What’s The Deal With The New Winnipeg Jets Logos?

Nice logo, eh!

The new Winnipeg Jets franchise has unveiled their new team logo(s) that they will sport at the start of the 2011-2012 season. With the True North Sports ownership group appeasing fans by sticking with the Jets name, they had to develop a new stream of revenue coming in and what better way to do that then create a new team logo and sell thousands of new jerseys.

The new logos pay homage to the old logo will also paying tribute to the Air Force. With a very patriotic feel to the new logos, Winnipeg is capturing the patriotic vote across Canada as the new team to route for after your home town team.

As per the Winnipeg Jets official team release,

The design for the new logo, which was developed in partnership with Reebok and the NHL, was inspired by the logo of the Royal Canadian Air Force.“True North Sports & Entertainment felt it was important for the new Winnipeg Jets to develop a strong new identity,” said Mark Chipman, Chairman & Governor of True North Sports & Entertainment. “We felt it was important to authenticate the name Jets and we believe the new logo does that through its connection to our country’s remarkable Air Force heritage, including the rich history and relationship that our city and province have enjoyed with the Canadian Forces.”True North Sports & Entertainment would also like to thank the Department of National Defence for their assistance in the process.“We have always had a close relationship with 17 Wing throughout the years, dating back to our annual Manitoba Moose Military Night,” said Dorian Morphy, Senior Director, Marketing & Brand Management of True North Sports & Entertainment. “We are thrilled to be able to continue this relationship in a significant way. The design cues for the plane were inspired by the military jets flown by the Air Force over the years. So not only were we able to establish a new identity for our brand, but we were able to maintain a traditional, time honoured look to the logo.”

Here is the video that was shown to introduce the new Winnipeg Jets logo:

The Winnipeg Jets will unveil their uniforms and uniform colors at a later date but it’s probably safe to assume they will be close to the old team colours as the new logos play on those same colours.

My first thoughts upon seeing the new logos were “is Air Canada a sponsor of the Jets?” I think the logos play too much on the Canadian maple leaf and kind of resemble a logo you would see at the Winnipeg airport rather than on a hockey crest. Instead of being daring, the new Jets played it safe and went with an easy design and the over used maple leaf. And it is very strange that the Department of National Defence helped with the logo. I didn’t know our tax dollars went to paying for a top secret, national NHL logo making department. Or maybe the new logo was relegated by the CRTC rules, and thus the Canadiana influence.

Whatever logo the Jets decided to go with, the merchandise would have flew off the shelves in a few days, just like they sold out their entire season ticket base in a few days. This logo seems to be too safe and out-of-date when compared to other team logos. And even their presentation of the logo lacks any showmanship.

I didn’t love the old logo, but I think its simple design fit that era and was a solid crest to support. This logo looks like some kid created it in Paint as a grade nine art project. What do you think?

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