'It’s a great chance we have': CK’s IBL expansion team hopes to honour Chatham Coloured All-Stars

Chatham-Kent’s Intercounty Baseball League’s expansion team is partnering with a Toronto marketing agency to develop a new name and public image after the original “Blackbirds” team name was shelved due to its racial association.

The Hive and its creators have worked with other major league teams across North America, including the Toronto Raptors’ historic "We The North" rebrand and CCM’s most recent global efforts under the Hive’s co-ECD Sacha Ouimet’s watch.

“We do all kinds of marketing and brand work here but we certainly have some deep experience in pro sports and athletic brands,” said The Hive’s chief Strategy Officer and Partner, Dustin Rideout.

Rideout said they want to continue to pay homage to the 1934 Chatham Coloured All-Stars Team after previously collaborating with Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) to put the historic team in the video game MLB the Show.

“We’ve developed kind of a personal connection to the story of Chatham and the All Stars for the work that we did together with the MLB and OLG,” Rideout explained. “And so we reached out to them and said, ‘How can we help?’”

“It's not just a sports story. It's an important Canadian sports story that is as important now, maybe even more important now to know about then 10, 20, 30 years ago,” Rideout continued. “This is just another opportunity to spotlight a very special place in Canada, and what better way to do that than through a new team that is going to engage a whole new next generation of fans.”

The Chatham-Kent Blackbirds name was revealed in late January after a community-wide naming contest. It was dropped just a few days later after team officials learned of the historical derogatory use of the terms “blackbird” and “blackbirding.”

“It's unbelievable,” exclaimed Dom Dinelle, president and owner. “It's a great chance we have to have these professionals trying to help us here in this, in creating our brand, our brand new team, expansion team with the IBL. It's unbelievable.”

Dinelle told CTV News Windsor interest and ticket sales for the 2024 season are gaining momentum despite the first game being more than year away. Dinelle said he is confident The Hive will create a brand that the entire community will be proud of.

“They know what we want,” Dinelle said. “They know that we want to do something for the family, for the kids, for the baseball fans for the non baseball fans as well. Something cool that the community will identify themselves so they're going to come up with something great, I'm pretty sure.”