Not every minor league sports franchise needs a cool logo, but finding one that works well can pay dividends far beyond the profit from a sweatshirt or ball cap.

“People who are wearing your stuff are walking billboards,” said Brian Petrovek, longtime executive of the former Portland Pirates who is now CEO of the Stockton Heat, the top minor-league affiliate of the Calgary Flames. “You hope you can make a few bucks on the sale but it’s got an advertising value to it as well. It’s a marketing tool.”

Paul Holmgren, president of the newly named Maine Mariners, speaks Sept. 29 after announcing the name of the ECHL team during a press conference. On Wednesday, the team will unveil its logo. Staff photo by Derek Davis

Petrovek, along with many other followers of Maine’s professional hockey scene, is interested to see the logo unveiled Wednesday afternoon at Cross Insurance Arena by the minor league team set to fill the void left when the Pirates set sail for Springfield, Massachusetts.

The Maine Mariners are enticing fans with free hot dogs and soda to witness the unveiling of colors and logo for the team scheduled to begin ECHL play in the 2018-19 season. Doors to the arena open at noon for the event, scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m.

Following the announcement, the Mariners will have T-shirts and sweatshirts for sale. Hats are soon to follow.

Adam Goldberg, vice president of business development for the franchise, originally planned to reveal the logo and colors before Thanksgiving, “but the process of creating a logo took a little longer than expected,” he said. “We wanted to make sure we got it right. And we did get it right, at least, in our minds. It’s obviously very subjective.”

The city’s other two minor-league sports franchises, the Portland Sea Dogs and Maine Red Claws, have different approaches to merchandise sales. The Sea Dogs are annually among the best sellers of minor-league baseball merchandise and have a licensing agreement through minor league baseball that allows their apparel to be sold nationwide in stores such as Olympia Sports, Dick’s and Lids.

“The logo is a big part of the puzzle,” said Geoff Iacuessa, executive vice president and general manager of the Sea Dogs, “but then the identity you build around it is equally important. Think about the Red Sox. They’re named after a pair of socks. But the connotation and brand they’ve built around it is huge.”

The Sea Dogs also have the opportunity to sell merchandise at 71 home dates, many of them in tourist season, often in sunshine where a hat can come in handy. The Red Claws, by contrast, play basketball on 24 home dates, many in the middle of winter, in front of patrons who arrive at the Expo already bundled.

“I think it’s icing on the cake,” said Bill Ryan Jr., majority owner of the Claws, of merchandise sales. “It’s not a make or break.”

Ryan said Claws apparel sold particularly well in the early years of the nine-year-old franchise.

“I think that was largely because our name is unusual,” he said, “and our logo is unusual.”

Petrovek said merchandise sales tend to make up less than 10 percent of revenue for minor league clubs.

“It’s not as important as tickets and sponsorships, obviously,” he said, “but it has a place at the table.”

The Mariners contracted with a local design and development company called Big Room Studios, located at Thompson’s Point, to create their primary and secondary logos.

Goldberg said the team also plans to hold its first Town Hall meeting Dec. 12 at CIA from 6 to 8 p.m. Fans are encouraged to ask questions of Goldberg, Vice President of Hockey Operations Danny Briere, Director of Sales Linsey MacDougall or CIA General Manager Matt Herpich.

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