The Chicago Fire is set to announce another redesign of its badge, pending final sign off from all parties involved, multiple sources tell The Athletic. The reset comes just one year after the new badge unveiled last November was largely panned by fans.
The redesign process is already underway, but any new logo and uniform would necessitate collaboration and approval from Fire ownership, Adidas and the MLS league office, sources said. The Fire has hired multiple designers to work on the new logo, they added.
Advertisement
A spokesperson for the Fire declined to comment.
The Fire unveiled a brand overhaul last fall with a minimalist blue, yellow and red logo that is a “mirrored icon – with flames inverted to become a crown, hence the Fire Crown,” according to the club’s release. The “Fire Crown” was meant to tell “the story of a dramatic rebirth and a city’s triumph.” The Fire had previously used a logo based on the Florian cross, which it introduced when the club was founded in 1997.
The Fire also changed their name from “Chicago Fire Soccer Club” to “Chicago Fire Football Club,” which it said reflected “a long-term vision for the club as Chicago’s global ambassador to the world’s game.”
Almost immediately, the logo was criticized by fans in Chicago and by many MLS observers. Few saw the new logo as portraying a crown or fire, and fans said the new color scheme also closely resembled that of MLS rival Real Salt Lake. The Fire were criticized for breaking too sharply from the club’s history, including a switch to blue home uniforms for the first time — a departure from the red jerseys that created the “men in red” moniker used by the club.
The redesign was the first major decision under Fire owner Joe Mansueto, though the process began before the sale of the organization from previous majority owner Andrew Hauptman to Mansueto in September 2019.
In interviews after the unveiling, Mansueto indicated a willingness to move away from the new look if it remained unpopular among fans.
“We want a great badge for a great club,” Mansueto told the Chicago Tribune in January. “If it’s not working for people, we’ll fix it. As a practical matter, we can’t do anything in the short term given the long lead times on uniforms and merchandise, so let’s go through the season and let fans experience it in context. And we’ll take feedback along the way from all different constituencies.”
Advertisement
Any Fire redesign would not be ready in time for the 2021 season. The club will likely play next year with the current “crown” logo before moving to another new look in 2022.
Vendors like Adidas typically create new uniforms in two-year cycles, which means there is not enough runway for the Fire to debut new jerseys with a new badge in 2021.
The Fire’s brand refresh will follow the Houston Dynamo’s, which was revealed on Tuesday. It includes a new badge as well as the addition of “football club” to the team name. Like Chicago, other professional teams have also pivoted away from brand changes that didn’t resonate with the fan base. Leeds United quickly reversed course and scrapped a new logo in 2018 after thousands of fans signed a petition asking the club to rethink its new look.
The Fire similarly appear willing to raise their hand and listen to fans’ grievances. The task now is to get the next badge right.
Disclosure: Paul Tenorio previously worked on the Fire’s TV broadcasts.
(Photo: Robin Alam/ISI Photos/Getty Images)