Brian in Boston

The team's future in Southern California under Moreno's stewardship seems doomed. The guy alienated Angels fans in Anaheim and Orange County with his asinine "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" branding move. He's made little progress, if any, in helping the team achieve significant relevance amongst sports fans in Greater Los Angeles. The deal for land surrounding Angel Stadium that Moreno so desperately needed in order to engage in the sort of mixed-use real estate development that's become all the rage amongst pro sports owners has now been voided amidst allegations of corruption and vociferous public criticism. Best case scenario for Arte? That he could convince Phil Anschutz to buy a piece of the Angels, then talk the Los Angeles Kings and LA Galaxy owner (he also holds a minority stake in the Lakers) into joining him in building a ballpark on the site of the current West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center, once the planned home for the Farmers Field football stadium project. Such a move would put the team in a location that sits next door to L.A. Live (also Anschutz-owned), has access to existing parking facilities, and is anywhere from a 5-minute to 15-minute walk from light-rail public transit stations serving 2 to 4 lines (Pico and 7th Street / Metro stops, respectively). That's the type of deal that could at least make the team more popular with potential L.A.-based fans. I know plenty of baseball enthusiasts on the Westside - Santa Monica, Brentwood, the Palisades, Venice, Marina del Rey, etc. - who would gladly hop on a Metro E Line train to a downtown Los Angeles Angel Stadium if it meant escaping their current experience as Dodgers season ticket-holders fighting rush-hour freeway traffic to get to Chavez Ravine and sitting in an auto-snarled Dodger Stadium parking lot for God knows how long after games. Of course, it would also likely create a permanent schism between the Angels and a majority of their Orange County-based fans. Now, the reality of any of this happening is slim. Anschutz has three times the wealth of Moreno and likely isn't interested in partnering with a guy who has managed his way into the predicament Arte now finds himself in. Phil doesn't need that sort of headache. Frankly, there's a better chance of Arte being forced to relocate to another market. Hey, what about Tennessee? He could rename them the Nashville Honky-Tonk Angels!

I always took the wing-like portion of the Arena Football League franchise’s logo to symbolize the feathered appendages of an “avenging angel”. As a result, I similarly thought that the wing-like portion of WideRight’s Los Angeles Express mark was meant to denote the winged helmet of a speedy “messenger deity” like Hermes or Mercury.

So, what do Venus flytraps (Dionaea muscipula, not Tim Reid) have to do with elk... or football... or Edmonton?

I didn't know what I would think of this particular color scheme being applied to an L.A. Avengers-based logo set. That said, I absolutely LOVE it.

So, it would appear that the Birmingham Stallions' new identity package is going to be based on this mark that Rick Bakas submitted to the Denver Broncos... Meanwhile, I'm of the mind that the Los Angeles Express is going to be sporting a new logo package inspired by that of the Arena Football League's Los Angeles Avengers.

Of those sources, I'd say there are some marks amongst the logos that graphic designer Rick Bakas provided to the Denver Broncos that could make for a dynamic new Birmingham Stallions look. As for the other, I'd pass on all of them as inspiration. The St. Louis Stallions logo is an uninspired mess, the St. Louis Stampede mark strikes me as being akin to something a third-rate rock band would adopt, and the Milwaukee Mustangs emblem is a dated mediocrity.

I've loved your work in this series, but the shape of that shield, the decorative filigree surrounding it, and the scroll bearing the team name all bear a striking resemblance to the badge of J1 League club Cerezo Osaka.

The City of Miami Commission has voted to approve Inter Miami CF's Miami Freedom Park development plan. Commissioners vote in support of David Beckham's Miami soccer stadium dream

Random thoughts on this latest batch of USFL alt history uniform updates... Pittsburgh - The steelworker in the Maulers' logo is going to have OSHA taking a long look at steroid use amongst industrial workers. Seriously, that guy needs to alternate some legwork with the arm and shoulder exercises in his fitness regimen. Portland - The devil is always in the details when it comes to design techniques like the incorporation of color shifts in a uniform. To my mind, you've nailed the execution of said technique in the Thunder unis. St. Louis - When I look at the Knights' new logo, the sword and St. Louis Arch elements combine to form a stylized Norman helmet. Terrific work!

So, which MiLB teams outpaced the Oakland A’s at the turnstiles last night? Dayton Dragons - 7,343 Louisville Bats - 6,615 Round Rock Express - 5,826 Carolina Mudcats - 5,652 Hartford Yard Goats - 5,274 Mississippi Braves - 5,205 Las Vegas Aviators - 5,174 Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs - 4,798 Nashville Sounds - 4,270 Amarillo Sod Poodles - 4,251 Wichita Wind Surge - 4,175 Sacramento River Cats - 4,025 Buffalo Bison - 4,009 Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp - 3,939 Bowling Green Hot Rods - 3,902 Portland Sea Dogs - 3,419 Springfield Cardinals - 3,395 Memphis Redbirds - 3,373 Augusta Green Jackets - 3,301 Greenville Drive - 3,259 Greensboro Grasshoppers - 3,026 Pensacola Blue Wahoos - 2,909 I can’t shake the image of a clueless Rob Manfred sitting in his office, a cocksure grin on his face, smugly musing, “And they said my restructuring would destroy the minors.”

Those 3,748 fans through the turnstiles in Oakland made for a smaller crowd than 13 affiliated Minor League Baseball teams were able to draw yesterday. Dayton Dragons - 6,871 Las Vegas Aviators - 5,607 Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp - 5,153 Hartford Yard Goats - 4,765 Nashville Sounds - 4,506 Vancouver Canadians - 4,403 Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs - 4,354 Amarillo Sod Poodles - 4,317 Augusta Green Jackets - 4,156 Clearwater Threshers - 4,039 Springfield Cardinals - 3,879 Greenville Drive - 3,838 Louisville Bats - 3,751 That’s five Triple A teams, three Double A clubs, a trio of High A franchises, and a pair of Single A squads that pulled in more spectators than Oakland’s “Major” league outfit managed to attract yesterday.

Of those four franchises, the Birmingham Stallions strike me as the organization that would lean into preserving its simple, classically conservative look for as long as possible. Oakland Invaders Pittsburgh Maulers Portland Thunder

The Banc was hopping last night. LAFC and the supporters didn't let falling behind 0-1 just 12 minutes into the match curtail team effort or dampen stadium atmosphere. Based upon the buzz on the post-match Metro ride back to Santa Monica, you'd have thought the team had just won a playoff game. While the play of the 2022 edition of the Black and Gold strikes me as being a bit more frenetic and a bit less polished than that of the 2019 squad (admittedly, through just four matches), I'm loving the team's speed and go-for-broke enthusiasm. Plus, as you mention, the depth is a tremendous resource. Steve Cherundolo's greatest challenge as manager may be finding enough meaningful minutes to keep all of the players - particularly the triumvirate of Carlos Vela, Christian Arango, and Brian Rodriguez - happy. Still, that's a nice problem to have. To me, the biggest change for LAFC during the early going of this season has been the team's improvement in the defensive third. Maxime Crépeau is exactly the sort of steadying hand in goal that LAFC needed... and his presence has the team's backs playing with far more confidence. Early days to be sure, but this certainly looks it's going to be a very entertaining season.

"Cheers is filmed before a live stadium audience."

I don't shill for anyone, least of all the billionaires and millionaires occupying the owners' suites and executive offices of professional sports leagues. I simply leave my emotional reactions to what occurs in the world of sports to what transpires on the court, the field, or the rink. As for the business of sports, I elect to discuss that subject from an emotional distance. To my mind, the matter of the National Hockey League's expansion or relocation of franchises to Canadian markets falls firmly within the parameters of the business of sports. Team owners are businessmen. Team owners make decisions concerning their franchises - and the leagues that said teams play in - based upon what they believe will most benefit their own individual bottom line. If that happens to sync with the interests of their fellow owners, so be it. However, it strikes me that said alignment of interests is often a happy accident. Self-interest rules all. Cynical? Sure. What of it? This is the real world... and the age of the gentleman sportsman operating a pro sports team as part of a public trust is, unfortunately, over. Here's the reality. The NHL's reluctance to return top-tier pro ice hockey to Quebec City is considered by the league's owners and executives to be a business decision. The league's owners - all of them, including those who own and operate the Canadian-based franchises - apparently aren't inclined to return NHL hockey to Quebec City. After all, when the league deferred Quebecor's expansion bid for Quebec City in 2016, the vote to do so was unanimous. Why was that last vote unanimous? I'd wager it's because each team's owner asked themselves how returning NHL hockey to Quebec City would concretely benefit their bottom line... and not just in the short-term (a share of the expansion fee), but over the long haul. I further suspect that Geoff Molson shared his concerns for how allowing an ownership group (with ties to an individual he loathed no less) to set up shop just 143 miles from his Montreal Canadiens had the potential to cut into his bottom line. Which had the knock-on effect of causing all of the other NHL owners to ponder how they would want the vote to go down if expansion or relocation to a market within what they perceived to be their team's territory was suddenly on the docket. In short, they each voted with an eye towards protecting what they perceived to be in their own best interest. Might the attitude of current NHL owners towards Quebec City as a market change? Only time will tell. What will it take to change the minds of each owner who voted against returning NHL hockey to Quebec City last go-around? Who knows? However, given that the last vote was - as noted - 30-to-0 against, it would seem there's going to have to be a profound change in owner sentiment on the subject. My take on this issue has nothing to do with shilling. And you won't find me arguing against the notion that the NHL's ownership and executive ranks are chock-full of idiots. That said, if you're waiting for a modern pro sports owner in any league - the NHL most definitely included - to muster up respect for the devoted fans of his/her particular sport... well, that's likely going to be an awfully long wait. You, I, and all of the other sports fans out there are just cogs in the machine that is the modern pro sports industry. "[T]heir disrespect for the game's most devoted fans is getting old." I don't disagree with you, but I fear that you presuming that today's pro sports owners and executives consistently give a fig for such a quaint notion is setting yourself up for disappointment.

I'm not a fan of either the upper left or upper right logos. While I understand what the upper left logo is trying to achieve, I ultimately find it to be the least visually appealing of the design solutions you've opted to try. As for the upper right logo, it strikes me as being a fussier, busier, less effective attempt at achieving what the middle left mark accomplishes. I find the middle left mark's bold simplicity preferable to the outline, gradient star, and stylized 'W' body on display in the upper right logo. That said, I'll reiterate that - in my opinion - the middle right mark is the best of these logos... and by a wide margin.

My thinking was always that it would take a Jeff Bezos/Bill Gates-like figure to pour money into an NHL-to-Winnipeg bid in order for it to come to fruition. Winnipeg local hero Mark Chipman - himself worth a mere half-billion dollars - was able to convince one of the planet's wealthiest people to do just that. Enter media and real estate mogul David Thomson to pony-up some of his $25 billion net worth to make said venture a reality. It strikes me that the primary reasons that the NHL returned to Winnipeg were Mark Chipman's passion and personality, plus David Thomson's mega-wealth. It also didn't hurt that the nearest NHL franchise to Winnipeg was located 391 miles away - as the crow flies - in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Contrast this scenario with that which currently exists in Quebec City. There, Pierre Karl Peladeau has been heading up the crusade to return NHL hockey to La Vieille Capitale. The problem is that Peladeau is a man as arrogant, brash, and confrontational as Mark Chipman is self-effacing. Further, while Peladeau's $1.7 billion worth is certainly nothing to sneeze at, it pales in comparison to the type of financial heft that the likes of David Thomson brings to the table. There's also the pesky fact that Quebec City is located a mere 143 miles from Montreal, home to the third-most-valuable franchise in the NHL, the Montreal Canadiens. Said team is owned by the Molson family and headed up by Geoff Molson. If there's an NHL owner who one could convince me wants to keep Quebec City bereft of top-tier pro hockey, it would be Geoff Molson. For starters, he and his family would like nothing better than to protect their pro sports business from an intra-provincial competitor. Further, Pierre Karl Peladeau and Geoff Molson have loathed one another ever since the former lost the 2009 bidding war to purchase Les Habitants to the latter... and subsequently elected to publicly note his regret that the Canadiens former owner George Gillett had placed financial considerations (the Molson family's money) ahead of true Québécois identity (as represented by Peladeau) when settling upon a buyer for the storied franchise. For these reasons, I'm of the opinion that comparing the NHL's return to Winnipeg with the potential return of a franchise in said circuit to Quebec City is a bit like comparing apples and carburetors. The devil is in the details and there are enough differences between the two scenarios to convince me that NHL owners could find their way to two completely different final outcomes. A final thought. The majority of modern pro sports owners make decisions for a multitude of reasons, but those reasons almost always have the same bottom-line: protecting what they perceive to be their own individual interests. What can appear from the outside to be a unified front arrived at by pragmatic consensus-building can just as easily be 30 or 32 individual owners (depending upon the league) all arriving at the same final decision for different, self-serving reasons.

The last time I checked, and I'll admit that it was probably four or five seasons ago, Delaware North only handled concessions operations management in the home venues of six National Hockey League franchises: the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Nashville Predators, and Tampa Bay Lightning. Since then, the company has added UBS Arena and Climate Pledge Arena - respectively, homes to New York Islanders and Seattle Kraken - to their portfolio of concessions management contracts in arena's that house NHL teams. So, the company has concessions operations contracts with eight NHL arenas. That hardly represents a stranglehold on the hearts, minds, and pursestrings of the other NHL franchise-owners. The likes of companies like Aramark and Levy are probably neck-and-neck with Delaware North when it comes to the number of concessions operations contracts they hold at arenas playing host to NHL squads. Far be it from me to sing the praises of the Jacobs Family. Frankly, I think their oversight of the Bruins has bordered on the edge of benign neglect for too much of their ownership tenure in Boston. That said, I think the theory that behind-the-scenes machinations on the part of the Jacobs clan "have been, far and away, the number-one obstacle to" a return of an NHL franchise to Quebec City borders on being the textbook definition of a conspiracy theory. After all, a cursory examination would seem to indicate that at least 75% of the NHL's current ownership groups aren't actively employing Delaware North's services in the realm of concessions operations management. Short of refusing to allow their teams to take the ice against the Bruins in competitive games, I don't know how said team owners are supposed to force the Jacobs family to sell their NHL franchise. Bottom line? It's likely that multiple NHL owners/ownership groups aren't enthusiastic about the prospect of placing a franchise in Quebec City... and, quite possibly, for multiple reasons. Frankly, if a majority of NHL owners were convinced that placing a team in the market would increase the popularity and profitability of the league -and, by extension, their own financial bottom-lines - there would be an NHL franchise taking to the ice at Centre Videotron right now. The notion that a single team's ownership group has had a stooge lackey in the commissioner's office and all of the 29 other NHL ownership groups under their sway on the issue of expansion to Quebec City since May of 1995 seems far-fetched. Is it frustrating that the league has bent over backwards to preserve professional hockey in the Phoenix market while ignoring the presence of a state-of-the-art arena in a hockey-mad municipality for the past 21-plus years? Absolutely. That said, I sincerely doubt that Jeremy Jacobs et fils are orchestrating said NHL boycott of Quebec City.

I wouldn't hazard a guess as to what your Washington Federals will adopt as their primary mark in 1998. That said, the mark in the middle row of the right column strikes me as being - hands down - the best of the logos on display here. Further, I think it represents the logo that an actual Washington Federals franchise would have ultimately settled upon circa 2011 or 2019. I love the way that it pays homage to the flavor of the team's original mark, while simultaneously embracing modern design principals and evoking a timelessly classic aesthetic. The eagle head-and-wing element, as well as said element in combination with the stylized F, make for terrific secondary marks... either one of which could be used as a helmet logo. I also find your reworking of the Hartford Colonials' primary mark (lower left) to be a handsome - and far less cluttered - improvement over what the Connecticut-based United Football League team actually trotted out. Terrific work, as always!

The first of the two logos would not have been out of place in 1998. Compare it to the logos that teams such as the Jacksonville Jaguars and Philadelphia Eagles were using in the late 1990s. In fact, I'd argue that the second of your Washington Federals modernizations doesn't represent enough of an evolution from the real-world franchise's original early 1980s logo or your late 1980s update.

Unless your business purpose is to pay homage to the worst overall win-loss percentage in the history of the original USFL, mediocre attendance by said league's standards, and folding after a single season of play, there's really no reason to revive the Pittsburgh Maulers identity.

However, what about the name "Generals" lends itself to using the color red as the primary hue in an American sports team's palette? If the team name is meant to evoke thoughts of American military generals, the better choice would have been a darker shade of blue or green. The preponderance of full dress uniforms for general officers in the branches of the United States military are blue, with shades of green dominating the service dress uniforms of general officers in the Army and Marine Corps. Frankly, red struck me as an odd choice as the primary color for a team dubbed the Generals in the USFL's first incarnation and remains so today. The only thing about the USFL Generals identity - in either version of the league - that communicates the idea of a high-ranking U.S. military officer is the logo. Then again, I haven't seen any blue-and-silver lions or bumped into any purple-and-orange steelworkers in my life, either.

Exotic dance clubs catering to the senescent population?

At an event formally unveiling plans for a new state-of-the-art headquarters for the team, Seattle Sounders FC brass also announced that they're planning to "explore the club's identity" as part of an anniversary celebration dubbed "March to the 50th". Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer Taylor Graham will head up the process which will incorporate talent from Seattle-based creative agency DNA, Seattle-based design studio Column, and New York-based creative studio Athletics. Graham reportedly said that the initiative could result in anything from a complete retooling of the Sounders' visual identity to a logo package that is barely changed.Sounders FC Majority Owner Adrian Hanauer noted that the current Sounders brand is effectively disconnected from the historic brand and that the club's hope is to integrate the two during this process. He apparently stated, "This will ultimately be our fans deciding the look and feel of our marks going forward." https://www.sounderatheart.com/2022/2/16/22936838/seattle-sounders-new-training-facility-explore-new-brand-identity

The Seattle Sounders have unveiled plans for the development of Sounders FC Centre at Longacres, a new state-of-the-art headquarters for the club. The facility - to be built in Renton, Washington - will feature four full-size training fields and 50,000 square feet of space for business, front office, soccer operations, and sports science personnel. Sounders FC Majority Owner Adrian Hanauer, noting that also announced that Sounders FC is planning to "explore the club's identity" as part of an anniversary celebration dubbed "March to the 50th". Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer Taylor Graham will head up the process which will incorporate talent from Seattle-based creative agency DNA, Seattle-based design studio Column, and New York-based creative studio Athletics. Graham reportedly said that the initiative could result in anything from a complete retooling of the Sounders' visual identity to a logo package that is barely changed. Hanauer noted that the current Sounders brand is effectively disconnected from the historic brand and that the club's hope is to integrate the two during this process. He stated, "This will ultimately be our fans deciding the look and feel of our marks going forward."