A baseball league in Southern Ontario is poised to make a big step up next season, and they’re making sure their branding befits their new status.
The Intercounty Baseball League — currently comprised of nine teams throughout Southern Ontario — announced on Monday, November 24, that it will become a fully professional league starting with the 2026 season and go by a new name: the Canadian Baseball League (CBL).
“Fan interest in our League has exploded to historic levels. The quality of baseball has always been top-rate, with players drawn from across Canada, Latin America and Japan, but the main engine of our growth has been significantly enhanced fan experience, with fun in-game entertainment, contests, unique theme nights, and accessible players, all at a very affordable price for an entire family.”
— Ted Kalnins, commissioner, CBL
Along with the new name came a new suite of logos. The main logo depicts the silhouette of a swinging batter inside a red circle with black swoops on the outside. A stylized maple leaf sits in the space between the player’s bat and front leg. The league’s name is spelled out in an italic font to the right of the batter.
A secondary logo was also released Monday and is being used as the profile picture for the CBL’s social media channels. It shows the batter on his own with the maple leaf in the same position and the initials “CBL” underneath. A wordmark with “CBL” and the red outline of the maple leaf also appeared on social media.
“Our history is what made our future possible,” Kalnins said in a press release. “Now, the Canadian Baseball League is ready to write the next chapter in the Canadian baseball story — one that will create an even better, more engaging, more memorable experience for our players, our communities, and most of all, our fans.”
Along with the name change, the league’s regular season will grow from 42 to 48 games, starting in mid-May. Five teams will make the playoffs, with the fourth and fifth seeds facing each other in a one-game playoff before two best-of-seven series in the first round. All games will continue to be streamed on YouTube, but games and league content will also be available on Roku, FireTV, Apple TV, iOS and Android apps.
Founded in 1919, the CBL is Canada’s longest continuously operating baseball league. In 2025, nearly 250,000 fans attended games, and 64 players with Major League Baseball or Minor League Baseball experience played in the IBL, including former All-Star Fernando Rodney. As well, former Guelph Royals catcher Liam Hicks made the Miami Marlins’ roster, appearing in 119 games.
The nine franchises currently in the CBL include:
| • Barrie Baycats | • Brantford Red Sox | • Chatham-Kent Barnstormers |
| • Guelph Royals | • Hamilton Cardinals | • Kitchener Panthers |
| • London Majors | • Toronto Maple Leafs | • Welland Jackfish |
Monday’s announcement made no mention of the league’s intent to expand, either in Ontario or across Canada.
This isn’t the first league to use “Canadian Baseball League” as their moniker. In 2003, an eight-team league began play, with franchises spanning from Victoria, B.C., to Trois-Rivières, Québec, and Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins as commissioner. However, the league only lasted half a season before the plug was pulled due to poor attendance and major financial losses. The Calgary Outlaws were declared league champions.
