Brian in Boston

Well, they registered Ruby Legs, Wicked Worms and Worcesters with the United States Patent & Trademark Office back in June. That said, I would not be at all shocked if they simply opted to continue in the same vein as they utilized for branding in Pawtucket, dubbing the team the Worcester Red Sox, utilizing WooSox as a less formal nickname, and getting creative in the area of logos that feature a crazy mascot.

The so-called "Dream" League would be a nightmare for its team owners. They - not MLB - would be on the hook for acquiring their own players and paying said athletes, as well their coaches and training staff. The increase in costs - from salaries, worker's compensation, support staffing - associated with going from owning an affiliated MiLB franchise to owning a Dream League team is being estimated as falling somewhere between $300,000 to $400,000. Which is why the suits in MLB are also encouraging current MiLB owners who don't think that they'd be able to afford said increase to join amateur summer wood bat leagues that MLB would help organize. This stands to be an absolute cluster***k for many affiliated MiLB owners and the markets they play in. #StrikeOutTheExemption

With regard to MiLB's 2020 Copa de la Diversión identities, I'm partial to the Fenómenos Enmascarados del Valle de Hudson.

I don't know about that. It would invite headlines like "Bad Wind Stinks Up Wichita Ballpark".

Wichita Baseball 2020 is now... the Wichita Wind Surge. "Symbol of aspiration, free spirit, and a daring determined attitude - harnessing the wind and surging forward. Our core colors, navy blue and red, are deeply rooted in the culture of baseball. They are also found in Wichita's beloved flag. Sky blue pays tribute to Kansas' wide open prairie skies, which have inspired innovators and dreamers to soar to new heights from time immemorial. Yellow gold is the color of sunflowers, wheat, and summer sunsets - all iconic identifiers of our region. We are surging forward with new vibrancy, a new energy, and a fierce sense of purpose. We are the Wichita Wind Surge." Home Jersey Home Cap Road Jersey Road Cap Navy Alternate Jersey Red Alternate Jersey Alternate Cap The name is horrible. That said, the primary mark is a thing of beauty.

Coverage of the event in the Salisbury Post newspaper notes that a street festival following the announcement will feature, amongst other attractions, "circus performers". Perhaps a circus-themed identity featuring a logo centered on a depiction of a human cannonball? The Kannapolis Cannons or Kannapolis Cannonballs for a name? After all, Kannapolis was established on land owned by Cannon Mills founder James William Cannon.

It's beyond a shame that so many communities have fallen sway to the siren song of landing an affiliated minor league baseball team and committed public monies to the construction of ballparks that primarily benefit privately-held franchises. Worse still that the MLB parent clubs have, through the MiLB facility standards that they've insisted upon, pitted communities against one another in a ceaseless race to keep, or secure, an affiliated farm team. All of that said, its unconscionable that the powers-that-be in MLB would so callously advocate for the elimination of affiliated teams in markets - such as those I cited up-thread - where millions of dollars in public funding have fairly recently been spent to either upgrade existing ballparks or build brand new ones. Frankly, I'd love to see professional baseball's antitrust exemption be given a thorough examination by the Congressional delegations from the states/districts which will be significantly impacted by MLB's proposed reorganization of affiliated minor league ball.

If Major League Baseball's grand reorganization of the affiliated minor leagues comes to pass, the civic leaders in Kinston (NC) - home to the Down East Wood Ducks - will feel relatively lucky if their team is eliminated. After all, the $1.6 million that the City of Kinston spent in 2017 and 2018 to upgrade Grainger Stadium's grandstand, outfield walls, lighting and parking lots in order to lure a Texas Rangers Class A-Advanced farm team to town will seem like a pittance compared to the sums wasted - pardon "invested" - by Bowling Green (KY), Fayetteville (NC) and Kannapolis (NC) in their respective quests to host an MLB-affilated minor league team. * The City of Bowling Green spent $28 million in 2008 ($33.4 million when adjusted for inflation) in order to build Bowling Green Ballpark and land a Class A Midwest League franchise. * The City of Fayetteville spent $38 million in 2017 ($39.6 million today) to construct Segra Stadium and draw a Class A-Advanced Carolina League squad to the community. * The City of Kannapolis spent $6.8 million in 1995 ($11.5 million adjusted for inflation) to build the current home of the municipality's Class A South Atlantic League team, plus another $52 million to construct the brand new ballpark that the franchise will move into next year.

Because the City of Wichita has recently spent $75 million in public money to construct a brand new ballpark with the promise that a Triple A franchise would be setting up shop in the municipality, that's why. It's wonderful that the powers-that-be at Major League Baseball headquarters and amongst the individual owners of the big league franchises have come up with this visionary plan for how they see affiliated minor league baseball being structured moving forward. That said, they'd better hope that they have all of their minor league affiliates ensconced in newly-built and/or significantly-renovated ballparks from the get-go of implementing said plan. Why? Because, after they've unceremoniously shifted the teams in some markets to lower classifications of competition - or, abandoned said cities altogether - they're going to have an awfully tough time convincing government entities to fork over significant amounts of public funding for new ballparks in the future. The optics surrounding the public subsidization of privately-held sports franchises through the construction of arenas, ballparks, and stadiums for said teams is bad enough as it is. Leave it to the suits at MLB to come up with a way to make it look even worse. "Listen, we know you rubes just forked over $75 million for a ballpark thinkin' that you'd land a Triple A team, but the owners of our Minnesota franchise are fixated on havin' their top farmhands just a 20-minute, 12 1/2-mile drive away. Plus, the wacky bastards runnin' the independent team in the market we were eyeballin' outdrew 23 of the 30 affiliated Triple A teams last season! I mean, if you can't beat 'em, have 'em join ya!!! No hard feelings, right? Anyway... we're gonna try to set you folks up with somethin' else. Double A, Single A... it's a little up in the air right now. We'll get back to ya... maybe. In the meantime, I hear the American Association is looking for a market."

Wichita Baseball 2020 unveiled another of its potential team identities back on October 2nd. Rather than revealing a possible team name alongside an illustration, this time just a logo was shared, along with the following message: "Alright, we've taken your feedback and most of you have said it's time to get serious. We're switchin' it up a bit. What do you think the name of this logo should be?" This logo would work for a number of team names - Wichita Windwagons... Wichita Wagonmasters... Wichita Prairie Schooners... Wichita Prairie Clippers. Walt Disney Presents "The Saga of Windwagon Smith" Wichita Riverfest - Admiral Windwagon Smith Wichita Wagonmasters - "The History of the Wichita Wagonmasters" So, to date, Wichita Baseball 2020 has unveiled Wichita River Riders, Wichita 29ers, Wichita Doo Dahs, Wichita Linemen, and this Windwagon-inspired design.

"Maybe" the team will be dubbed the Sea Unicorns? This is Brandiose we're talking about. As such, I'd say that "maybe" there's a chance that the team will luck out and be dubbed Narwhals. The Name-the-Team "contest" has been set up with two of the candidate identities - Narwhals and Sea Unicorns - referencing the same creature (Narwhals are described as "the Unicorn of the Sea" in the team name rationale). That's a sure sign that Brandiose is leaning towards one of those two identities as the front-runner. Given the choice between the relatively staid Narwhals name and the over-the-top Sea Unicorns sobriquet, which do you think Brandiose - the design firm that gave us, amongst others, such monikers as Rumble Ponies, Sod Poodles, and Trash Pandas - is truly championing to team management? As I said, "maybe" there's a chance that the minor league baseball fans of Southeastern Connecticut get to root on the Norwich Narwhals. That said, I think there are much better odds that the Norwich Sea Unicorns take the field, with a primary mark focused upon said namesake mythical creature in all of its single-horned, maned, foreleg-hoofed, and fluke-tailed glory. Perhaps a secondary mark depicting an actual narwhal will be included in the branding package in order to appease adults who want to purchase some team gear. Oh... and I won't be at all surprised if the team's uniforms are eventually unveiled with marketing-speak breathlessly declaring that "the Sea Unicorns are the first professional sports franchise to take the field in home, road and alternate Sunday uniforms featuring rainbow glitter-accented logos, numbering, and piping."

The XFL has registered for trademark protection on what appear to be three secondary logos - one for the Dallas Renegades and a pair for the New York Guardians.

The new primary mark is an improvement. The new word mark is atrocious. The Top Hat complementary mark is, at best, "meh". The walking deacon complementary mark is outstanding and my favorite part of the update.

I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I opine that the Rocket City Trash Pandas brand isn't likely to stick around for anywhere close to the 106 seasons that the Mud Hens name has graced minor league baseball teams in Toledo, Ohio. As for Trash Pandas making it into the 17-year territory of the Albuquerque Isotopes identity's longevity, I'll be impressed when - indeed, if - the Isotopes sobriquet manages to match the 49 seasons that the Dukes name graced minor league ball in New Mexico's most populous city.

Incidentally, I wanted to add that the Henderson Hoo logo is the work of Grant O'Dell of Forte Studio, the sports branding side of technology and design company Maestro in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The Western Association of Professional Baseball Clubs (WAPB) - an independent minor league set to launch in 2020 - has its first member-franchise. The Henderson Hoo will be based in Henderson, Nevada and play their home games at Morse Field on the campus of the College of Southern Nevada. Incidentally, the logo is the work of Grant O'Dell of Forte Studio, the sports branding side of technology and design company Maestro in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Oak View Group has filed three more trademark applications with the USPTO that are related to their planned Palm Springs-based American Hockey League affiliate for NHL Seattle. The list of six proposed team identities now includes (new filings in bold print): Palm Springs Dragons (filed 8/15/19) Palm Springs Falcons (filed 8/15/19) Palm Springs Sun (filed 8/15/19) Palm Springs Eagles (filed 8/14/19) Palm Springs Hawks (filed 8/14/19) Palm Springs Firebirds (filed 8/9/19)

That is a pretty uninspiring list of team names that Alpha Entertainment reportedly registered with the USPTO. Based upon what they were considering, I'd have probably ultimately unveiled... Eastern Conference DC Sentinels New York Gothams St. Louis Archers Tampa Bay Vipers Western Conference Dallas Lobos Houston Roughnecks Los Angeles Legion Seattle Dragons

Bingo! While a Boise-based American Hockey League affiliate would have been more conveniently located in relation to its NHL Seattle parent-club, its distance from the markets of other AHL Pacific Division opponents would have been significant in terms of the time and expense necessary to travel to them for games. Certainly greater than the distance, time, and expense involved in traveling to the markets of divisional opponents from the proposed Palm Springs arena site. The proposed Palm Springs arena site to the arenas in...Ontario, CA = 68 milesSan Diego, CA = 127 milesBakersfield, CA = 216 milesTucson, AZ = 381 miles Stockton, CA = 444 milesSan Jose, CA = 446 milesLoveland, CO = 1,025 miles Boise arena to arenas in...Stockton, CA = 604 miles San Jose, CA = 673 miles Loveland, CO = 765 milesBakersfield, CA = 802 milesOntario, CA = 827 milesSan Diego, CA = 929 milesTucson, AZ = 1,037 miles

XFL Football: The pro sports "Sword of Damocles" hanging over the collective head of St. Louis.

My 2¢ (after killing an abundance of time on a trans-Pacific flight): Dallas Renegades: This is a solidly-rendered logo (though that renegade has awfully big eyes) that might impress me more if the majority of sports franchises in the Dallas area weren't already leaning so heavily into the "Old West" theme for their identities. Although the sizzle reel unveiling the Renegades' identity goes to great pains to link the "spirit and swagger" of 19th century Dallas cattle hands to 21st century hell-raisers via images of tattoos, graffiti tags, smoking tires, pool halls, and motorcycles, the end result is a logo that's comfortable settling into the visual trope of a masked Texas outlaw. If the XFL truly wanted to break the mold and embrace the modern renegade definition, it would have been interesting to see biker imagery married to that of the Old West in this team's logo. Instead of having the Renegade's demonic eyes glaring out from under a cowboy hat, have them peering from beneath a motorcycle helmet... and out over the stylized horns and skull of a Texas longhorn, the former taking the place of handlebars and the latter positioned as though leading down to a motorcycle's twin forks. Over the top? Quite possibly... particularly if not executed properly. Still, I'd rather something like that then a logo that seems derivative of what's already existed in the Dallas sports marketplace (you could be forgiven for mistaking the Renegades' mark for a modern updating of the old Dallas Desperados logo). Now, if the Renegades were content to go the tried-and-true "Old West" route, then I'd have rather seen them adopt a brand identity similar to what Dane Storrusten of Gridiron Labs designed for the Dallas Wranglers of the A11FL, or Texas Outlaws of the FXFL. Visually play up accoutrements of the cattle trade - brands, branding irons, barbed wire, rope - or cattle itself, rather than just cowboy hats, bandanas, lawmen's badges, and six-shooters that are more often the symbols utilized. DC Defenders: Houston Roughnecks: I love the name. I felt it was the direction in which Houston's NFL expansion team should have gone, rather than the generic Texans moniker. It is clearly the new XFL identity that most directly ties to not only the market of the team it graces, but the former pro football history of said city, as well. The logo? It has its issues. The line weights are all over the place. Ditto for the perspective. The 'H' superimposed on the derrick threatens to be too cute for its own good. The logo wouldn't suffer if the star was to be removed. Finally, it's the new XFL mark that is the most likely to be negatively impacted when reduced in size. That said, it's amazing how much I'm willing to forgive in all of those areas simply because I give full credit to the XFL brass for thumbing their noses at the NFL and challenging the more established league to make something of the fact that Houston's XFL team is clearly trying to resurrect the brand history of the Houston Oilers. That's a pretty ballsy move. Frankly, it wouldn't shock me if the NFL were to up and slap a lawsuit on the Roughnecks yet. To that point, it's clear that the reason the Roughnecks aren't sporting a lighter shade of blue with their red and white is because the XFL brass concluded - rightly so, I believe - that such a color scheme in combination with their logo would have absolutely drawn legal action from the NFL. Los Angeles Wildcats: For starters, the team's name is not only exceedingly generic, it's also inaccurate. That species of cat that appears in the Los Angeles Wildcats' sizzle reel? Well, while it may be a wild cat, it isn't a wildcat. Felis silvestris is the European wildcat. Felis lybica is the African wildcat. Here in North America, you can even get away with slapping the wildcat label on Lynx rufus (American bobcat) and Lynx canadensis (Canada lynx). That said, the species featured in the Wildcats' sizzle reel is Puma concolor, better known as a catamount, cougar, mountain lion, panther, or puma. As for the logo and color scheme, the 'LA' monogram is tremendously well-rendered and the orange-and-red palette calls to mind a Southern California sunset. It seems clear that the XFL brass see this mark as being an attempt to replicate the classic, straightforward simplicity of such letter-based primary marks as those sported by the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, and San Francisco 49ers. However, where each of those NFL team logos benefits from having been initially adopted in a simpler age and afforded the opportunity to build brand equity over more than 50 years, the Wildcats' logo is facing the formidable task of fighting for relevance and establishing a lasting foothold amongst a vast sea of brands almost immediately... and in a Greater Los Angeles market that enjoys no shortage of entertainment options, including a surfeit of pro sports franchises and major college athletic programs. I fear that for a team promising "showtime with a snarl", the Wildcats identity is too tame to deliver either. To my mind, the XFL's Los Angeles-based franchise would have been better served by the winged-sword logo unveiled in St. Louis. Paired with a name like the Los Angeles Guardians, Los Angeles Avengers, or Los Angeles Archangels it would have been a dynamic fit for a team representing the 'City of Angels'. New York Guardians: The New York Guardians sport a mark that is very well-rendered, but too polished to most effectively convey the theme its trying to capture. The Guardians' sizzle reel speaks of "sentries"and "watchdogs"... a "predator" and a "beast". I want less of the former pair from this team's logo and more of the latter pair. After all, the video also states that the team's namesake sculptures "know fear because they feed off of it". I think that theme of feeding off of fear needs to be leaned into more. With New York's gargoyles and grotesques serving as the inspiration for the brand identity of the XFL team representing the city, I want to see the primary logo centered around a more frighteningly-twisted, demonic figure, rather than simply an angry animal. As currently depicted, the Guardians' logo could just as readily serve as the primary mark for a team called the Lions. To my mind, that's not what a gargoyle/grotesque-themed team identity should be shooting for. If I were using the sculptures in the Guardians' sizzle reel as my starting point, I'd be taking inspiration from the first, fourth, and eighth carvings pictured therein. I might even look back to the original XFL's San Francisco Demons for some visual cues. That said, instead of designing a mark that resembled the tattoo art of the Demons' logo, a gargoyle/grotesque-themed logo should be rendered to look as though the demonic creature it's depicting was carved from stone. In my opinion, the ideal gargoyle/grotesque-themed logo should depict chips, scratches, pitting, and other imperfections in the centerpiece subject, as opposed to the smooth and unblemished figure shown in the New York Guardians' mark. The ultimate goal should be to render a team totem that is a fear-inducing creature of living stone. In this context, even the name Guardians seems a bit staid. I might opt for New York Beasts, New York Gargoyles, or New York Demons. St. Louis BattleHawks: So, let's address the worst part of this identity package right off the bat. The name is abysmal. Yes, I know that the BattleHawks' sizzle reel revolves around the theme of "winged warriors, preparing for flight". I've come to understand that Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation once trademarked the 'Battlehawk' name to refer to a UH-60M helicopter outfitted with a full weapons kit. Yadda, yada, yada. BattleHawks is a ham-handed mash-up of a name that sounds absolutely preposterous. I can't even fathom a reason to try and play the devil's advocate long enough to attempt to defend it. Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's turn to the logo. Frankly, I like it. It looks like the sort of insignia that one might find being used by a military unit, a religious order, or a fraternal organization. I actually think that it could work quite well as the logo for a sports franchise, provided that it's paired with the right team name, in the right market. It lends itself to the idea of a powerful angel, or a host of them - to archangels, avenging angels, or guardian angels. As I mentioned in my breakdown of the Los Angeles Wildcats' branding package, I think this logo would work quite well for a team in LA, the 'City of Angels'. Pair it with a name like the Los Angeles Guardians, Los Angeles Avengers, or Los Angeles Archangels and you'd have a dynamite identity. I suppose it could work in St. Louis, as well. After all, the city's namesake - King Louis IX - was canonized. Would it work better with the sword flipped, so that its point was resting between the wings? Positioned in that manner, the sword would better reflect the way it is held by King Louis IX in the Apotheosis of St. Louis statue in Forest Park. If one were to go to that trouble, should the cross-guard of the sword in the logo be altered to depict the slight S-curve of the cross-guard of King Louis IX's sword in the aforementioned statue? After tweaking the logo, what would the team be named in St. Louis? I mean, Louis IX's canonization made him a Saint, so would the team be dubbed the St. Louis Saints? Or, would St. Louis Angels be better? St. Louis Guardians? Would it just be simpler for the XFL's first official trade to be an exchange of the BattleHawks' logo for the Wildcats' name? The dust clears with the result being the Los Angeles Guardians and St. Louis Wildcats taking the field? You know what? Let's leave it at this... a solid logo (though better suited to another market) and a lousy name add up to a decidedly mixed brand identity in St. Louis. Seattle Dragons: When the news broke that Alpha Entertainment had registered five potential names for the Seattle-based XFL franchise with the USPTO, the one that resonated most strongly with me was Dragons. To be sure, the other four candidates - Force, Fury, Surge, and Wild - weren't particularly great names. Still, my affinity to the Dragons name was driven by more than just what I considered to be the shortcomings of the other possibilities. Though I'd never remotely given thought to Dragons as the possible name for a Seattle sports franchise up to that point in time, its potential to support a dynamic brand immediately became apparent to me. Now that the name has officially been unveiled, along with primary and word marks, I have to say that the Seattle Dragons are a pretty sharp looking outfit. The colors are the key to me. The palette of dark green, light green, blue, and orange balances ties to Seattle's historic sports design aesthetic, while simultaneously carving out space for itself. The greens and blue fit in nicely with the design traditions of teams like the Seahawks, Mariners, Sounders, Thunderbirds, Sonics, and Storm, while the orange is something that the Dragons can call their own. I'll be very interested to see what the color distribution is on the team's uniforms, as that will go a long way towards determining how successful the team's visual brand identity happens to be. As for the logo, I can certainly understand the impetus for critiques that say it bears a resemblance to the dragon in UAB's athletics identity package, or that it wouldn't be out of place in a Madden Create-A-Team suite. That said, I feel that the Seattle Dragons' mark manages to carve out its own space. Personally, I think that the UAB mark is - to its detriment - a bit more fussily-detailed than the Seattle Dragon. As for the comparison to the Madden logos, I don't find the Dragons logo to be that egregiously generic. Tampa Bay Vipers: Meh. This, to my mind, is the most underwhelming visual identity in the XFL. That's disappointing, because Vipers is a name that's more than capable of inspiring a dynamic identity package. I'll give credit to the XFL brass for thinking outside the box and opting to turn away from the more stereotypical source of inspiration for a sports team identity in the Tampa area - the region's namesake body of water and the Gulf of Mexico - and, instead, looking to the wetlands and forests of its interior. That said, the logos are lackluster. The simple letterform 'V' that was unveiled as the primary is, at best, a serviceable secondary. As for the snake-head secondary mark that appears elsewhere on the Vipers' section of the XFL website... well, frankly speaking, I've seen far better. Also problematic is the Vipers' color scheme. Personally, I'd have gone with something bolder by leaning into a vibrant neon lime (think of the Seattle Seahawks' 'Action Green', or the Orlando Thunder's 'Fluorescent Lime Green') as the Vipers' primary color, with a deep green as its secondary hue, and both white and metallic copper as tertiary colors. As is, the Vipers' visual identity strikes me as a missed opportunity.

I had a fantasy football team dubbed the New York Gargoyles for four seasons back in the mid-to-late-'90s. It's always struck me as a no-brainer identity for a New York-based sports franchise. Frankly, I'm surprised that it's taken this long for an actual pro team to adopt it.

"Allow me to open with a token gesture of faux collegiality meant to imply that I'm open-minded to considering the opinions of others. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let me immediately make a point of telling you just why my professional experience renders my 'subjective take' as clearly more informed than your own and, thus, worthy of being regarded as fact by the general populace." Or, maybe what truly "hindered that league's ability to pull in fans" was the fact that after the repeated launch and failure - or, in many cases, outright failure to even launch - of alternative football leagues including the likes of the USFL, IFF, XFL, UFL, FXFL, and A11FL, fans have grown increasingly jaded about investing time, money, and even attention into such ventures. Gee... I wonder how the National Football League has managed the trick of "strik[ing] a balance between modern and timeless" in its team logo and uniform designs? It couldn't be the fact that the NFL - and a significant number of its franchises, particularly those that sport more "timeless" looks - launched 60-plus years ago, could it? I mean, I've heard it said that some of the NFL's teams have actually been around since... the 1920s!!!

Joe Bosack's branding work for the AAF was, hands down, the best thing the league had going for it. Frankly, if the league's executive leadership and financial solvency had been even half as strong as Joe's graphic design work, the AAF wouldn't have flamed out before completing its inaugural season.

That old Clarkson University Golden Knights athletic mark was, indeed, a Phoenix Design Works creation. It was introduced 16 years ago.