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Bemidji Axemen Introduced

September 5, 2013 - Indoor Football League (IFL)
Minnesota Axemen News Release


Bemidji, MN: The Internet defiaxemennition of a hardware store is as follows, "a store selling hardware; in Great Britain they used to call a hardware store an ironmonger's shop." Thursday morning, Ace Hardware On The Lake in Bemidji hosted the unveiling of the name and logo of Bemidji's first ever professional sports franchise. With a number Axes as the backdrop, the popular tool which holds great meaning to the northern Minnesota community loaned itself nicely to serve as the setting to introduce the...Bemidji Axemen! Bemidji Professional Football management selected the name after sorting through nearly 1,200 entries submitted by members of the community on-line and in person at the Bemidji Pioneer offices over recent weeks.

Bemidji resident Diane Illies was the lucky fan that was the first to submit the name and will receive Axemen season tickets for life along with having the number of her choice retired by the team at the franchise's inaugural game. Twenty additional individuals submitted Axemen as their choice and the team will extend a four pack of tickets to a 2014 regular season game to each of those individuals.

Produced by the clever and creative sports marketing executive, Keith Flynn, in partnership with Co-Owner & Team President Chris Kokalis' KMG Marketing & Entertainment agency, the logo itself was designed specifically with the families of Northern Minnesota in mind. Focused around a family-friendly "Axeman with an Attitude", this icon also includes the subtle likeness of both an axe and a football.

"There is a higher concentration of both families and sports & outdoor enthusiasts in Northern Minnesota than almost anywhere else in the country. Our mission throughout this process was to have a logo that related to those individuals", Kokalis said. "The colors that we selected represent several things relating to the history of Bemidji and the surrounding communities. The blue reminds us of the sparkling waters of Lake Bemidji and Babe the Blue Ox. The red serves as a reminder to our opponents of exactly how tough we will be on the field. Finally the silver, which carries the meaning of respect, responsibility, and determination."

In addition, it was announced at the press conference that the team would donate 10 cents to the Bemidji Boys & Girls Club for every new "Like" the team receives on the social media site Facebook between now and September 15th. The team hopes to donate $1,000 to the Boys & Girls Club. You can find the team's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bemidjiaxemen.

The team is closing in on hiring a coach and expects to introduce him to the community by the end of September. Season tickets are now on sale and start as low as $56 each with the season kicking off in mid February. For more information on these or any other Bemidji Axemen stories, log onto the team's new website at www.bemidjiaxemen.com or call the team offices at (218) 441-4000. If media is in need of high-resolution copies of the logo please contact the front office. - See more at: http://www.goifl.com/news/news-archive/1-latest-news/1501-bemidji-axemen-introduced#sthash.fikqf3UD.dpuf



Indoor Football League Stories from September 5, 2013


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