Meet the new logo, same as the old logo

1 of 7: The Philadelphia 76ers

Nostalgia: a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.

A yearning for a rose-colored, romanticized past permeates cultures across the world, and, in particular, in the United States. We hear the longing in slogans, see the interest and selling power in cinematic franchises, theatrical reboots, revived television series, cylical fashion fads, generous music sampling, and a classic video games renaissance.

And, over the past decade or so, nostalgia has found a home in the world of sports logos. Across the four major professional sports leagues—MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL—seeking inspiration from the past or resurrecting bygone era logos has become an underreported but active cottage industry.

Let’s start with the NBA. At least seven of the existing 30 franchises have either reverted wholly to logos of yesteryear or significantly extracted elements from classic logos for their current franchise symbols.

This is the first of seven articles highlighting each of the seven NBA franchises that returned class logos. Then, I will illuminate the revivals in MLB, NFL, and most voluminously, in the NHL.

Philadelphia 76ers

One of the first professional basketball clubs, Syracuse formed in 1939 and played as an independent aggregation before joining the fledgling Basektball Association of America (BAA) in 1946. When the eastern-weighted BAA merged with the midwest-centric National Basketball League (NBL) in 1949 to form the National Basketball Association (NBA), Syracuse stayed in the mix.

Even as the NBA contracted from 17 teams in the 1949-1950 season to eight in the 1954-1955 campaign, owner Danny Biasone—who championed the adoption of the 24-second clock, which is generally credited with saving the flailing league—kept funding his Nationals.

However, the challenge of staying financially afloat in one of the NBA’s last remaining small markets (Rochester moved to Cincinnati, Fort Wayne to Detroit, Minneapolis to Los Angeles) and lacking an adequate arena (the Onondaga County War Memorial seated only 7,000), Biasone sold the team in 1963 to printing and packaging paper magnate Irv Kosloff and high school classmate and prominent attorney Ike Richman. The new owners’ roots were not in central New York but 250 miles southeast.

The franchise not only relocated to Philadelphia in 1963—replacing the Warriors, who had departed for San Francisco a year earlier (Richman helped negotiate the deal)—but the Nationals also changed their name to a moniker more fitting for their new home. The fact that Philadelphia fans detested the Nationals provided additional fuel for the name change.

“My father knew that the first thing that needed to happen was to change the team name,” offered Ike’s son, David Richman, to NBC Sports Philadelphia. “My father came up with the idea of holding a ‘Name The Team' contest to try to get fans involved.”

A few thousand entries were submitted. While several mined the same vein, one stood out.

“There were almost 500 different suggestions among the entries and Walter Stahlberg was one of several who picked the 76ers,” per a 1960s-era 76ers’ media guide. “However, his accompanying 25-word explanation was deemed the best by the judges, and he and his wife received an all-expense paid trip to the West Coast to see the 76ers play San Francisco.”

Printed in the August 19, 1963 edition of Sports Illustrated, Stahlberg wrote: "No athletic team has ever paid tribute to the gallant men who forged this country's independence, and certainly Philadelphia, Shrine of Liberty, should do so.” 

The Philadelphia 76ers (the Colonials, reportedly, was the second most popular submission) were christened.

Ike turned to a cousin, Mel, who owned a prominent ad agency in the City of Brotherly Love, for a logo. Mel delivered the red 7 and blue 6, in a bold, stylized font with 13 blue stars in a circle representing the original 13 U.S. colonies above the concave top of the 7. Simple, elegant, memorable.

The logo was updated in 1977, adding the “ers” to 76 and encompassing the original logo in a white basketball outlined in blue. That logo remained en force for two decades.

In 1997, the 76ers embraced a radical logo transformation, what the designing agency Rickabaugh Graphics credited as “the first to embrace hip-hop culture and to leverage a youthful, urban audience for the NBA.” The self-flattery continued: “The unique and ground breaking designs (featuring lots of black with gold and red trim) synced perfectly with star player, Allen Iverson, and created a true sports/cultural revolution. Soon celebrities such as rapper/actor Will Smith were seen wearing and embracing the new Sixers brand and the connection between rap/hip-hop and the NBA has flourished ever since.”

Ever since lasted for 12 years until 2009 when the 76ers returned to their roots.

"By bringing back the old Sixers logo, we are connecting the past with the future," said Comcast-Spectacor Chairman Ed Snider on nba.com. "This logo evokes memories of some of this franchise's proudest moments. We also made this change because we understood how much this logo means to our fans, this franchise and to our city. The fans had a big input on this decision. We're excited and we want the entire City of Philadelphia to be excited for Sixers basketball."

"The 76ers logo is one of the more iconic in all of professional sports and we are sure fans will appreciate the Sixers returning to their core colors and ball icon," said Christopher Arena, NBA Vice President Apparel, Sporting Goods & Basketball Partnerships.

In 2015, a subtle updating bridged new and old.

From the team’s press release: “The team’s new primary logo is a modern interpretation of the classic Sixers insignia, stylistically redeveloped to include a patriotic blue border with six white stars and “PHILADELPHIA” adorned across the heading. The familiar white basketball has been visually updated with a positional rotation of the seams. The emblematic ring of 13 stars present in the primary, partial and secondary logos continues to represent the original American Colonies.”

The 76ers, no pun intended, had come full circle. And, the former Syracuse Nationals were not the only NBA franchise to travel the logo journey and return home again as we will discover in future entires of Meet the New Logo, Same as the Old Logo.

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