Thirty-one brand guides to sports leagues, tournaments, races and Formula 1 teams.
Leagues and events build an identity that outlasts any single season. These guides cover their names, marks and dated changes.
How to use these guides
Each guide covers who owns the name today, where the products are made — by the maker’s own account and, where it differs, by other sources — and the brand’s visual identity. A company’s description of itself is attributed to the company, and where a business has closed we say so plainly. The table at the end gathers the essentials.
Leagues and promotions
WNBA, PGA Tour, NASCAR, UFC and WWE.
- WNBA — The women’s basketball league approved by the NBA Board of Governors on 24 April 1996, which began play in 1997 under the slogan “We Got Next,” moved to an orange logo in 2013 and in 2019 took its player silhouette out of the box with Sylvain Labs.
- PGA Tour — The tour players’ organisation spun off from the PGA of America at the end of the 1960s as the Tournament Players Division, renamed PGA Tour in 1975, briefly TPA Tour in 1981–82, headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and marked since the early 1980s by a golfer in follow-through.
- NASCAR — The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, organised by Bill France Sr. after meetings at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach in December 1947 and incorporated on 21 February 1948, privately held and led by the France family, which replaced its 1976 mark with a new logo for 2017.
- UFC — The mixed martial arts promotion whose opening event was staged in Denver in November 1993 with Semaphore Entertainment Group, bought by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta’s Zuffa, sold to a WME-IMG-led group in 2016 and combined with WWE under TKO Group Holdings in 2023.
- WWE — The wrestling promotion that grew from the Capitol Wrestling Corporation of 1953 through the WWWF and WWF names, took the name World Wrestling Entertainment in May 2002 after a UK court ruling over the WWF initials, and joined the UFC under TKO Group Holdings in 2023.
Leagues and events
Olympic Games, Wimbledon, Tour de France, LaLiga, Bundesliga and Serie A.
- Olympic Games — Five interlaced rings Pierre de Coubertin drew in 1913, which made their Olympic debut on the flag at Antwerp in 1920, were redrawn by the IOC in 1981 and returned to the interlaced form in 2010, plus host-city systems such as Otl Aicher’s Munich 1972 pictograms.
- Wimbledon — The Championships run by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club since 1877, in dark green and purple used since 1909 and registered as a UK colour mark in 2016 (Pantone 349 C and 268 C), with a crossed-rackets logo, an all-white dress code and Slazenger balls since 1902.
- Tour de France — The race L’Auto launched in 1903 under editor Henri Desgrange, whose leader has worn a yellow jersey since 1919 after the paper’s yellow pages, and whose brush-script logo by Joël Guenoun (2002) hides a cyclist in the word “Tour”; organised today by Amaury Sport Organisation.
- LaLiga — Spain’s top football division since 1929, the ball-and-colour-wheel mark used since 1993, the 2016 refresh by IS Creative Studio, and the 2023 LALIGA rebrand with a red double L by Madrid studio Grávita as EA Sports took over the title from Santander.
- Bundesliga — Germany’s national league founded at the DFB convention of 28 July 1962, run by the DFL since 2001, with a white player silhouette on red that was reshaped into a square for 2017–18 by DFL Digital Sports with the Hamburg agency Mutabor.
- Serie A — Italy’s championship played since 1898 and as a single round-robin from 1929–30, the 1962 league logo with a diagonal tricolour, years of Serie A TIM lock-ups, the 2019 faceted “A” by Ragù Communication of Rome, and Serie A Enilive from 2024–25.
Formula 1 teams
Red Bull Racing, Williams Racing and Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team.
- Red Bull Racing — A Milton Keynes Formula One team that traces back to Stewart Grand Prix and Jaguar Racing, bought by Red Bull in November 2004, with title partners Infiniti (2013), Aston Martin (2018) and Oracle (2022) written into its name.
- Williams Racing — The Grove Formula One team founded by Frank Williams and Patrick Head in 1977, sold to Dorilton Capital in August 2020, relaunched in blue, white and yellow in 2021 and renamed Atlassian Williams Racing under a title partnership announced in February 2025.
- Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team — The Brackley Formula One team bought from Brawn GP in November 2009, the Silver Arrows nickname, Petronas teal as title-partner colour since 2010, AMG added to the name in 2012, and the black livery adopted in June 2020.
Sporting events
Super Bowl, Kentucky Derby, Indianapolis 500, Boston Marathon, Masters Tournament and Ryder Cup.
- Super Bowl — A name Lamar Hunt floated in 1966, Roman numerals since Super Bowl V, host-city logos from the 1980s to 2010, a silver Lombardi Trophy template from 2011 and host-city art again from 2022, all under an NFL trademark.
- Kentucky Derby — Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr.’s race at Louisville from 1875, the Twin Spires of the 1895 grandstand, a red-rose garland bearing the Commonwealth seal, mint juleps in souvenir glasses, Derby hats and a logo by Norman Adams since 2002.
- Indianapolis 500 — Carl G. Fisher’s speedway of 1909 and its race from 1911, a brick surface reduced to a Yard of Bricks in 1961, milk in Victory Lane since 1936, the sterling Borg-Warner Trophy, annual race logos since 1981 and Penske Entertainment ownership since 2020.
- Boston Marathon — Run by the Boston Athletic Association since April 1897, held on Patriots’ Day, marked by the B.A.A.’s unicorn, which was redrawn in blue and yellow to face forward in 2024, and an olive wreath for the winners.
- Masters Tournament — Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts at Augusta National, first played in March 1934 as the Augusta National Invitation Tournament, renamed the Masters in 1939, with a green jacket for champions since 1949 and a map-and-flag emblem dating to 1934.
- Ryder Cup — A gold cup made by Mappin & Webb and donated by the English seed merchant Samuel Ryder, first contested officially at Worcester Country Club in 1927 between the United States and Great Britain, with Europe’s team formed from 1979.
Sporting events II
Roland-Garros, Australian Open, Daytona 500, 24 Hours of Le Mans and World Series.
- Roland-Garros — The French championships founded in 1891, moved in 1928 to a Porte d’Auteuil stadium named after the aviator Roland Garros, played on orange clay, run by the French Tennis Federation and promoted since 1980 with posters commissioned from contemporary artists.
- Australian Open — The Australasian Championships first played in Melbourne in 1905, renamed in 1927 and 1969, at Melbourne Park since 1988 on hard courts that turned blue in 2008, organised by Tennis Australia and rebranded around the letters “AO” with Landor Australia in 2016.
- Daytona 500 — The 500-mile NASCAR race first run in 1959 at Daytona International Speedway, the tri-oval Bill France Sr. built after the Daytona Beach road course, named the Daytona 500 by 1961 and crowned with the Harley J. Earl Trophy, whose car is GM’s 1953 Firebird I.
- 24 Hours of Le Mans — The Automobile Club de l’Ouest race first run on 26–27 May 1923 on the Circuit de la Sarthe, the Le Mans start, the 1978 logo replaced in 2014 by Leroy Tremblot’s negative-space 4, and the 2026 “La Trace” branding designed with frog.
- World Series — Major League Baseball’s championship between the American and National League champions since 1903, the flag-topped Commissioner’s Trophy first awarded in 1967 and made by Tiffany & Co. since 2000, and a logo redrawn for each year and worn as a patch.
Organisations and events
NCAA, Paralympic Games, Special Olympics, X Games, Ironman and Commonwealth Games.
- NCAA — An association formed as the IAAUS, officially established on 31 March 1906 and renamed in 1910, headquartered in Indianapolis since 1999, and owner of the “March Madness” phrase that an Illinois high-school official wrote about in 1939.
- Paralympic Games — Rooted in Ludwig Guttmann’s 1948 archery contest at Stoke Mandeville, held in Rome alongside the 1960 Olympics, governed by the IPC since 1989, and marked by the three-part Agitos launched in 2004 and redrawn by London studio North in 2019.
- Special Olympics — Founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver after Camp Shriver, launched at Chicago’s Soldier Field on 20 July 1968 with the Chicago Park District, cleared to use the name “Olympics” in 1971, with a logo based on a sculpture by Zurab Tsereteli and a torch called the Flame of Hope.
- X Games — ESPN’s Extreme Games in Rhode Island in 1995, renamed X Games for 1996, a winter edition from 1997, the 2022 sale of a majority stake to MSP Sports Capital, and the full visual rebrand announced in September 2025.
- Ironman — A 1978 race on Oahu proposed by John and Judy Collins, a move to Kailua-Kona in 1981, the World Triathlon Corporation from 1990, Wanda from 2015, Advance Publications from 2020, and the M-dot logo seen on race-day signage.
- Commonwealth Games — The British Empire Games in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1930, the name used since 1978, the Commonwealth Sport brand by RBL shown in Rwanda in 2019, the public name adopted on Commonwealth Day 2025, and Glasgow 2026 as the first Games to use the celebration mark in its emblem.
At a glance: founding, owner and base
Taken from each guide’s fact panel, as of October 2026. Ownership changes; follow the link for sources and detail.
| Brand | Founded | Home | Latest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | First run: 26–27 May 1923, near Le Mans, France (1923) | Organiser: Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), founded 1906 | A round of the FIA World Endurance Championship since 2012 |
| Australian Open | Australasian Championships, Warehouseman’s Cricket Ground, Melbourne (1905) | Venue: Flinders Park, later Melbourne Park | Organised by Tennis Australia, Melbourne |
| Boston Marathon | Boston Athletic Association; first race 19 April 1897 (1897) | Organiser: Boston Athletic Association, a non-profit founded in 1887 | Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America since 2024 |
| Bundesliga | DFB convention, Dortmund (1962) | First season: Matches from 24 August 1963 | Run by the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga since 2001 |
| Commonwealth Games | Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, as the British Empire Games (1930) | Governing body: Commonwealth Games Federation, public name Commonwealth Sport since 2025 | Headquartered at Commonwealth House, London |
| Daytona 500 | First run: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida (1959) | Name: “Daytona 500” in use by 1961 | Speedway owned by NASCAR since 2019 (International Speedway Corporation 1959–2019) |
| Indianapolis 500 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway Company, Carl G. Fisher and partners (1909) | Race: Run on Decoration Day, 30 May | Penske Entertainment, Speedway, Indiana; “Indy 500” in the race logo since 2016 |
| Ironman | Oahu, Hawaii (1978) | Founders: John and Judy Collins | The Ironman Group, owned by Advance Publications since 2020 |
| Kentucky Derby | Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., Louisville Jockey Club (1875) | Twin Spires: Grandstand begun in 1894, used from 1895 | Churchill Downs, Louisville; logo by Norman Adams since 2002 |
| LaLiga | Primera División, Spain (1929) | Organiser: Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, known as LaLiga | LALIGA EA Sports, under EA Sports title sponsorship |
| Masters Tournament | Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts; first played March 1934 (1934) | Name: Augusta National Invitation Tournament; “Masters” officially from 1939 | Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia; held every April |
| Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team | Bought: Brawn GP, by Daimler with Aabar Investments (2009) | Raced as Mercedes: Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team | Owners: Mercedes-Benz Group, INEOS and Toto Wolff |
| NASCAR | Incorporated: Daytona Beach, Florida (21 February 1948) | Founder: Bill France Sr. | Privately held, Daytona Beach |
| NCAA | Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (1906) | Renamed: National Collegiate Athletic Association | Headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, since 1999 |
| Olympic Games | Created: Rings drawn by Pierre de Coubertin (1913) | Debut: Olympic flag raised at Antwerp | International Olympic Committee, Lausanne; rings redrawn 1981, interlaced again from 2010 |
| Paralympic Games | Origin: Stoke Mandeville games, Buckinghamshire (1948) | Rome: Games held at the Olympic venue | Symbol: Agitos launched 2004; redrawn by North |
| PGA Tour | Split from the PGA of America (Dec 1968 (Wikipedia) / 1969 (Golf News Net)) | Name: Tournament Players Division → PGA Tour | Nonprofit, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida |
| Red Bull Racing | Traces to: Stewart Grand Prix, then Jaguar Racing (1997) | Bought by Red Bull: From Ford, confirmed by Dietrich Mateschitz | Oracle Red Bull Racing, owned by Red Bull GmbH |
| Roland-Garros | French championships, Paris (club members only) (1891) | Stade Roland Garros, Porte d’Auteuil | Run by the Fédération Française de Tennis, Paris |
| Ryder Cup | Trophy donated by Samuel Ryder; first official match 1927 (1927) | Trophy: Gold cup made by Mappin & Webb, Sheffield | PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe; Europe’s team since 1979 |
| Serie A | Championship: Italian Football Championship (1898) | Round-robin: Single national group from 1929–30 | Lega Serie A; Serie A Enilive from 2024–25 |
| Special Olympics | Games at Soldier Field, Chicago (1968) | Founder: Eunice Kennedy Shriver, with the Chicago Park District | Recognised: By the International Olympic Committee |
| Super Bowl | Created: AFL–NFL championship agreed in the 1966 merger (1966) | Name: “Super Bowl” official from the third game | National Football League; host-city artwork in the logo since 2022 |
| Tour de France | L’Auto newspaper, Paris; editor Henri Desgrange (1903) | Colours: Yellow from L’Auto’s paper | Organised by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) |
| UFC | Denver, Colorado, USA (1993 (opening event)) | Founders: Art Davie, Rorion Gracie, John Milius, with SEG | TKO Group Holdings |
| Williams Racing | By Frank Williams and Patrick Head (1977) | Base: Grove, Oxfordshire, England | Dorilton Capital, since August 2020 |
| Wimbledon | All England Croquet Club, Worple Road, Wimbledon (1868; Championships 1877) | Colours: Dark green and purple | All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Church Road, Wimbledon (since 1922) |
| WNBA | Summer 1997 | First season: Summer 1997 | League office, New York City |
| World Series | First played: American League v National League champions (1903) | Organiser: Major League Baseball | Known as: The Fall Classic, for its autumn dates |
| WWE | Northeastern USA (1953 (as Capitol Wrestling Corporation)) | Founders: The McMahon family (Jess / Vincent J. McMahon) | TKO Group Holdings; Stamford, Connecticut |
| X Games | Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, as the Extreme Games (1995) | Founder: ESPN | Majority-owned by MSP Sports Capital since 2022, with ESPN a minority partner |
See also all collections.