The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball, founded in 1992 to serve as a developmental circuit for top minor league prospects. The league’s six teams play at spring training facilities across the Phoenix metropolitan area each autumn. The AFL’s visual identity was comprehensively refreshed in 2019, including a new league logo and updated identities for all six member clubs.
Design and History
In early 2019, Major League Baseball commissioned designer Brian Gundell to rebrand the Arizona Fall League from top to bottom, covering the league logo as well as all six team identities. Gundell worked in coordination with MLB Creative services to create an updated version of the league logo, along with a primary logo, cap logo, and jersey wordmark for each of the six teams. The new look debuted on the field in the fall of 2019.[1]
The updated league logo, unveiled in July 2019, rearranged and revised elements from the previous mark. It retained a warm color palette, the “Arizona” typeface, and a blazing sun as the primary visual element, while introducing a dark blue and a postcard-style dimensionality to the overall look and feel.[2]
Three weeks after the league logo was released, the AFL unveiled new and updated logos for its six teams. The Surprise Saguaros introduced an entirely new look featuring an anthropomorphized cactus in a cowboy hat and bandanna, while the Mesa Solar Sox expanded on their existing logo and added a new font. The Salt River Rafters replaced their oar-based logo with a water-based design, and the Peoria Javelinas received a toothier mascot update.[3]
The league’s six teams are the Scottsdale Scorpions, Mesa Solar Sox, Salt River Rafters, Glendale Desert Dogs, Peoria Javelinas, and Surprise Saguaros. These club names were selected by Major League Baseball as reflective of Southwestern desert traditions in Arizona.[4]
Meaning and Symbolism
The 2019 league logo maintains the blazing sun as its primary visual element, a motif that connects the league to its Arizona desert setting.[2] The team identities draw on regional desert imagery: the Desert Dogs’ logo features a coyote howling at the moon, the Solar Sox logo depicts a sun with cardinal points interlaced with rays and a baseball at its center, and the Saguaros’ identity is built around the iconic Arizona cactus.[5]
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