Express Unveil New Look for 2011 Season

ROUND ROCK, Texas - Ryan Sanders Baseball owner Reid Ryan announced Thursday new branding marks and logos for the Round Rock Express in conjunction with the franchise's affiliation change for the 2011 season. After 11 seasons as a member of the Houston Astros organization, the Express begin play as the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers in 2011.

The rebranding includes a new primary mark, new secondary marks, new colors and new uniforms. While blue and red continue as the Express colors, they now are in line with the Texas Rangers colors; the blue is a brighter royal blue, while the red remains unchanged. The new marks incorporate traditional Express elements, including a "train" theme and the Texas flag. The interlocking R logo remains as is save color alteration.

"We worked hard to keep some of our traditional elements while tying the past to the future," Ryan said. "We have honored our traditions from the past but also pushed forward in a new direction. Given our new affiliation with the Rangers, it was important to us to align ourselves with their color scheme."

Round Rock's new primary mark includes the Express word mark with half a baseball encircled by a red banner with "Round Rock" in white lettering. Portions of the Texas flag are in the background with a cattle catcher in the foreground. The new E-Train logo features a metallic E concaved upward with a cattle catcher at the bottom.

The Express will don four jerseys this season: white (home), gray (road), blue (alternate) and red (alternate). The white and blue jerseys both sport the Express word mark across the chest. The gray and red jerseys both feature the interlocking R logo on the left chest.

"Having been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to work on the Corpus Christi Hooks brand identity and other Ryan Sanders Baseball projects, we were tremendously excited when Round Rock's affiliation change to the Texas Rangers led to the team contacting us about creating a new branding identity for the Express," Dan Simon of Studio Simon said. "We hope that Express fans are as excited about the new identity as they are about their hometown team being the new Triple-A affiliate of the American League champion Texas Rangers."

Four new caps also will be worn for the 2011 season: blue with E-Train logo, red with E-Train logo, blue with interlocking R logo, and blue with interlocking R logo and red bill.

Merchandise displaying new marks is in the Railyard team store at The Dell Diamond and online at www.RoundRockExpress.com.

Round Rock hosts the Texas Rangers for an exhibition game March 30 at The Dell Diamond; first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT. The Express open their 12th season April 7, 2011, at The Dell Diamond, beginning the season with four-game series against the Iowa Cubs and Omaha Storm Chasers.