Colorado State University plans to rebrand its school mascot to the Blue Razorbacks, officially taking effect Fall 2027. The change marks an end to the 71-year-long CAM the Ram mascot era.

This all comes about after a rise in fan and student engagement during state pride games. 

“This will basically line up as a fresh start, a clean sheet — almost perfectly aligned with conference realignment to the Pac-12.” -John Weber, athletics director

Director of Athletics John Weber said he believes that sports are a huge piece of the culture at CSU.

“You know, we loved the Rams,” Weber said. “However, the blue state pride games spoke volumes to us. The fans clearly are showing us what they want, so we’re deciding to respond by way of the Blue Razorbacks.” 

According to CSU Athletics, sporting event attendance jumped by 68% for state pride games when compared to regular games. CSU Athletics also shared that CSU’s media platforms garnered more followers and overall media engagement during these special games by 20%.

CSU President Amy Parsons was on the board of approval for the decision. 

“This decision was definitely a tough one and a huge one,” Parsons said “Although, it’s one for the people of Fort Collins.”

CSU Athletics and board members conducted polls within the Fort Collins and CSU communities regarding how they feel about the school’s current branding. A majority of respondents said the Ram mascot was either outdated or a new mascot as a whole was needed. 

“Once we received these results, we got in discussions and knew we needed to make the switch — but one that resembles the fan favorite state pride games,” Weber said. “I think representing our state is one of the greatest transitions we can make when it comes to replacing CAM the Ram.”

CSU’s coaches were also a part of the approval, with the majority of them voting for the mascot change. 

“Our fans show out for these games, and the entire city of Fort Collins loves it,” football coach Jay Norvell said. “Why wouldn’t we want to change our mascot to better reflect the enthusiasm surrounding state pride tradition games?”

This all comes about as CSU plans to realign athletic conferences and enter the Pac-12 in 2026.

“The mascot change was a separate decision (from conference realignment); however, the timing works great and ultimately further motivated the change,” Weber said.

The university plans on combining efforts from its marketing program’s top faculty along with freelance graphic and web designers to cement the school’s new mascot branding. The process started Tuesday when the announcement was made and is on a three-year schedule for 2027.

The school’s new color palette will include the same blue from the state pride theme, a new dark grey, a light grey and white.

“We’re extremely excited to be able to take on this new huge mission,” said Alexa James, a journalism and media communication department faculty member hired for the rebrand project. “We want something new and refreshing, and we’ll (be) doing so by incorporating the Colorado state color, blue. I strongly believe in symbolism, whether it is in the biggest or smallest manner.” 

The school will also redesign all sports uniforms. Expect something similar to the current state pride game uniforms, except with the Razorback mascot incorporated onto them.

All athletic facilities, stadiums and arenas will undergo rebrands as well. Additionally, the rebranding as a whole will span a “couple of years,” making an easing transition possible for the CSU community, according to Athletics.

“We will replace the logo at midfield in Canvas Stadium along with the endzone colors,” a CSU Athletics representative said. “In Moby, we will replace the Ram loudness meter with a Razorback loudness meter and, obviously, replace the floor. We will rebrand all other facilities with the Blue Razorbacks theme from the weight rooms to the player lounges.”

As for CSU’s campus as a whole, community members will begin to see changes in theme and branding in the coming months.

“This won’t be one of those, ‘you come back from summer one day and it’s a completely new school,’ operations,” Parsons said. “The process will commence now. This was planned out in order to slowly introduce the theme to our CSU community by way of a three-year process.”

The Lory Student Center and Morgan Library windows will be replaced, and any green-colored accents in buildings will be replaced with the state pride blue. The school will shift the way it promotes itself online and portray its new Blue Razorbacks theme across websites and social media pages.

“Of course, we’re not just going to forget the Rams,” Parsons said. “Just like we pay homage to our previous mascot, the Aggies, we will do so with the Rams as well.”

CSU plans to have a Ram Day in August wherein campuswide festivities will take place. Additionally, all athletic teams will play at least one Ram-themed game throughout their season, wearing the previous Ram uniforms. 

“We are eager and excited,” Weber said. “This will basically line up as a fresh start, a clean sheet — almost perfectly aligned with conference realignment to the Pac-12.”