After weeks of speculation, Eau Claire’s new arena football team has a name and logo.
Appropriately revealed on the main stage at Country Jam USA Thursday afternoon, the squad, set to start playing in the Arena League next June, will be called the Eau Claire Jammers.
“The community input was tremendous and this is something we took a lot of pride and time in,” Tommy Benizio, advisor to the Arena League, told those jamming to the country music at the event before and after the long-anticipated announcement.
Benizio said that close to 1,000 people entered a contest to name the new squad and there were many that had variations on the eventual choice. The names of those people who had something similar to Jammers will be entered into a raffle for different prizes, including the ultimate season-ticket package. Names of the winners will be announced at a later date.
In a press packet given to members of the media following the unveiling of the name and logo, the reasoning behind the choice of franchise name was further explained.
“Sparked by one of the team’s first corporate sponsors, the Eau Claire Event District and its series of concerts, including Country Jam, the concept was designed to represent the American strength and spirit, along with the passion for music that has long been associated with this part of Wisconsin.”
Legendary NFL Hall of Famer and commissioner of the Arena League Football, Tim Brown, who was at the reveal, said he was pleased with the response from the community not only in the contest to name the Jammers but for the support and interest they have shown in the franchise since it was announced in mid-May.
Joining Brown, who is also a former Heisman Trophy winner, were many other officials from the area, most notably Rock Eiden, a managing partner for the Eau Claire Event District and who was instrumental in the ultimate selection of the name Jammers for the team.
“To have our first-ever professional football team to reflect the Country Jam name is very exciting and fitting for our community,” Eiden said in the official statement listed in the press package that detailed the reasoning behind the selection of the name. The logo was designed by one of the nation’s top designers, Ryan Foose of Foose Logo Design.
All in attendance were pumped and noted how energized and supportive the Eau Claire community has been since it was first announced that the city was even just in contention for a franchise.
“The response from the community even when we were just looking for cities was great,” Brown said during a separate meeting with members of the media following the announcement of the name and logo.
“I’m really excited about this area and about this team,” Brown said, adding that response to the League in general has been exceptional since it launched its inaugural season of play in late spring. He anticipates a similar response from Chippewa Valley region football fans when the Jammers take to the field next June.
“The response has really been great with the teams already in the league. I expect the response to be the same and maybe even better here,” Brown told the media.
As evidence of the support the team already has secured from fans in the area, an autographed Tim Brown football auctioned off Thursday afternoon secured $2,500 for the Country Jam Foundation, which is a collection of local charities. Chris Schultz of Mondovi placed the winning bid.
Brown said that not only because of the eventually chosen name, but because of the magnitude of the annual Country Jam USA event, announcing the team name and logo there was a no-brainer.
“We knew a lot of people would be coming to Country Jam and 90 percent of them are from Wisconsin, so it made sense to do the reveal at an event that would get Wisconsinites stoked about and interested in a team that would be playing in the Badger State.
Brown promised the crowd at the initial reveal that while they may think they have seen an arena football game before, they’ve never watched something like the Arena Football League gridiron experience.
“You may have been to arena football, but you haven’t been to anything like this,” Brown told the crowd, emphasizing that it’s a totally different style of game that encourages interaction between the fans, coaches and players and even on the referees who will actually be both on and off the football field.
At a May press conference to announce Eau Claire’s selection as a franchise, Benizio noted several things and mentioned many of the differences between Arena League football and football that you see played collegiately and professionally each fall.
“Our mission was to create a game that was faster and more fun,” Benizio said at the initial presser in mid-May. “Create better athletes, not be four hours long. We want to leave people wanting more with two, two and a half hour games.”
Another key difference will be that each team will have a 15-man roster. Players will play both offense and defense. The games will also be six-on-six as opposed to the traditional 11-on-11 format.
There are no restrictions on the defensive side of the ball. Offensively, three players line up at the traditional guard and center positions. The player lined up in the quarterback position is not allowed to advance the ball past the line of scrimmage. All six players on offense can be eligible receivers.
All players and coaches will communicate with helmet communication systems that can be listened to by fans as it happens. The game will also be played on a field that is 50 yards long and 85 feet wide, hence why the Eau Claire team will play its home games at the Sonnentag Center’s basketball court rather than the field house.
Kicking of any kind is not a thing in the Arena League. A video explaining the rules on the league’s website says team’s will be forced to go for it or “surrender” on fourth downs. Onside kicks are replaced by onside conversions and kickoffs are replaced by quarterback throw offs.
Another big point of emphasis for the league is with the referees. There will only be one official on the field that marks the ball and announces penalties. There will be another official, not on the field, will be watching multiple camera angles and will decide penalties as they happen.
Both coaches and fans will have the ability to listen in on the referees communications and coaches can even talk to officials directly.
Perhaps most interestingly, there will be a “public rating system” to hold officials accountable for their performance after each game according to a video on the league’s website. The league hires and trains the officials and the fans can grade them. It’s all a part of a plan to get fans involved in as many aspects of the game as possible.
As previously mentioned, the newly named Eau Claire Jammers team will play its home games at the Sonnentag Center, but on the basketball court and not in the field house due to the unique field of play that the league will use for games. Eau Claire was one of five cities considered for expansion that were a part of an online vote on the Arena League website. Eau Claire and Hot Springs as well as St. Joseph, Missouri; Dallas, Texas; and Rochester, Minnesota were all in the running.
Brown and Benizio both said there was not an exact timetable as to when a coach, general manager — or even a mascot — would be announced, as League officials are still hoping to find someone locally to own the team.
Brown did emphasize that he would love to see local players eventually get named to the team, but stressed that the best players, regardless of their geographic location, will be the ones ultimately selected by whoever leads the Jammers.
“We have got to start looking for people to play. The hope is to get a lot of kids from this area who can play. ,” Brown said, adding that “this is another opportunity for those (who love the sport) to keep playing football.”
For those interested in purchasing tickets to Jammers’ games, at a cost as low as $100 for all five planned home games next year, there will be a season ticket table set up all weekend at Country Jam USA. A limited number of shirts, both in mens’ and womens’ sizes are being sold under the merchandise tent at the event, too. For more information on the League and its franchises, go to their official Arena League website at www.thearenaleague.football
A similar event to what happened here in Eau Claire Thursday will be held next Friday in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the other city awarded a team for 2025. Hot Springs and Eau Claire will join the Kansas City Goats, the Iowa Woo, the Duluth Harbor Monsters and the Ozark Lunkers who all started play this season.
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