neo_prankster

I would change the sleeves on the home jersey to blue with yellow horns.

On 3/7/2024 at 4:21 PM, FroBroStudio said:

I don't know about this forum but for me, having the Patriots wear a red top has always been absurd, nauseating, & disgusting. Never liked the look. You're named the patriots! Red tops = British. Very un-American. Also, the patriots dynasty had the focus being blue and then navy blue. Like the Bucs creamsicle uniform, this look need to stay in the grave.

Blue makes more sense now for the Pats. But I think the red shirts at the beginning were because the Bills, Titans (now Jets) and Oilers each wore blue in the old AFL East.

My attempt at a 36 team NFL

NFC East

Dallas

NY Giants

Philadelphia

Washington

Atlanta

Carolina

NFC Central

Chicago

Detroit

Green Bay

Minnesota

Tampa Bay

Expansion

NFC West

Arizona

LA Rams

San Francisco

Seattle

New Orleans

Expansion

AFC East

NY Jets

New England
Buffalo
Miami

Jacksonville

Expansion

AFC Central

Baltimore

Cincinnati
Cleveland

Indianapolis

Pittsburgh

Tennessee

AFC West

Denver

Houston

Kansas City

Las Vegas

LA Chargers

Expansion

2 hours ago, TheRealPepman said:

Ryan Smyth wearing the Oilers' copper-red Edge-era sweater in 2011:

 

Same thing for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins:

I still don't understand why so many NHL teams felt they had to change their looks to fit the Edge template when it first came out.

The old English D looks a little too much like Disneyland.

Browns are perfect.

Pharaohs

Atlanta.

Give them a team that hopefully won't give up halftime leads.

13 minutes ago, WideRight said:

And just a couple more unused ideas.   Los Angeles never got a lot of votes, and once San Diego was in the league, I had a feeling no one would jump on the LA bandwagon, so these designs did not stand a chance.  

 

LOS ANGELES VIPERS

Sort of a biker gang, tattoo-themed version of a snake logo.  The tattoo motif is throughout and the goal is to use green and red as a unique color combo, along with a silvery green metallic helmet. 

LOS ANGELES PALMS

The Palms was just a way to get a sunset spectrum element into what was otherwise a pretty plain "LA monogram".  It has a bit of an LA Kiss vibe to it while also being very much a SoCal vibe as well. Besides, how often do you see a heavily green tilted teal used?   The NFL Jags started off with that but when they revamped their logo due to the Jaguar car issue they switched to a bluer shade of teal.  

 

Ah, what could have been.  Sorry LA, no soup for you. 

To be fair, the Rams will have already reestablished themselves in LA by the mid 2030s right?

At least I get a hometown team again in the AAFL in San Diego.

I'd still like to see a full uniform set for both the Palms and Vipers.

In sweet home Alabama, there's only one choice.

The Birmingham Vulcans.

Home games could be either at a renovated/rebuilt Legion Field or at the newer Protective Stadium.

19 hours ago, WideRight said:

As much as that would be a cool nod to the movie/book, I don't think the Columbus Stacks or Columbus Gunters would really catch on with a wide audience.  

How about Joysticks? Gamers? Stackers?

If Columbus gets in, it would be funny if they had a team identity based on Ready Player One, which takes place in Columbus.

Birmingham and Memphis

Birmingham and Memphis

Bring back the most bitter rivalry in spring football history!

Rockers.

Also torn on the Breakers.

Man. Now it's getting intense.

First choice:
NY/NJ if a market that large can help the AAFL.

Second choice:

Columbus

6 hours ago, pitt6pack said:

Here is what I have pregame.

I got a grass texture down, and the scaling of all the logos correct.

After the game, I will do some color adjustments.

 

After further review, I still think the wordmark on the Niners' endzone would look better in all gold. Also, the endzones for both teams would look better with helmets rather than standalone logos.

Another thing is that I wish we could have the yardline numbers outlined in the team colors. Plus the red/white/blue strokes along the 50 yard line.

Other than that, what we have is a remake of SB54's field, right?

3 hours ago, WideRight said:

Ready for the next phase?  We jump ahead 2 years to get there.  

 

With the addition to two  large markets in 2029 with Chicago and Boston coming on board, the TV networks got just what they wanted from the AAFL, a 17% increase in viewership.  Attendance was strong, up slightly from 2028, with a leaguewide average of 20,884.  However, that number was a bit skewed by the St. Louis Rampage, who opted to pay the higher lease and play all games at the Dome at America’s Center, which allowed them to average just under 32,000 for the season. Attendance dipped under 18,000 for 3 markets, Salt Lake, Portland, and Chicago.  This was largely due to poor weather in the first month of play (actually well into April in Portland) and poor play on the field as these three teams combined for only 7 wins among them (Chicago 1-11, Salt Lake 3-9, Portland 3-9). 

 

St. Louis, with their capacity advantage and solid fan support again won the right to host the league title game, despite finishing 2^nd in the East to Orlando.  It would be the Juice who would represent the East against the San Diego Destroyers, who repeated as Western Champions.  San Diego would learn from their 2028 loss and would cruise to a 33-20 win over the Juice to take the league title.

 

Prior to the championship game, the league announced that they would not expand in 2030, opting instead to improve the overall production and quality of play across the league.  A month after the title game, which drew an impressive 38,202 despite not having the Rampage in the title game, representatives of the various clubs voted to alter the way the title game would be assigned.  Rather than waiting until Week 10 of the season and awarding the game to the top attendance city (a structure which now clearly favors St. Louis every year), the league would award the title game to the city whose club won the title the year before.  This means that the 2030 title game would be hosted by San Diego.

 

With the networks very pleased with the results of the 2029 expansion, and the league looking solid on the revenue side, it was decided in January that the league would expand for the 2031 season, adding 2 more teams and moving to 3 divisions of 4 teams each, expanding the playoffs to include 5 clubs (3 division winners, 2 Wild Cards who have a play-in game).  Additionally they agreed that any team which averaged 90% capacity in tickets sold could explore a larger stadium option.  They had already done this with St. Louis, but this would also mean that clubs like Washington and Houston, which had regularly sold out tiny Audi Field (20k) and Shell Energy Stadium (22k) could explore other options. 

 

The 2030 season saw better weather in March and April, and more even play across the league, with no team winning fewer than 4 of 12 games.  Salt Lake made a huge leap, from only 3 wins in 2029 to 7 wins in 2030.  Both Chicago and Boston also improved in their second seasons, with the Clovers winning a Wild Card spot while Chicago finished a respectable 6-6.  Boston would lose to Washington in the Eastern Finals, while Houston would upset San Diego in the Western finals, meaning that for a 2^nd straight year the team hosting the title game would not be appearing in it.  That did not diminish attendance as AAFL fans flocked to San Diego and filled SnapDragon Stadium’s 35,000 capacity, creating the first sold out AAFL Title Game in the league’s 3 year history.  Houston would edge Washington 20-18 in a really entertaining game to win the league’s 3^rd title.

 

But, despite growth in many areas, one area where there was a bit of disappointment was the TV ratings.  The league had the same lulls it saw in past years during March Madness, but also struggled with some decline in overall ratings across the 12 week season.  The networks strongly encouraged the league to consider looking at more large markets with their 3031 expansion, citing that there were still several major markets that were lagging in viewership, largely due to a lack of local interest. 

 

With the move to 12 teams for the 3031 season it was agreed that Houston, New Orleans, Chicago, and St. Louis would make up the Central Division, meaning that the two expansion clubs would be placed into the Eastern and Western divisions.  The pool of cities was quickly established, with two cities in California the only sites considered for the Western team and a short list of markets on tap in the East.

 

By midseason in 3030 the league reached a surprising deal with the two investor groups that represented San Jose and Sacramento, California.  The two cities would share a team, with each city hosting 3 home games.  The team would use the “California” moniker, and would alternate home dates throughout the season between 21,000 seat Hornet Stadium in Sacramento and 30,000 seat CEFCU Stadium in San Jose.

 

So the question now turned to what identity this regional team would take on.  The investors chose from the 8 different concepts they had begun developing and chose the five which they felt worked best for the combination of the two cities.  And now it is time to vote.  Which of these five identities will the new California dual-city franchise take on? 

 

CALIFORNIA DONS

Celebrating the legendary period of the Spanish Colonial years, the Dons refers to the early colonists who set up missions and the first cities in California.  Depicted with a swashbuckling, sword-wielding figure, not unlike the most famous fictitious “Don”, the masked Zorro, the Don’s use black, metallic gold, and a pale royal blue as their color scheme.

CALIFORNIA REDWOODS

The towering sequoia tree is the central feature of this identity, with 3 trees in bold green and burgundy forming the team’s logo as the earth beneath them forms a football.  Symbols of strength, fortitude, and California’s unique ecosystems, the Redwoods stand tall as a symbol of the northern half of the state. Forest green helmets with a bold burgundy stripe helps pull the look together. 

(Now that I look at this logo again I realize I have it backwards, the leaves/needles should be green and the trunks should be maroon. I will fix this later today and repost this design.)

 

CALIFORNIA RUSH

The goldrush helped to build what is today one of the strongest economies and richest histories in the U.S.  Thie California Rush pay homage to that legacy with the figure of a 19^th century prospector, complete with his pickaxe, and depicted in black, white and gold, on a golden helmet.  The prospector “rushes” towards paydirt, football in hand, as he and the team hope to find gold on the football field.

CALIFORNIA CONDORS

The iconic California Condor is the first of two animal-based concepts, but one that would provide this club with a truly unique color scheme. The black feathers of the condor provide the primary inspiration, while the combination of orange and pink found on their heads provides two bright pops of color for the club.  The logo depicts the raptor and scavenger’s head, with its unique white neck plumage, set within a shield with a shifting orange-pink “sunset border”. 

CALIFORNIA COUGARS

Another iconic predator from the mountains of northern California, the cougar is depicted in mid-roar, it’s golden and white fur offset by a deep Kelly green outline and four clawmark slashes.  The Cougars use Kelly green, black and gold as their color scheme, with metallic gold helmets a shade or two lighter than the Dons’ concept and considerably lighter than the more bronzy gold of the Rush.

Voting is open now and will continue through noon on Sunday unless one team can garner that all-important 4-vote lead before that time.

 

To help with voting, a reminder that currently no team in the league has a gold helmet, so the three gold options would add a new helmet color.  No team currently has a black helmet either.  And while Boston has a green helmet, the difference between the Clovers’ Kelly green and the proposed Redwood forest green color is significant.  The dominant jersey colors for the clubs are almost certainly Cougars-green,  Condors-black. Rush-black, Dons-blue, and Redwoods-forest green.   If that helps folks decide.

For some reason, I feel like the Rush would make a good 49ers secondary logo.

Maybe for this universe the Rush could be a Niners farm team?

Is George Toma still supervising the decoration of the Super Bowl fields or did he retire at some point?

18 hours ago, WideRight said:

OK, I am going to treat @DCarp1231 's post as a vote switch from Atlanta to Orlando kind of like the Iowa Caucus when your guy is ousted so you have to revote for one of the remaining contenders. 

 

With that vote, we have a winner!

 

Welcome Orlando, FL to the AAFL!!   This gives us our 8 founding franchises and means that we hit what I consider the 3 biggies for any startup league, Florida, Texas, and California.  So now we start the voting process on Orlando's identity, and this one pushed me in some weird directions.  I wanted to avoid any space references because Houston went that direction, and since Orlando is not on the ocean or the gulf, I did not feel I could repurpose the San Diego Surf or the Sharks idea.  So, what is left?    Let's see.

 

ORLANDO TROPICS

With a gator as the main component of the logo, you knew this former New Orleans design had to be an option for a Florida team, and so it is.  With the potential for the league's first white helmet, and combining UF orange with green from "The U", this is a very "Florida man" look.  I opted to change the name from "Gators" to "Tropics" largely because UF would certainly sue if another team in the state tried to use the Gator name. 

ORLANDO JUICE

It's a team the Florida Citrus Growers will love!  Not only does it focus on the citrus industry, but we went one layer deeper into creamsicle country with the first team in sports history to propose a dual-orange color scheme.  We hae seen double blue (Argonauts), double green (Bucks), even double red (AAF Commanders), so now we have double orange.  It certainly screams Florida, but is it too much "juice" for the fans to accept?

 

ORLANDO SNOWBIRDS

Another huge element of Florida's unique population is the vast number of northerners who escape the winter to spend the colder months in the Florida sun.  Whether just temporary "time share" residents or permanent retirees in "death's waiting room", the Snowbird should be the state bird.  In a sun-soaked gold and blue sky combo, the Snowbirds spread their wings in sunny Orlando. 

ORLANDO LIGHTNING

A second repurposed logo as the former DC Power now emerge as the Orlando Lightning.  This design recognizes the frequency and severity of lightning strikes in Central Florida, while also providing the team with a color scheme that aligns with its other major outdoor team, the MLS Orlando City club, with their recognizable purple kits.  The Lightning will sport purple, metallic gold, and black as their colors, with twin lightning bolts emerging from the facemask on the helmets. 

 

There we have them, four choices up for a vote.  Only 1 can be the identity of the league's final inaugural team.  Will it be a tongue in cheek reference to the state's big crop?  a nod to the prehistoric lizard so often found on golf courses and in swimming pools?  A tribute to the state's transient sunseekers? or will the team adopt purple once again?  

 

As we have established, the vote has a 2-day maximum, but once we reach 15 total votes, then any team with a 4-vote lead takes the W.  

 

Following this vote, i will lay out the premise of a first season, and discussion of expansion to 10 clubs in year two.   More votes to come, to be sure.  But, for now, let's get to picking the identity of Florida's team.  

Snowbirds please.

On 1/27/2024 at 11:22 AM, heavybass said:

"This next post was ravaged by a dangerous beast"

ORLANDO PREDATORS

 

Maybe it's just me, but the Predators were one of the few Arenaball teams that did the all black look right.

7 hours ago, DCarp1231 said:

I wish someone would tackle racing (specifically NASCAR) concepts more often.

As in designs for all cars and firesuits, etc?

24 minutes ago, WideRight said:

We have a winner as one name rose to a 10-5-3-2 lead of 5 votes.  That cuts short the voting with 20 votes in the pot. 

 

Congratulations to the Salt Lake Pioneers!  The Pioneers will complete the Western Division with 4 clubs in 4 states and will be the only team in the West not to have navy blue as one of their colors.  The club will feature a predominantly red uniform with black and "tanned leather" as their secondary colors.  A pretty traditional look with two red or white stripes (on pants and sleeves) outlined in black.  On the jersey sleeves the secondary logo, featuring an "SL" monogram in an arrowhead will interrupt the striping.  The uniform also uses a "twin notch" motif using the tanned leather color.  This can be seen on the pant stripes but also in the numbers, appearing on the upper right vertical of each number.  

 

 

This vote also means that seven of eight teams have been selected for Season 1 (Let’s say 2028).  Who will emerge from the East as the 8^th and final franchise?  We are in a true Wild Card position here, so once again both eligible NFL cities and non-NFL markets will be included in the poll.  Here are your options, again with Market Size listed as well.

 

NFL MARKETS

• NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY (1) – A tough media market to crack, but 19 million potential fans.
• CHICAGO (3) – Weather is a factor, as is poor past performance in non-NFL leagues
• ATLANTA (8) – Humidity is a factor, but a large market option in the South.
• MIAMI (9) – Not as humid as Atlanta, but hot, oh so hot.
• BOSTON (11) – Could Boston add a 2^nd Northeastern team without NY being in the league?
• DETROIT (14) – Well, Ypsalanti really.  That seems a bit of an issue.

 

NON NFL MARKETS

• ORLANDO (22)— Perhaps a better Florida option than sports-packed Miami.
• COLUMBUS (32)— A huge football hotbed and a possible regional draw.
• NASHVILLE (35)— A southern city but not as hot/humid as Atlanta or Miami.
• TIDEWATER (37)— A new market with no track record outside of 1 season of UFL.
• PROVIDENCE (39)— Would people really pick Providence over Boston?
• CAROLINA TRIANGLE (41)— Good finances, good stadium options, but not a huge market.
• RICHMOND (45)— Unlikely to overtake Tidewater and very close to DC
• BIRMINGHAM (47)— Is it really a spring football league if you don’t include B’Ham?
• HARTFORD (50)—A third New England option, but the best stadium of all 3 cities.

Same rules as before.  We will keep the voting open for 2 days or until one team gets a 4-vote lead with at least 15 total votes cast in the balloting.  This one is intriguing to me because we already have 3 decent sized Eastern markets in DC, St. Louis and New Orleans.  Will folks vote to add a mega-city like NY or Chicago, go for a spring league stalwart like Birmingham or Atlanta, or maybe throw a curveball with a Tidewater, Triangle, or Hartford vote.  It really is hard to predict.

 

Let’s see what the sports logo & uniform community thinks?   Voting is open, and feel free to give your rationale as well. 

1st choice: Hartford if Rentschler Field has enough seats.

2nd choice: Columbus

3rd choice: Birmingham