Canadian Interuniversity Sport ushers in new era as it rebrands name, logo

TORONTO — Canadian Interuniversity Sport didn’t exactly roll off the tongue. The name, often shorted to CIS or SIC in French, was clunky, wordy, and a little confusing even (Interuniversity?).

After 15 years, it was time for a much-needed makeover. The new brand needed to be bold, easily recognizable, bilingual, and importantly, it needed to speak to a younger demographic.

With all that in mind, U Sports was born.

The rebranding was unveiled during a press conference in downtown Toronto with media, university officials and former university athletes in attendance. Olympic bronze medallist in Rio and current U of T swimmer Kylie Masse was meant to attend, but a mandatory laboratory got in the way. However, a short clip in a promotional video did show her saying the new campaign gave her “goosebumps.”

Compared to its counterpart in the United States, the NCAA, university sports in this country fly under the radar. Graham Brown, CEO of U Sports, said the rebrand aims to change the way university sports is consumed and viewed in Canada. The name itself is simple, clean and without an acronym, making it a far departure from the former CIS-SIC or its previous CIAU handle. Of course, a flashy new name that speaks to a younger generation is certainly a start, but Brown knows there’s still work to be done.

“I really think the brand is something that people can find a better affiliation than what we’ve had,” he said of U Sports. “We’re going to have to work really hard on messaging, there’s no question. It’s not just rebrand and all of a sudden things are different, but the new brand allows us to speak differently to that demographic.”

Alongside the new moniker is a fresh logo, designed as a block letter “U” — standing for university — with “sports” written in uppercase, block lettering in the middle. Sandwiched in between is a red maple leaf. The masterminds behind the name, logo and brand strategy is Vancouver-based design firm Hulse and Durrell, who have worked with the Canadian Olympic Committee, Swimming Canada and Curling Canada in the past.

The U Sports rebrand is but the first step in building buzz around university athletics in this country. What follows will be promoting and showcasing the 12,000 elite student-athletes at 56 universities across Canada. During the recent Rio Olympics, for example, 158 former or current Olympians had ties to the CIS. Through social media, the sport governing body made a concerted effort to celebrate their athletes who were having success in Brazil.

“This isn’t an exercise to take attendance from nominal in some cases to the Panda Bowl two weeks ago where they had 24,000,” Brown said about the rebrand. “This is a road and a journey to just continue to build, and build the brand and make people aware that what they’re going to go see, if they decide to go watch U of T play basketball or UBC or Calgary, is a very good brand of athletic competition.”

There is also the hope that a new brand strategy can pay dividends when it comes to corporate partnerships and national broadcasting opportunities.

“We worked really hard to try and get in front of corporate Canada,” Brown said. “Corporate Canada, they’re passionate about, I believe, university sport, we just have to convince them that we’re a good opportunity for marketing, promotional opportunities,” he said.

On broadcasting opportunities, Brown said he’s also had good conversations with TVA and Sportsnet, both rights-holders. This season City has been airing a "Football Game of the Week" nationally on Saturdays, leading to the Vanier Cup, which will air on Sportsnet and TVA in November.

“They want university sport to be successful, but they’ll tell you straight up that we have to generate awareness, this is not up to them,” Brown said.

With the new name, new logo and new brand, the governing body enters a new era — and if all goes well, U Sports is hoping that brings forth a new attitude toward university athletics in Canada.