Sports logos suck... kinda

Most sports logos nowadays suck. Key word: most. 

Recently, a new logo for the Tennessee Titans was leaked, and fans are divided on it. A simplified circle. The sword T lost its edges. Even the flames of the famous logo are gone. However, others point out that the logo returns to the popular colors of the Houston Oilers, the former name of the Titans. 

Personally, I despise this logo. As a Titans fan, the logo is generic and bland, and the personality and detail from the current logo is completely lost. The colors are good; I love the Oilers' colors, but the logo itself is horrible. 

This follows a trend of teams adopting more minimalistic logos in recent years. In the NFL, the Los Angeles Rams, New York Jets and Washington Commanders have gone to logos with less details and seen mixed results.  

Outside of the league, a number of MLB and NBA teams have also fallen into this trap.

Personally, I think there are just a few logos in the league that are genuinely good, but most get a pass because they’re older or iconic. Some teams, like the Orlando Magic or the Colorado Rockies, have simply adopted a new simple logo because they know it’ll drum up conversation about the teams since they can’t do that on the court or field. 

Some of these logos are straight up trash. The Commanders adopted a new logo after changing their name from the Redskins (and after a brief stint as simply the Washington Football Team). Their logo is simply a W with extra lines, which invokes no feelings that a sports logo should, which are pride, community and fierceness. For such a strong name as the Commanders, was a military inspired logo too much to ask for? 

In the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers are the quintessential example of simplification. Just look at the logo evolution since 2003. The beautiful ball and sword logo has been stripped down all the way to simply a letter C in a shield. What about that screams Cavaliers? If you put that C logo on the Los Angeles Clippers and changed the colors, would you notice that the current logo represents a Cavalier instead of a Clipper? 

Surprisingly, not all minimalist sports logos are bad. The best example is the MLB’s Milwaukee Brewers, who in 2020, returned to their iconic glove logo, which has strong iconography in simplicity as it hides the letters MB in the glove shape. Despite having clearly less details than the previous iterations, the logo is a beautiful masterpiece and shows that a simple glove can be such an impactful logo. 

Returning to the NFL, the New England Patriots logo, affectionately known as the Flying Elvis, has become one of the best logos in the league. While initially hated when introduced (I do think the Patriot Pat logo is much better), the current logo reminds fans of the Tom Brady era and the success that once was, and may still be, in Foxborough. From a design aspect, incorporating the American flag with the star on the hat and the stripes coming off fits perfectly with the Patriots name. 

My opinion on minimalist ports logos is if you can use minimalism to create strong imagery and theming, then go for it. Too often, logos are stripped to the bare bones simply because it fits a corporate identity better than one filled with detail. 

To be honest, we should just take notes from hockey logos. In my opinion, there is no bad logo in the NHL.