There are a number of cities throughout North America that are home to several major sports franchises. New York City, Boston and Toronto come to mind. Some teams are relatively new to the scene, like the Las Vegas Knights of the National Hockey League – founded in 2017. Others, like Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs, have been around for a long time – founded in 1871. We mostly regard each of these as independent franchises as representing their city in an overall league. But some cities have made efforts to establish an overriding brand for their various teams. New York City unifies their presence through similar sounding names – the Jets, Nets and Mets. Two of Chicago’s franchises, the Bulls and Bears, are inspired by their stock market - NYSE Chicago. And a number of locations have teams that adopt a common colour palette. For example, all Pittsburgh teams (Steelers, Penguins and Pirates) dress in yellow, white and black uniforms.
One city, however, has five major franchises with a harmonious colour palette used throughout their logos – Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves (MLB), Falcons (NFL), Hawks (NBA), Dream (WNBA) and the Atlanta United FC (MLS) each have unique brands, but they work nicely together as a family. Red is common to each team logo, possibly in reference to the devastating burning of the city during the American Civil War in 1864. Additional colours: blue, gold, silver and black are used to varying degrees within the designs. Most of these logos are fairly new. Perhaps they took their lead from the oldest logo of the group, the Atlanta Braves. The current version of the team’s brand debuted in 1987. More than likely, it was a conscious effort by graphic designers to create a strong visual alliance for the city. Team work at its best!