Las Vegas, NV and Chicago, IL (June 22, 2023) – SlamBall, the fast-paced, gravity-defying sport that combines elements of basketball, football, hockey and trampolines, today unveiled “SlamMan,” their new logo in advance of the upcoming relaunch with SlamBall League: Series 6.
The logo and color scheme were designed by Gameplan Creative, the Chicago-based branding team that has been instrumental in creating designs for a host of teams, leagues and organizations, including the WNBA and eight of its teams and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. The league logo will appear with all other creative going forward.
“We are honored to be able to work with Tom O’Grady, Brigitte Smith, Pat Aguilar and the team at Gameplan Creative to deliver this new look in advance of our training camp and return to play season,” said Mason Gordon, SlamBall co-founder and CEO. “Tom has overseen some of the most well respected and distinctive looks in our industry, especially those in and around the NBA and the WNBA, and the input and attention to detail of his team was outstanding. We welcome SlamMan to the family.”
The new SlamBall logo process focused on the slam dunk player silhouette placed within the parallelogram shapes, evocative of the sport’s signature tramps (springbeds). The new black and gold color scheme is a modern incarnation that reflects the power, speed and creativity of the sport.
“Having an opportunity to design a league logo, brand individual teams, and create uniform designs is like winning the lottery in the creative world – beyond that, having that opportunity with the transcendent sport of SlamBall – it’s truly out of this world!,” said Brigitte Smith, Creative Director at Gameplan Creative, who oversaw most of the work on the logo. “I believe what we have created is a reflection of what the brand truly is – a powerful sport taken to great heights. The design of the logo exhibits the power of a SlamBall player as well as the majestic caliber of height displayed when flying 15 feet midair.
SlamBall recently announced an exclusive, two-year national broadcast partnership with ESPN for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. The partnership begins on Opening Night, as SlamBall relaunches live from Las Vegas on July 21 from 7-9 p.m. EDT. ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN+ will combine to air more than 30 hours of live SlamBall programming across five weekends, culminating August 17-19 with the SlamBall Playoffs and SlamBall Championship Game. All games will be played at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, with ticket sales beginning on June 28.
About SlamBall:
Launched originally in 1999 by founders Mason Gordon and Mike Tollin, SlamBall is a one-of-a-kind sports and entertainment property with a rich history of success in the United States and in markets around the world. It is a compelling hybrid combination of the best elements of basketball, football and hockey, infused with the essence of a video game come to life. The new, enhanced league is set for relaunch in the summer of 2023. Amid the current resurgence of interest in alternate sports, the hashtag #BringBackSlamBall has garnered more than 200 million views on social media, offering a powerful foundation of fandom for the sport’s revival.
About Gameplan Creative:
Founded in 2003, Gameplan Creative, LLC., based in Chicago, is an internationally recognized sports design and entertainment brand leader. Gameplan Creative is a multi-talented team of award-winning branding professionals with extensive creative and technical skills in sports design, advertising, animation, brand identity, graphic design, marketing, and video production. Gameplan Creative has a long and successful history of providing innovative, creative visual identity solutions which are memorable — and measurable. Gameplan Creative prides itself on establishing many long term client relationships based on our client-centric approach to building better brands. With over 75 years of combined experience in sports branded entertainment, Gameplan Creative understands a fan’s connection to a sports team is personal and crafted differently than a corporate or service brand. “Living brands” are subject to extreme swings of fortune, often tied to wins and losses, with success measured in subjective judgments, not just financial results. Without brand stewards like Gameplan Creative to oversee look and feel, voice, and consistency, brands can become fragmented and risk losing their valuable Brand DNA. Gameplan Creative positions define and direct fans’ “brand passion” to create genuine emotional experiences with these “living” properties. Establishing a strong memorable brand which connects with its customers is critical to the success of any product or service.