Following the 2019 season, a preliminary list of Minor League teams that would not be included in the new 120-team system was released. Beloit was on the list of teams that would be eliminated.
The most important factors deciding which teams would remain affiliated Minor League franchises included the quality of teams’ stadiums and their economic viability. Beloit’s longtime ballpark Pohlman Field fell short of Major League Baseball’s facility requirements and the team lacked the economic resources to fund necessary improvements to the ballpark or to build a new one. Compounding the team’s problems, the Snappers identity the team adopted in 1995 had consistently ranked near the bottom of Minor League apparel sales rankings for decades, leaving the team without an important revenue stream to make the improvements necessary to their ballpark to remain affiliated.
Unless the team could quickly come up with the funds for expensive ballpark renovations or to construct a new ballpark, 2019 would likely be the final season in the franchise’s history.
To develop their new identity, Beloit Baseball enlisted the help of Brandiose, the nation’s leading brand development company for Minor League teams. The team began a public name submission process, asking the fans two questions: 1. Do you want the Snappers name to stay or the team to adopt a new name? and 2. What should that new name be? Over 1,000 fans submitted their feedback and over two-thirds of those fans preferred the team take a new name.
With a list of over 1,000 potential team names submitted by fans in hand, the team and Brandiose evaluated each name sent in by fans. Each name was checked for connection to the community, potential trademark availability, similarities to existing teams and brands, the location of the fan who submitted the name, and creative possibilities. After developing a narrowed list, Brandiose visited Beloit for an extensive multi-day survey of the community, holding numerous focus groups with hundreds of fans and community members. Following those meetings, the team emerged with five finalists that had been submitted and vetted by fans in the Stateline area and that cleared all necessary trademark hurdles.
The team then presented those five finalists -- Sky Carp, Moo, Polka Pike, Supper Clubbers, and Cheeseballs -- to the community in a fan vote to select the team’s new identity.
Thousands of fans cast their votes for their favorite name, and Sky Carp edged out Supper Clubbers as the fan’s choice with Cheeseballs placing third and Polka Pike and Moo ranking fourth and fifth, respectively.
Immediately after the conclusion of the fan vote, Brandiose artists went to work to bring the winning name to life, presenting a series of initial sketches of potential logo designs to the Beloit Baseball team.
From the initial sketches, the team picked a small selection of logo ideas to be colorized based on a variety of important design themes:
- Representing the Sky Carp idea of a goose that loves Beloit so much it doesn’t leave in the winter.
- Featuring Beloit’s beautiful landscapes, especially the Rock River that ABC Supply Stadium resides beside.
- Representing the hard-working blue-collar industries and workers that have built, defined, and shaped the city.
- Appealing to fans young and old.
- Incorporating famous historical figures who have represented and brought notoriety to the Stateline region including Bessica Raiche, Roy Chapman Andrews, and Arthur Warner.