Connecticut Defenders

Today the Norwich Navigators announced that they are changing their name to the Connecticut Defenders finally ditching one of the worst play-on-word logos ever to grace minor league baseball.

I can't say that I am a huge fan of this logo. It reminds me a lot of some of the current logos in the Atlantic League (especially the Camden RiverSharks) and the GBL. It looks too slick to be a baseball logo. It has more of a hockey feel. But it is definitely better than the gator that has graced Norwich baseball for the last few years.

The new name is an attempt to change the team's identity since they now have a new owner, a new lease with the city and a new lease on life in Norwich. But I think that this owner has gone a little bit overboard though (no pun intended) by eschewing the city's name, especially since he is dealing with the city of Norwich for the ballpark.

I understand the want to expand your fan base by not limiting it to just Norwich but it is a slap in the face of a city that rallied to save this team from moving to then ditch the city's name. I also think it is a mistake to change the nickname because of how long they have been known as the Navigators and its close ties to the local history. You could have just changed the logo, the colors and the branding and had the same result just with better name recognition.