Major League Lacrosse: MLL rebrand by Troika

After significant research and stakeholder collaboration, Major League Lacrosse (MLL) introduced fast, aggressive, innovative and player focused new branding. The new logo reflects the youthful, intense, and bold nature embodied in the game of lacrosse. It features a fresh take on a red, white and blue color scheme by adding a silver gradient around the shield. And, most importantly, the shield centers around the player.

In the midst of the 2018 season, MLL conducted a comprehensive fan research study with Nielsen Sports. The results informed the creative rebranding process, led by Troika/Mission Group (TMG), a global brand experience and integrated communications agency. Throughout the process Troika, TMG’s LA office, and MLL spent time listening to the thoughts and feedback from current players and league stakeholders. Other considerations for Troika and MLL included the rich history of the league, the geographic growth of the sport, the rapidly growing reach of MLL, attributes that are central to the sport of lacrosse, and the bright future of the sport and the league.

The rebrand was initiated with a complete scrub of the league’s Instagram account last week. At the same time, all branding on MLL’s Twitter and Facebook accounts were removed and followers were informed a change was coming through a 10-second clip of Boston Cannons’ attackman Mark Cockerton across all of its social channels. The following night, MLL unveiled the new branding across all social and digital channels. The new branding included: a new website, the new logo, a new draft logo, new player imagery and a 20-second video with Bayhawks star Colin Heacock announcing “We’re ready, are you?”

The timing of the release aligned with the promotion of the 2019 Draft, the first league event where the rebrand was activated. The MLL also released a new website for the first time in more than a decade in conjunction with the rebrand.