In a release on Thursday, The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced it will rebrand to the Metro Conference. The name change will go into effect on July 1, 2026.
The Conference announced a “brand repositioning” effort in November to help with its identity, especially quelling frequent confusion between it and the Mid-American Conference (MAC) as well as incorrect pronunciations of its name and acronym. The effort intended to create change that helped the Conference develop a distinctive identity among the 32 Division I conferences.
“The goal of this project was to establish a bold and clear identity that eliminated longstanding confusion surrounding the Conference’s name,” MAAC Commissioner Travis Tellitocci said in the release. “Throughout this process, we wanted to create a brand that better positions the Conference for the future while still honoring the tradition and foundation that have defined this league for the past 45 years.”
Joe Bosack & Co., a branding and design studio based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, led the repositioning project. The studio has worked with numerous big names in collegiate sports including the Heisman Trophy, the NCAA Final Four and the Men’s College World Series. The Conference also utilized a Technology & Digital Marketing Committee to guide the project, made up of six leaders from member institutions including Marist Director of Athletics Tim Murray.
“The evolution from the MAAC to the Metro Conference represents far more than a name change,” Mount St. Mary’s University President and committee chair Dr. Gerard Joyce said in the release. “Over the past year, our committee engaged in a thoughtful and collaborative process grounded in feedback from campus leaders, student athletes, coaches, administrators, and conference stakeholders. The result is a bold new brand and logo that reflects strength, energy, identity, and the future vision of our conference.”
The rebrand comes with a new set of logos and color palette. Previously, the Conference utilized a five-color palette—now, the palette features just new shades of red and blue. Leadership evaluated names and logos in part based on how they represented the entire conference to ensure they did not overvalue a specific region or market.
The Conference will also introduce additional branding elements and a new website “in the near future.”
Edited by Mike Schiavone
Photo from Marist Athletics
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