CHARLESTON, Ill. --- SportsLogos.net - a prominent website that covers branding & logos across the sports world - recently released its annual Logo of the Year Awards for 2015 and the new Eastern Illinois Panthers logo ranked second on the list among athletic teams and franchises.
The new EIU Panther primary logo, which was unveiled in early October, was selected as the No. 2 Best New Primary Logo of 2015. The winning logo for the year was from the American Hockey League's Milwaukee Admirals. The third place logo was from the West Virginia Black Bears, a minor league team that plays in the New York-Penn League.
To be eligible for the awards a new team logo must have made its on-field/ice/court debut during the 2015 calendar year. There were well over 150 new primary team logos that qualified for the list.
In addition to Eastern Illinois, six other NCAA schools ranked on the Top 50 logos list ranked by SportsLogos.net Howard University was fourth. UNC Wilmington was 11th. Northern Colorado was 21st. Hartford was 24th. The United States Military Academy (Army) was ranked 31st and Saint Louis University was ranked 42nd.
The new EIU Panther logo was developed by the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) based in Atlanta. It was unveiled on October 7 and the EIU football team was the first to use the logo in competition during the Panthers Oct. 10 Family Weekend game on ESPN3 against Southeast Missouri.
At the unveiling EIU Board of Trustees student representative Catie Witt stated "I think this logo is very modern and could help draw students to the university. Personally I think it is awesome. I could not be more honored to have served on this committee and be presenting the new logo."
Since the spring a committee of people from EIU administration, athletics, the EIU bookstore and Witt have worked with the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) on this logo. The committee looked at a number of different looks and color schemes that would work best in the new logo.
The EIU Panther logo placed higher on the SportsLogos.net list than some prominent teams and programs:
- 2015 Eastern Conference Regular Season Champion Atlanta Hawks (No. 6)
- NBA team Washington Wizards (No. 9)
- MLS Cup Finalist Columbus Crew SC (No. 18)
- Triple A Baseball franchise Nashville Sounds (No. 20)
Recent Award Winners Include:
2014 – Amur Khabarovsk (KHL – Russian Professional Hockey League)
2013 – Creighton Bluejays (NCAA)
2012 – Toronto Blue Jays (Major League Baseball)
