'Tugas Logo/Branding Named Best in MiLB

When an affiliation change forced Daytona's baseball team to revamp its branding, the resulting Daytona Tortugas name and logo ended launching the best new look in Minor League Baseball, as chosen by the editors of Ballpark Digest.

Daytona's Florida State League team turned lemons into lemonade after circumstances forced the team to quickly adopt new logos and branding after an affiliation change. The resulting Daytona Tortugas look was named Best New Logo/Branding of the Year in the 2015 annual awards from Ballpark Digest, the leading guide to ballparks and baseball on the Internet.

"Most fans don't realize how long it takes to launch a new brand and marks for a professional sports team," said Kevin Reichard, Ballpark Digest publisher. "The normal lead time was highly compressed for the Daytona ownership and management. That they and their design team came up with such a strong team name, logo, and marks is a true testament to their hard work and inspiration."

"What a great way to cap off our first year as the Daytona Tortugas! Our staff along with Studio Simon did an excellent job with the rebrand especially given the circumstances," said Daytona Tortugas GM Josh Lawther. "The buy in both locally and even nationally has been a rousing success and Tortugas Nation will only continue to get bigger."

The logo and branding from Louisville-based Studio Simon was made necessary when the team's longtime parent, Chicago Cubs, decided to leave the Florida State League, replaced by the Cincinnati Reds as a parent team. The loss of the club spelled the end of the Daytona Cubs, meaning Studio Simon and the Daytona front office needed to act quickly to initiate new branding for the 2015 season.

"There wasn't much time to implement the new look," Reichard said. "But the resulting Daytona Tortugas name and branding really fit the market. It was a success on all levels."

ABOUT THE BALLPARK DIGEST AWARDS

Each year Ballpark Digest honors noteworthy accomplishments in the baseball world, whether it be Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, independent baseball, summer-collegiate baseball or college baseball. Team officials and readers are asked to submit nominations for awards in specific categories; Ballpark Digest editors then go though the submissions (numbering some 400 pages of documentation in 2015), consulting with industry leaders before a final decision. This is the seventh season for the Ballpark Digest Awards. A complete listing of Ballpark Digest Awards can be found at www.ballparkdigest.com/awards.

ABOUT BALLPARK DIGEST/AUGUST PUBLICATIONS

The leading Website covering the culture and business of baseball since its inception in 2002, Ballpark Digest (www.ballparkdigest.com) has been called an "indispensable" guide to baseball and ballparks by The New York Times; it's been used as a source by publications and Websites ranging from The Wall Street Journal to Epicurious.com. August Publications is a publisher based in Middleton, Wis. Besides Ballpark Digest, August Publications websites include SpringTrainingOnline.com, ArenaDigest.com, YellowstoneInsider.com and NewWest.net.