Salt Lake Bees generate buzz with evolution of logos, uniforms

"It's a refresh, not a rebrand. We would say it's an evolution, not a revolution."

That's how Ashley Havili, VP of marketing and merchandise for the Salt Lake Bees, describes her team's new logos and uniforms. The Triple-A Angels affiliate unveiled its refreshed look on Monday, checking off a key item on the offseason to-do list in advance of moving to new Daybreak Field in 2025.

Today's Salt Lake Bees were established in the Pacific Coast League in 1994, playing as the bee-adjacent Buzz (1994-2000) and Stingers (2001-05) before adopting their current moniker in 2006. Utah is the Beehive State, and the Bees name has long been utilized by Salt Lake City's professional baseball team. The first iteration of the Bees debuted in 1915 and they, too, were members of the Pacific Coast League.

"We're moving to a new ballpark in the southwest quadrant of the [Salt Lake] Valley. With the move, do we completely go through a rebrand and come up with a new identity for the team? Or do we stay the Bees?" said Havili. "[The Bees] are one of Utah's most beloved and recognizable brands. Instead of pivoting and abandoning the brand equity that we've built, we decided to lean into it."

The Bees color palette remains predominantly black and gold, with the addition of an "Angels red" accent color that appears on the sleeve patch as well as the sleeve trim of a cream colored alternate uniform. A new custom primary script, black with yellow accents, is displayed on the home and black alternate jerseys. The primary logo, meanwhile, prominently features Bumble, the Bees mascot.

"Bumble is our most famous player, because it's Minor League Baseball," said Havili. "There's so much transition with the players, they come and go. But Bumble is an icon for us. He's a little bit more serious of a bee now, like a killer bee, but he's really fun. He's going to be on our on-field hat, which will probably be one of our most popular."

The Bees' new look is packed with references to franchise history and Salt Lake City's baseball legacy. The interlocking SL ligature references is modeled after the look of the original Bees teams of the early 20th century, while also paying tribute to Salt Lake's '70s and '80s era Gulls and Trappers teams.

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The "flat bee" secondary mark, in which the bee's body is comprised of a hive and a baseball, is also a nod to the original Bees teams, while a logo featuring Bees script running diagonally through the state of Utah is modeled after a design used by the parent Angels from 1971-85.

The new-look Bees will open their 2025 season on the road in El Paso on March 28, with the first game at Daybreak Field scheduled for April 8.

"This new brand will be infused throughout the new ballpark," said Havili. "The Bees will live on."