The Windy City ThunderBolts, an independent professional baseball team in the Frontier League, will enter the 2026 with a new look for the first time in 20 years. The team, which plays in the suburbs of Chicago’s South Side, unveiled a suite of new logos and uniforms this week.
The new look is centered around typography that accentuates the team’s electricity-based nickname. In particular, a cap logo that combines the letters T and B along with a lightning bolt is central to the identity.
“What we’re known for are the big power lines that are around our ballpark,” said general manager Mike VerSchave. “Massive high-tension wires surround our ballpark on the first- and third-base side, and so they really wanted to keep with that theme of power and electric.”
While the team’s name is still formally ThunderBolts, the updated identity uses the shorthand “Bolts” in its branding.
“We’re kind of doing the Timberwolves thing,” VerSchave said, “where they’re the Timberwolves but everyone calls them the Wolves.”
In October of 2024, the ThunderBolts were purchased by the same ownership group that owns the Florence Y’alls. As such, the ThunderBolts turned to BLDG Brands, the design firm responsible for the Y’alls popular 2020 rebrand, for their own new look.
“They were thinking, maybe lightning could strike twice,” Verschave said (pun intended, I can only assume).
Ultimately, after two decades without a refresh, the team felt it was time.
“Our new visual identity is a heartfelt ode to the unique character and vibrant energy of the Southside,” the team said in a statement. “We’re embracing the audacious spirit, celebrating what makes us uniquely us, and amplifying the iconic ‘Bolts’ as our powerful, unmistakable shorthand. Prepare for a baseball experience that resonates with the loud, proud, and energetic rhythm of the South Side itself. This is where the heart of baseball goes to rumble!”
The ThunderBolts will take to the field when the Frontier League season begins in
