November 13, 2015

One of the Midwest Professional Basketball Association’s original six teams is undergoing a makeover.

The Chicago Force, which were taken over by the league on November 6, will now be known as the Chicago Blues.  Subsequently, the logo will be transformed from a lion’s head on a flaming basketball to an image more appropriate to the new nickname.

The changes in name and logo stem primarily from the prior existence of the Chicago Force professional women’s football team.

“When the Force came into the MPBA as one of its charter members, they did so having previously existed under private ownership,” said C. Edward “Ed” Schumer, commissioner and chief executive officer of the MPBA. 

“We did some research on their name and logo when they joined us, and discovered first there was a football team of the same name in the same city. We then found copyright problems with the original logo.  The owners wanted to keep the Force name, so our league staff created a new, original logo in order for us to own the intellectual property rights, which is mandated under league rules,” Schumer explained.    

“Now that the league has taken over the Force, we are immediately moving on the idea that a fresh identity would be best for the club going forward,” said Craig Fata, vice president and director of communications for the MPBA.  “We want to respect the 13-year history of the Force football team, and we don’t want to imply any relationship with them because of having the same name,” Fata said.

A new logo and color scheme are already in the works, and will be released in the coming weeks.