Worst Current Sports Brands?

[mattr1198]

Hi all,

 

Thought I'd see what you thought were some of the worst overall sports brands. Brand includes colors, logo, and uniforms as a single entity in this case. Now, here are really my top 3:

 

3. Anaheim Ducks: Man oh man are the Ducks a waste that has been talked about enough. The colors are unique but gross when meshed together, especially compared to the prior colors. The logo is way blander than what came before it, which is now iconic. The home and road uniforms also feel pretty outdated, but thankfully the great orange alternate saves this brand from moving to the bottom. A refresh is definitely needed for this team, as many have stated.

 

 

2. Ottawa Senators: The Sens need a complete brand refresh from the ground up. The colors are bland as hell with the red-white-black color scheme being overused in the NHL and it working worst for them. Their logo is a new level of yuck & outdated and needs to be changed as soon as possible. The uniforms are just bland as hell, nothing criminal but they're dated and so so boring. Just a painfully boring brand that needs a complete change

 

1. All of Cleveland Sports: I couldn't choose one. Sorry to say Cleveland, in my honest opinion, all your brands are horrible in one way or another. The Indians scheme is a tad boring, the Browns have a very unique but pretty ugly scheme, and the Cavs butcher a potentially great scheme with the horrible mix of black and blue. What isn't deniable is that all three teams have horrid logos; the Indians and Browns logos are the most boring in all of sports, while the Cavs' logo is a freaking mess of multiple eras and should've been redesigned from the ground up rather than done as patchwork. Finally, the Indian's uniform is bland as hell and also weirdly blends multiple eras, the Browns current set (I KNOW THEY'RE CHANGING IT) is horrid as well detailed, and the Cavs have one of the worst unis across all sports. The Cavs are the worst of Cleveland, but the other two suck in their own ways too.

 

Do you agree? What are your least favorite current brands in sports?

[clonewars2008]

2. Ottawa Senators: The Sens need a complete brand refresh from the ground up. The colors are bland as hell with the red-white-black color scheme being overused in the NHL and it working worst for them. Their logo is a new level of yuck & outdated and needs to be changed as soon as possible. The uniforms are just bland as hell, nothing criminal but they're dated and so so boring. Just a painfully boring brand that needs a complete change

I respectfully disagree on the Red-Black-White, that is Ottawa colours, we were the first Red-Black-White team in the NHL so no, that ain't going anywhere. I agree with the rest.

[NoE38_Concepts]

Yeah the Sens should never give up the red, black and white. Pretty much every single pro/semi-pro team in any sport in the city uses those colours. It's like Pittsburgh's black and yellow/gold. A team in Ottawa without those colours is pretty much blasphemy. The actual logo and jersey designs suck though.

[Ridleylash]

Honestly, the Sens only really need to finally ditch their Reebok holdovers and go with the updated 2D logo as their primary with the =O= jersey as their permanent third. That, and introduce a more vibrant shade of gold to replace the dull gold they have now. Something like an old gold would be perfect. Red/black/white is just Ottawa sporting colors, you can't ditch those.

 

The Ducks just need to go back to the Mighty Ducks look but replace the silver with orange as a way to keep that Orange County tie.

[Fitzy0220]

1 hour ago, clonewars2008 said:

2. Ottawa Senators: The Sens need a complete brand refresh from the ground up. The colors are bland as hell with the red-white-black color scheme being overused in the NHL and it working worst for them. Their logo is a new level of yuck & outdated and needs to be changed as soon as possible. The uniforms are just bland as hell, nothing criminal but they're dated and so so boring. Just a painfully boring brand that needs a complete change

I respectfully disagree on the Red-Black-White, that is Ottawa colours, we were the first Red-Black-White team in the NHL so no, that ain't going anywhere. I agree with the rest.

Careful with that way of thinking, a lot of people choose to ignore anything that is not Original 6 - Present Day. No offense to the Bruins fans here but on the NHL and NHL NBCSN Facebook Pages, Bruins fans have a hard time accepting the fact that a Pittsburgh Hockey Team wore Black / Gold before their precious Bruins. They argue and whine and cry that the Pirates Hockey Club DON'T COUNT because they weren't part of the Original 6 OR the Penguins aren't the Pirates. They IGNORE the fact that both the Canadiens and Rangers (O6) both wear Red / White / Blue  LOL

[mattr1198]

10 hours ago, NoE38 said:

Yeah the Sens should never give up the red, black and white. Pretty much every single pro/semi-pro team in any sport in the city uses those colours. It's like Pittsburgh's black and yellow/gold. A team in Ottawa without those colours is pretty much blasphemy. The actual logo and jersey designs suck though.

I'm not saying they should necessarily, just do something different, like make black the main uniform color rather than red like the Devils and Canes.

[CaliforniaGlowin]

LA Angels

TB Rays

TB Lightning

Detroit Pistons

LA Clippers

 

[Quillz]

OKC Thunder. Absolutely terrible.

[clonewars2008]

12 hours ago, mattr1198 said:

I'm not saying they should necessarily, just do something different, like make black the main uniform color rather than red like the Devils and Canes.

The solution to that is a have 3 jerseys a red one, a black one and a white one, this is the way.

[clonewars2008]

21 hours ago, Fitzy0220 said:

Careful with that way of thinking, a lot of people choose to ignore anything that is not Original 6 - Present Day. No offense to the Bruins fans here but on the NHL and NHL NBCSN Facebook Pages, Bruins fans have a hard time accepting the fact that a Pittsburgh Hockey Team wore Black / Gold before their precious Bruins. They argue and whine and cry that the Pirates Hockey Club DON'T COUNT because they weren't part of the Original 6 OR the Penguins aren't the Pirates. They IGNORE the fact that both the Canadiens and Rangers (O6) both wear Red / White / Blue  LOL

Don't forget the Americans too, so that's 3 teams that had the same colour scheme at the same time. 

[Fitzy0220]

19 minutes ago, clonewars2008 said:

Don't forget the Americans too, so that's 3 teams that had the same colour scheme at the same time. 

That's exactly the point I make to them

Red / White / Black
- Senators
- Hawks
- Devils (previously Red / White / Green)
- Hurricanes (previously Hartford Green / White)

Red / White / Blue
- Canadiens
- Rangers
- (Original Winnipeg Jets, now Arizona Coyotes) 
- Blue Jackets
- Capitals

Black / Gold
- Bruins
- Penguins (previously Blue / White)

Blue / White
- Maple Leafs
- Lightning

Blue / White / Gold
- Blues
- Sabres

Blue / White / Orange (both teams flirted with Navy Blue, Edm now currently uses it) 
- Islanders
- Oilers


NO ONE owns sole possession of a color scheme
 

[mattr1198]

I guess another brand I can’t stand are the Houston Rockets. As you can tell from my Cavs criticism I hate era-blending logos and design. The Rockets (unlike the Sens) actually have all the right to be criticized for their use of red white and black as their color scheme, simply because their classic red white and yellow scheme was so much better and right for the picking, but they actively ignored it entirely.
 

Their primary is disgustingly bad, although i don’t hate their secondary logo as much others do, and their uniforms are the blandest of the bland and I significantly liked their old (albeit dated) uniforms before just because they had way more style and effort put into them. They actually felt like they belonged to a team with as cool a name as the Rockets.

[TrueYankee26]

OKC Thunder. Also the Clippers

[Eastport76]

I had to agree with you. But the Ducks’ colours represents the Orange Country. That’s why Ducks had orange and gold. However, the orange don’t go well with gold. Yes, it’s not good. 

[spartacat_12]

On 4/12/2020 at 2:20 PM, mattr1198 said:

I guess another brand I can’t stand are the Houston Rockets. As you can tell from my Cavs criticism I hate era-blending logos and design. The Rockets (unlike the Sens) actually have all the right to be criticized for their use of red white and black as their color scheme, simply because their classic red white and yellow scheme was so much better and right for the picking, but they actively ignored it entirely.
 

Their primary is disgustingly bad, although i don’t hate their secondary logo as much others do, and their uniforms are the blandest of the bland and I significantly liked their old (albeit dated) uniforms before just because they had way more style and effort put into them. They actually felt like they belonged to a team with as cool a name as the Rockets.

 

The Rockets would definitely be #1 on my list. For teams like the Sens, Browns, or Indians it's tough to come up with an appropriate logo that represents their name. Rockets has so much potential for a great logo, and yet Houston hasn't hit the mark once yet. They need to go back to the red & yellow scheme and start from scratch on the logo. 

[_DietDrPepper_]

NBA: Thunder, Rockets, Cavs, Clippers

NHL: Ducks, Senators, Capitals, Flames

MLB: Angels

NFL: Falcons, Titans, (maybe?) Rams

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

 

Going by aesthetics alone, the booby-prize winners are:

 

Major League Baseball: Diamondbacks, Marlins

NFL: Browns, Titans, Bucs (pending revamp), Seahawks, Ravens, Jets

NBA: Nets, Kings

MLS: New England Revolution

 

Of course, the quality of a brand is determined by more than aesthetics.  For a sports team, if it is popular and well-supported, then even an ugly uniform or logo does not equate to a bad overall brand.  So that pretty much lets all the ugly NFL teams off the hook.  Whereas, the NFL team with the worst brand acceptance in its local area, the Chargers, has one of the most beautiful uniforms.

[Eastport76]

MLB: Twins, Angels, Rays, Marlins, Indians 

NFL: Titans, Falcons, Jaguars, Cardinals, Jets

NHL: Oilers, Lightning(they look like Toronto, right?), Senators, Flames,

NBA: Cavaliers, Rockets, Clippers, Thunder, Nets

MLS: Revolution, Fire, Inter Miami(their uniforms are absolutely boring!) 

[mafiaman]

The Vancouver Canucks...still trying to convince me that an orca gritting it’s teeth is an awesome logo...

[sky1324]

When I think of sports brands, I tend to think holistically: you can't just consider a team's logo and jerseys, I think a brand is something that extends to the fans and their connection to the team. Is the Thunder's logo awful? Yeah, it's easily the worst in the NBA. However, I wouldn't call them the worst brand, because their jerseys are great and the fans have clearly connected to the team. I'd argue that a poor brand is one that's confused, clearly separated across multiple eras without a consistent presence, such as a color scheme or logo.

To that end, we can eliminate most teams, leaving these in contention: Los Angeles Angels, Cleveland's AL Team, Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins, Anaheim Ducks, Vancouver Canucks, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Washington Wizards, and four special exceptions to the rule that I think still qualify, despite being a little outside the rules set earlier: Chicago Fire, Washington's NFL Team, Kansas City Chiefs, and Atlanta Braves. These four are either named after/take influence from Native Americans (this includes Cleveland's AL Team, but they also fit the "multiple eras with no clear direction" rule) or completely ignore what fans like. I'm going to take out the less egregious examples of this and narrow it down to the teams I think are the most confused.

 

Cleveland AL, Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins, Vancouver Canucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Washington NFL, and Chicago Fire. The other teams have either seemed to settle down and decided on a look, such as the Ducks' Webbed D, the Nuggets' Pickaxe Circle(?), and I took out the Chiefs and Braves because their team name isn't a racial slur and they look good. (For the record, I think Washington NFL looks fantastic, but they should change the name to Redtails to end the whole controversy while keeping the maroon and gold.) I'll go down the list and take an individual look at each of these teams:

• Cleveland AL: This team needs to burn it down and start over. They look fine, I guess, but their primary is easily the most boring in sports and they're pretty much "nondescript RWB MLB team #4" right now. New name, new colors, new attitude is all needed in Cleveland right now. (And I don't wanna hear about that cut C or whatever it's called, it gives off a "noble savages" vibe and that's still a problem.)
• Tampa Bay Rays: They almost had at the beginning, but then they got rid of the gradient and went with a unique but bland and dim navy and forest green color scheme. You're from Florida! Be bright and bold! Then with the name change, they try to have it both ways with the meaning of the name: you gotta pick one. You can't be both rays of light and devil rays. If they wanna go with the light rays, good, they can use the amazing fauxback they used to wear. They wisely are moving back in the devil ray direction, but they're still pretty confused about what they and the fans want. Can't wait to see the Montreal Holy Rays of Light or whatever in 5 years!
• Miami Marlins: Another team that can't pick one thing and settle down. The Florida Marlins looked great with a silver and teal palette, but the original Miami Marlins were okay with a neat idea but poor execution. The current Marlins also are really close to great, but they need to go all the way with pink and not ever use black on black. (I'd also switch the primary and alternate, but that's just me.) 
• Vancouver Canucks: They look good now, but they can't pick an identity to save their lives. The orca is the longest lasting, but the Stick-in-Rink, Flying Skate, and Johnny Canuck all have their fans and detractors. I don't want to get too in-depth so as to avoid this thread getting Canuck-jacked, but I think the team just needs to pick one and don't stray from it. (Just not the Flying Skate.)
• Cleveland Cavaliers: Another team stuck in rebranding purgatory. I thought the 2010-17 look was great, although the early LeBron era was also great. Currently, they use both navy and black, along with wine, gold, and white. I'd personally drop the black and go back to the early LeBron era jerseys and colors, and stick with it. The worst thing this team does is that awful black jersey with just the C on it, though. Logos on jerseys with no wordmark look terrible in every instance.
• Houston Rockets: The Rockets had a great look, but they threw it away for garbage. Despite a great name like Rockets, every logo has failed to capture the magic and pure awesomeness of rockets and space travel in general. In fact, I think the San Diego Rockets logo was the best they've ever had. Go back to the red and yellow and actually put a rocket in the logo. Drop the black/gray/whatever, listen to your fans, the Olajuwon era jerseys are the best, plain and simple.
• Los Angeles Clippers: I don't blame them for having a rushed and bad rebrand when they changed owners. In fact, getting rid of Sterling's stench was the second-best thing could've done at the time. The best thing? Going back to the San Diego colors and actually becoming a bright and vibrant team that fits LA's SoCal vibes. The black is awful, as is the LAC box, and I really hope they bring back the baby blue and orange upon moving to their new arena in Inglewood and then keep it around.
• Washington NFL: They look great, but change the name.
• Chicago Fire: People loved the old cross logo, but they managed to throw all that away for garbage, plain and simple. A "Fire Crown"? Are you kidding me? That thing will be gone soon, I hope. This is on the list just because they threw away all of their goodwill with the fans to simply ignore them for some owner's ego.

So who do I think is the worst overall? Cleveland AL. The team simply has no direction. They have nothing unique to them, not a color scheme, not a name, nothing. The best thing this team can do start over. End the "Cleveland Indians" franchise and start anew with a new name and new colors. Don't honor the old team at all, don't even mention them. Act like a brand new team and finally have some semblance of branding peace.