ORLANDO MAGIC REBRAND IS HERE

[MAGICian619]

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[Bensational]

For all those fans clamoring for a direct return to the old logos and jerseys: Mitchell and Ness own those. The Magic literally can’t use them anymore without paying them so that was never going to happen.

Interesting. I had never heard that. I'm assuming it goes back to a poor decision to allow them to own the copyrights. i'd assume the Magic have tried to buy them back but Mitchell and Ness probably want too much or are unwilling to sell for whatever reason.

I wonder what the rights situation is in that case? Does it mean Mitchell and Ness collect royalties on any retro jersey production and sales? They must be earning something on those rights to justify not wanting to sell them, otherwise holding on to the rights for something you’re not monetising sounds poorly advised.

[Bensational]

That statement jersey is so F-ing good! Didn’t expect them to nail so many things I was hoping to see, or how much I’d enjoy the retro callbacks. I wasn’t even a big fan of those old jackets previously, but this I love!

[Black and Blue]

For all those fans clamoring for a direct return to the old logos and jerseys: Mitchell and Ness own those. The Magic literally can’t use them anymore without paying them so that was never going to happen.

Interesting. I had never heard that. I'm assuming it goes back to a poor decision to allow them to own the copyrights. i'd assume the Magic have tried to buy them back but Mitchell and Ness probably want too much or are unwilling to sell for whatever reason.

To clarify, as I may have misspoke: Mitchell & Ness don’t outright own the old logos, but they have a deal with the NBA for exclusive rights to use them for products. That means NO NBA TEAM (not just the Magic) can go back to their OG logo because the NBA sold exclusive rights to all of those to Mitchell and Ness. The NBA won’t allow a team to sell all their merch with Mitchell and Ness, due to their contracts with Fanatics and others.

This is why the teams that want to return to their OG looks have to make an updated version that is dissimilar enough to their original as to not get sued by Mitchell and Ness or have it vetoed by the NBA. Add on top of that the circular global logo requirement and you can see the Magic just had to do their best to do something quasi-fresh.

Most NBA fans don’t know this. I can’t imagine how maddening it must be for these teams to nonstop hear questions about why they don’t return to their original logos, knowing they can’t.

[Audi]

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[Black and Blue]

For all those fans clamoring for a direct return to the old logos and jerseys: Mitchell and Ness own those. The Magic literally can’t use them anymore without paying them so that was never going to happen.

Interesting. I had never heard that. I'm assuming it goes back to a poor decision to allow them to own the copyrights. i'd assume the Magic have tried to buy them back but Mitchell and Ness probably want too much or are unwilling to sell for whatever reason.

I wonder what the rights situation is in that case? Does it mean Mitchell and Ness collect royalties on any retro jersey production and sales? They must be earning something on those rights to justify not wanting to sell them, otherwise holding on to the rights for something you’re not monetising sounds poorly advised.

Clarified the point in my post above, but you are absolutely right that Mitchell and Ness will 100% not give up their rights to old team logos as they make a killing on apparel with them. It’s quite brilliant how they managed to carve that out for themselves.

[Black and Blue]

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Like it even more now.

There’s a wand in the logo?! That’s awesome!

[Bensational]

For all those fans clamoring for a direct return to the old logos and jerseys: Mitchell and Ness own those. The Magic literally can’t use them anymore without paying them so that was never going to happen.

Interesting. I had never heard that. I'm assuming it goes back to a poor decision to allow them to own the copyrights. i'd assume the Magic have tried to buy them back but Mitchell and Ness probably want too much or are unwilling to sell for whatever reason.

To clarify, as I may have misspoke: Mitchell & Ness don’t outright own the old logos, but they have a deal with the NBA for exclusive rights to use them for products. That means NO NBA TEAM (not just the Magic) can go back to their OG logo because the NBA sold exclusive rights to all of those to Mitchell and Ness. The NBA won’t allow a team to sell all their merch with Mitchell and Ness, due to their contracts with Fanatics and others.

This is why the teams that want to return to their OG looks have to make an updated version that is dissimilar enough to their original as to not get sued by Mitchell and Ness or have it vetoed by the NBA. Add on top of that the circular global logo requirement and you can see the Magic just had to do their best to do something quasi-fresh.

Most NBA fans don’t know this. I can’t imagine how maddening it must be for these teams to nonstop hear questions about why they don’t return to their original logos, knowing they can’t.

Damn, this is so fascinating. I’d listen to a podcast on this for sure. Where did you hear all of this?

[Black and Blue]

Interesting. I had never heard that. I'm assuming it goes back to a poor decision to allow them to own the copyrights. i'd assume the Magic have tried to buy them back but Mitchell and Ness probably want too much or are unwilling to sell for whatever reason.

To clarify, as I may have misspoke: Mitchell & Ness don’t outright own the old logos, but they have a deal with the NBA for exclusive rights to use them for products. That means NO NBA TEAM (not just the Magic) can go back to their OG logo because the NBA sold exclusive rights to all of those to Mitchell and Ness. The NBA won’t allow a team to sell all their merch with Mitchell and Ness, due to their contracts with Fanatics and others.

This is why the teams that want to return to their OG looks have to make an updated version that is dissimilar enough to their original as to not get sued by Mitchell and Ness or have it vetoed by the NBA. Add on top of that the circular global logo requirement and you can see the Magic just had to do their best to do something quasi-fresh.

Most NBA fans don’t know this. I can’t imagine how maddening it must be for these teams to nonstop hear questions about why they don’t return to their original logos, knowing they can’t.

Damn, this is so fascinating. I’d listen to a podcast on this for sure. Where did you hear all of this?

Thanks man. The Magic talking about the rebrand and how they had to avoid Mitchell And Ness-level OG logos was on the podcast I mentioned above, but the info about the licensing deal with the league you can find almost anywhere. If you put into Chat GPT what the deal is with Mitchell and Ness and their deal with the NBA for logos for example you’ll probably learn more.

These licensing deals are so annoying to creative. I work in creative for a big brand and we are constantly being told “Be creative…but you can’t do too much because we get paid good money by (insert name here) and any changes will force them to spend money and they’ll be angry.”

[magicfan9109]

Haven't posted on in here since undergrad maybe...just got rid of twitter and now coming back to my roots - the rebrand is hyping me up!

[Bensational]

If you put into Chat GPT what the deal is with Mitchell and Ness and their deal with the NBA for logos for example you’ll probably learn more.

These licensing deals are so annoying to creative. I work in creative for a big brand and we are constantly being told “Be creative…but you can’t do too much because we get paid good money by (insert name here) and any changes will force them to spend money and they’ll be angry.”

How good is ChatGPT!

In February 2022, Mitchell & Ness was acquired by Fanatics, Inc., in collaboration with a group of investors including LeBron James, Jay-Z, and Kevin Hart .

Good on those guys, they’ve become absolute moguls.

Yeah creative licensing is annoyingly over-complicated as it is, but when you add in brand partnerships, vertical expectations and senior-management feedback it can really shrink the limits of creative potential. The secret blessing is that AI solutions are at their fingertips today so they could generate whatever iteration they want, but I suspect a lot of people are discovering that infinite possibility is worthless without taste.

[KillMonger]

Looks better in real life than it does in the promotion

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[paperboymafia]

my only qualm is the typography on the home jerseys, feels a bit small. but otherwise i am impressed.


edit: I meant the blue jersey. small and a big basic.

[zaymon]

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Impressive. Most thoughtful of our logos. Hopefully with us for a long time.

[RookieStar]

Looks better in real life than it does in the promotion

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It really does grow on you over time

[UCFJayBird]

For all those fans clamoring for a direct return to the old logos and jerseys: Mitchell and Ness own those. The Magic literally can’t use them anymore without paying them so that was never going to happen.

Interesting. I had never heard that. I'm assuming it goes back to a poor decision to allow them to own the copyrights. i'd assume the Magic have tried to buy them back but Mitchell and Ness probably want too much or are unwilling to sell for whatever reason.

To clarify, as I may have misspoke: Mitchell & Ness don’t outright own the old logos, but they have a deal with the NBA for exclusive rights to use them for products. That means NO NBA TEAM (not just the Magic) can go back to their OG logo because the NBA sold exclusive rights to all of those to Mitchell and Ness. The NBA won’t allow a team to sell all their merch with Mitchell and Ness, due to their contracts with Fanatics and others.

This is why the teams that want to return to their OG looks have to make an updated version that is dissimilar enough to their original as to not get sued by Mitchell and Ness or have it vetoed by the NBA. Add on top of that the circular global logo requirement and you can see the Magic just had to do their best to do something quasi-fresh.

Most NBA fans don’t know this. I can’t imagine how maddening it must be for these teams to nonstop hear questions about why they don’t return to their original logos, knowing they can’t.

Wow. That explains so much. That's a crazy deal the NBA made. Any idea of it ever expires or was it in perpetuity?

[davey_wavy]

Dont LOVE it. Dont HATE it.

but its damn sure better than what we have had since 2009

[RichCollab]

Looks better in real life than it does in the promotion

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Wow. That picture makes it look like fire.

I think this may become my favorite Jersey. They took a big risk and it caught me off guard but not I’m loving it.

[MagicMadness]

I mostly like the rebrand.

I think the unis look really good. However, it might've been better to use the original font; it's more unique, and more iconic. I still like these new unis, though.

The primary and secondary logo look good. Not a huge fan of the court logo, but it's fine. I'd like to see the primary logo with the new 'Orlando' text above it, and 'Magic' below it. I think that could've looked better.

While not 'perfect', I think this rebrand is better than any we've had since the original era. Not bad at all.

[Black and Blue]

Interesting. I had never heard that. I'm assuming it goes back to a poor decision to allow them to own the copyrights. i'd assume the Magic have tried to buy them back but Mitchell and Ness probably want too much or are unwilling to sell for whatever reason.

To clarify, as I may have misspoke: Mitchell & Ness don’t outright own the old logos, but they have a deal with the NBA for exclusive rights to use them for products. That means NO NBA TEAM (not just the Magic) can go back to their OG logo because the NBA sold exclusive rights to all of those to Mitchell and Ness. The NBA won’t allow a team to sell all their merch with Mitchell and Ness, due to their contracts with Fanatics and others.

This is why the teams that want to return to their OG looks have to make an updated version that is dissimilar enough to their original as to not get sued by Mitchell and Ness or have it vetoed by the NBA. Add on top of that the circular global logo requirement and you can see the Magic just had to do their best to do something quasi-fresh.

Most NBA fans don’t know this. I can’t imagine how maddening it must be for these teams to nonstop hear questions about why they don’t return to their original logos, knowing they can’t.

Wow. That explains so much. That's a crazy deal the NBA made. Any idea of it ever expires or was it in perpetuity?

Interestingly I checked and it says that it has not been publicly disclosed. That usually means both parties profit off of it enough that it’s just going to keep going.

If the NBA at any point wants to test the waters, I’m sure they’ll leak that the deal is ending to drum up suitors…but it sounds like they aren’t interested in that. Remember this is the league that is trending towards paid advertising on the jerseys so making money is at the forefront of a lot of their decisions.