Ever since the Beloit Snappers announced they were considering a rebrand, our position has been clear: "Snappers" is a beloved name in our community (with historical significance), and was not the reason for the team's poor merchandise sales. That we blame on the fact the Snappers play in an outdated stadium and frankly haven't really done a good job marketing the team for the past several years. Thankfully, those problems are being fixed with a great new ownership group taking over and a beautiful new stadium being built in Downtown Beloit.

The other major issue is the merchandise selection for the team unfortunately isn't very strong, due at least in part to the team's logo remaining largely untouched for the last quarter century. As much as we love the team's current Snappy logo, we have always conceded that he was probably long overdue for a modern makeover. And to help prove that point we helped design a new concept logo for the team.

You can see the results above. A lot of the same features remain: the backwards hat, bat slung over the shoulder, and badass snapping turtle attitude. But this new logo helps bring Snappy into the 21st century, making him look just as good as other mascots which have been popular around minor league baseball in recent years.

We sent this logo to Snappers owner Quint Studer last fall, and he seemed to appreciate our efforts, but made it clear the team was still going to change its name. And at that point we decided to develop our "River Rockers" idea (using a similar design to this logo), and the rest as they say is history.

What do you think of this concept Snappers logo? Would you be more likely to buy merchandise with an updated Snappy or from one of the other names being proposed by the team (Cheeseballs, Moo, Polka Pike, Sky Carp or Supper Clubbers)? Look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments section below.