It’s Redblacks in leaked logos
No final decision on name or look, CFL team says
The city’s new Canadian Football League team will be called RedBlacks, says a former employee of the marketing company that has been consulting in the branding process.
Not so fast, says a spokesman for Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group.
Andy Davidhazy, who said he worked between August 2012 and March 2013 as creative director at Downstream, a creative agency in Portland, Ore., posted on his personal website what he described as “my own personal thoughts, first-hand work and experiences” about the process in naming the CFL expansion franchise and Ottawa Fury FC, a North American Soccer League club that is also scheduled to start play in 2014 at a redeveloped Lansdowne Park.
Davidhazy’s posting included three “recommended” CFL franchise logo options and two for the NASL club, both of which were among three posted by the Fury for online fan voting.
Randy Burgess, vicepresident for communications and fan experience for OSEG, which is redeveloping Lansdowne Park under a partnership agreement with the City of Ottawa, said in a statement Friday evening Davidhazy had been part of the Downstream design team working on team names and logos for football and soccer, but the material posted online was “earlier development-stage logo designs for both teams.
“As you know, RedBlacks was one of five possible team names for football, and all five names were developed with logo concepts when Andy was employed by Downstream,” Burgess’s statement continued. “Since then, we’ve continued the development process and zeroed in on a final name for the football team, with input from fans. The final choices will be announced in the coming weeks.
“We’re glad to see that Andy is proud of his work with the early stages of our branding process for football and soccer, and we hope fans are looking forward to seeing the official logos and the official football team nickname in the near future.”
Earlier this year, Davidhazy was in Ottawa to lead a focusgroup discussion of media representatives and former members of the Ottawa Rough Riders, the longtime CFL franchise that folded in 1996. The Ottawa Renegades played in the CFL between 2002 and 2005.
While in Ottawa, Davidhazy said RedBlacks was among the names discussed in focus groups. Others included Nationals, Raftsmen, Rush and Voyageurs.
Burgess said earlier this week an announcement about the CFL franchise’s name and logo was likely in another month of so.
Ottawa Fury FC was revealed during a media event in February. Online voting for three logo options was conducted April 4-8, and a formal announcement is expected shortly. A team spokesman said Davidhazy was involved in the early stages of naming and logo development, but wasn’t sure which logos Davidhazy worked on.
A representative of Downstream, who said his first name was Jim, but declined to give his last name, called Davidhazy a disgruntled former employee.
“Whatever he says in reference to who Downstream is and what they do has no credibility whatsoever,” the man said in a telephone interview from Downstream’s Portland offices.
“He no longer works here. He’s not authorized to post anything. ” An email sent to an address on Davidhazy’s website was not immediately answered.