Readers’ view: What you said about new Brisbane Broncos logo and jersey

Brisbane has ditched tradition by erasing the Broncos name from its new logo, triggering fierce debate over the club’s polarising rebrand. Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy responds to the critics.

• New logo, new jersey, $100m vision

Brisbane chief executive Dave Donaghy has defended the club’s image makeover after criticism over the club’s shock decision to drop the Broncos name from its new logo.

The reigning NRL premiers unveiled a bold and sophisticated rebrand on Wednesday, including removing the Broncos name from their logo for the first time in the club’s decorated 38-year history.

The fresh, futuristic look has, not surprisingly, divided opinion.

While 41 per cent of fans labelled the new logo the best of the three iterations of Brisbane’s emblem, the club’s biggest rebrand in a quarter of a century copped some brickbats.

Of more than 2200 respondents on a Code Sports reader poll, 38 per cent agreed the new logo was “perfect”, 41 per cent were “unsure”, while 21 per cent answered “no, I’ll never recover from this”.

In other words, one in five voters panned the makeover, with one fan saying: “Go back to the original 1988 logo. Tradition obviously doesn’t mean anything”, while another added: “Looks like an AI-generated soccer team logo.”

The most divisive call was dumping the Broncos nickname from the iconic logo.

One passionate Brisbane supporter Jay accused the 2025 premiers of deliberately dropping the Broncos name from the logo to goad their River City rivals the Dolphins.

“Having Brisbane above the logo instead of the BRONCOS is a petty swipe at the Dolphins. I support the Broncos,” he wrote.

Bradley added: “Broncos instead of Brisbane on the top! The Dolphins have gotten into their heads about stealing Brisbane,” while Tess said: “Why have they removed the word Broncos?

“The team name is not Brisbane alone.”

SCROLL TO SEE ALL THE READER REACTION TO THE BRONCOS REBRAND

But Donaghy remains confident the Broncos have got their makeover right after 18 months of consultation with key stakeholders, including designers DDB Group, which also helped rebrand Italian soccer giants Juventus.

Asked what he would say to Broncos fans who don’t like the new look, Donaghy said: “I’d say to all of our members and our fans, and we’ve said this internally as well, it’s okay to feel how you feel.

“That’s perfectly okay.

“We’re not telling you how to feel. We understand our, our club, our sport, our industry.

“It’s a really emotional club and it’s an emotional game.

Fans are divided over the design.

“That’s what makes it so amazing and so powerful - the impact that it can have.

“People will be able to process it and digest it in their own time, and hopefully in time they come along the journey.

“We’d love them to.”

Amid the criticism, many observers praised Brisbane’s clean and slick rebrand.

“As a graphic designer, and not an NRL fan (so I have no skin in the game) the new logo is objectively better,” Adam wrote.

“Cleaner, crisp, easily identifiable and, IMO (in my opinion), more versatile.”

Nathan added: “There’s a lot more to the rebrand than just the new logo shown here.

“The heritage cursive Broncos text was completely reimagined, as was the bucking bronco icon and the workmarks.

“It’s a completely new, and quite extensive corporate identity for the club.”

WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT BRISBANE’S REBRAND

Brisbane vs Broncos on logo

Jay: Having Brisbane above the logo instead of the BRONCOS is a petty swipe at the Dolphins. I support the Broncos.

Bradley: Broncos instead of Brisbane on the top! The Dolphins have gotten into their heads about stealing Brisbane. This club is bigger than Brisbane and has supporters far and wide.

MB Designs: The new logo looks good. In time supporters will like it and forget about the old logo. Just the name above the logo should be BRONCOS and not BRISBANE.

Tess: Why have they removed the word Broncos? The team name is not Brisbane alone.

Eddie: I would really like the Broncos emblem to be in gold or yellow because that is what we are - BRONCOS. Let everyone see it clearly.

FOR THE REBRAND

Adam: As a graphic designer, and not an NRL fan (so I have no skin in the game) the NEW logo is objectively better. Cleaner, crisp, easily identifiable and, IMO, more versatile.

Andrew: Love it all, bring on 2026 and many more years of success! Love the Broncos, love Brisbane, a great club.

M: Broncos doing everything right on and off the field. Not a Broncos fan but love going to their games just for the show they put on.

Fiona: Remember that the Broncos is the only sporting team on the ASX. It answers first to its shareholders not its supporters. It is a business after all and needs to generate income. A rebranding will help generate much needed income.

Nathan: There’s a lot more to the rebrand than just the new logo shown here. The heritage cursive Broncos text was completely reimagined, as was the bucking bronco icon and the workmarks. It’s a completely new, and quite extensive corporate identity for the club.

King Matt: The design looks great. Well done

Kat: Looks fantastic. Well done Broncos

Matthew: I love the new navy blue jersey

David: It’s great...move with the times! Any criticism will be forgotten within a week...!

Natasha: Great article explaining the significance of the logo design. It’s growing on me already! Very happy the white jersey has been retired. After the 2023 GF and the loss in Vegas that followed, I still found it triggering ha ha. But nice that it had a happy ending before retirement. And looking forward to seeing what the new game day focus brings. Another exciting season ahead.

Debbie: Love the old one, but will learn to love the new one, a logo doesn’t make the team, the players do, so kinda neutral at the moment, we are still the mighty Brisbane Broncos regardless of a logo.

AGAINST THE REBRAND

Robert: The Brisbane Seahorse.

Shaun: I’m sure the new one will grow on me but I think it could be better. I’m all for a revamp but don’t think they got it right.

Robert: The name looks like at risbane. The first letter does not look like a B.

Tim: Broncos colours were chosen because they each had a specific meaning. Blue was not one of them. It is no wonder retro fan gear is so popular. Ben Hunt was even getting around celebrating the GF in a 93 jersey.

Peter: Firstly - the logo on the jersey needs to have the yellow, same as shown on promo images.

Second - there’s not enough yellow on the jersey, looks like manly (shudder the thought)

Third - the away should be white, navy blue looks like Bulldogs (shudder and feel sick at the thought).

Matt: Looks like a rip off of the Cowboys jersey.

Chris: So what do we wear when we play the dogs away? WT@! The new logo is rubbish.

August: Why change a logo that has won premierships, made millions and has a lot of history. Hopefully they don’t blame the new logo if the Broncos don’t make the final next year.

Shane: Don’t change it, I just got a Premiership tattoo.

Theeso: Looks like an ai generated soccer team logo.

Originally published as Readers’ view: What you said about new Brisbane Broncos logo and jersey