Rebranding teams is a common occurrence in the sports world. We’ve seen changes made to names, logos and colors.
But what happens behind the scenes?
Going from “Suns” to “Chiefs,” switching mascots and changing affiliated teams five different times, Peoria’s High-A baseball team has had a long franchise journey.
The Chiefs first arrived in the city in 1983 as the “Suns,” but they soon changed their franchise name after one year of playing at Meinen Field. With their name change, they also updated their brand, changing their logo to a Native American wearing a feathered headdress.
They kept this logo for 10 seasons before switching to a cartoon baseball wearing a headdress. One of the previous Peoria Chiefs owners, Rocky Vonachen, said that the “84-94 was a stoic Chief-looking logo,” and that “in 1995, it was maybe time for a logo refresh.”
In 2002, the franchise underwent a design makeover, transitioning from a cartoonish baseball to a red cardinal that lasted from 2002 to 2004. Then, as mentioned in an article in the MiLB, “With the 2005 season came an affiliate change. With the club’s longtime St. Louis partnership expiring, the Chiefs made a parent club switch to the Cubs.”
After switching to the Cubs, the Chiefs made their lasting rebranding visual, welcoming Homer, their Dalmatian mascot.
Instead of a headdress, the mascot wears a red firefighter helmet. With this branding change, the Chiefs had a “chance to get away from the Native Indian chief altogether,” Vonachen said.
Although the team never had an issue with receiving backlash over the indigenous imagery in its logos, moving to the Cubs allowed the team to distance itself from the controversies associated with those identities.
The last rebranding for the Chiefs was in 2013, when they returned to being affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals, and they removed the “C” patch Homer wore on his arm (a “C” for the Cubs). Although this seems like a simple change, a lot happens when updating a team’s image.
Over the years, the team has experimented with new looks, trying out alternate logos and shifting between parent clubs. Many changes might alter the way fans engage with the minor league team.
In conversation with Cody Schindler, the manager of media relations for the Chiefs, he acknowledged that fan loyalty to the Cubs still has an impact on attendance.
“You would be surprised how many people you’ll talk to on the phones… will say, ‘I just don’t come out to as many games because you’re a Cardinals affiliate. I’m a diehard Cubs fan,” Schindler said. “And I’m sure it was sometimes vice versa.”
Understanding that dynamic, the team focuses heavily on building local connections.
“For us, you have to get out in the community,” he said. “Going to events and talking to people and getting your logo out there… I think really for us, it’s just, you know, boots on the ground.”
That includes frequent visits to places like the Children’s Hospital in downtown Peoria, where players and staff interact with patients and their families.
“We live in Peoria. The players live in Peoria. The coaches stay in Peoria,” Schindler added. “We’re all working together to try to, you know, really just boost that sense of community and the sense of pride in Peoria and throughout Central Illinois.”
Changes occur frequently in sports, but what matters most to any team is developing and maintaining a culture that fans will want to be a part of, regardless of the shift. Gaining insight into a team’s inner workings can foster transparency that fans can trust and rely on. As for the Peoria Chiefs and their long franchise history, they value working with the community and supporting their fans.
