange and gray, "hews closely to the current Sharks logo style right down to the angry orange eyes." USC Sports Business Institute Exec Dir David Carter said that he "couldn't name a similar arrangement" to the one between the Sharks and Barracuda Networks domestically, but that overseas brands and teams "are more intimately connected." Donato-Weinstein noted it is "unclear just what the sponsorship entails" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 4/1).
