gosioux76

I don't love that they moved on so quickly from the antlers, but I also don't think the antlers worked as well as we'd have hoped they would. As much as I loved the idea, they just weren't substantial enough visually to carry the look. I think they'd work perfectly as a sleeve detail, though. I'll give them this: Removing the EE from the confines of the oval at least feels like a modest, fresh evolution of the brand.

Yeah, how about those traditional and consistent Chicago Bulls. Not trying to poke fun, but the point remains: when this train gets rolling, there's nothing stopping everybody from jumping on board.

Helmets on their own may not equal a ton of revenue, but I'd think in many cases the alt-helmets would be paired with new alt-uniforms or even entirely new sub-brands. Think of it this way; the restrictions placed on football helmets in the NFL has served as something of a safeguard against the sort of brand experimentation we've seen in other leagues. Now, it seems feasible that the Ravens could incorporate a Maryland flag-inspired helmet or the Steelers could embrace chrome (as an homage to steel, I suppose) or the Eagles could take a full-on Liberty Belle theme. I'm not suggesting this will happen. Like you, I'd like to think most teams will show some degree restraint. But the NBA has found itself a rich vein of commerce in appealing to its fans' civic pride and nostalgia. There's nothing to indicate the same thing wouldn't work for the NFL. And one more point on this: the Commanders are already one example of a team that is rolling out an alternate helmet paired with an entirely different alternate uniform. And what we're left with is mess that may as well represent two entirely different teams.

I mean, isn't it all speculation at this point? You're choosing to be more optimistic on this, which is fair. And you're right; it's perhaps less likely that the more stoic NFL brands like the Raiders and Packers would participate in this. But in a sport with only 17 games, having anything more than home/away/throwback is just too much. And I wouldn't bank much on teams showing restraint. All it takes is for one to find a revenue stream and the others will be close behind. There wasn't a team that was untouched by the ridiculous Color Rush scheme. I don't think it's a stretch to see alt-helmets worked into that program. That isn't knee-jerk. I just don't share your optimism.

Speaking of knee-jerk reactions .... Like with anything, there's a degree of scale in play here that will define whether adding alternates adds or subtracts from the league's overall visual identity. I think we've witnessed with the NBA how alternate overload has watered down the impact of some of the league's core brands. I'm with @BBTV on this, not because I'm opposed to anything new, but because I have no faith that teams won't abuse the situation and take it too far.

The Clippers are a great story. This league can be a tough on teams that defy expectations. I'm writing this as a Timberwolves fan from day 1 of the franchise. This year's team is inconsistent, but exciting and really coming into form. (They just beat Cleveland and Golden State on back to back nights.) Yet they've only been on national TV once this year, on a west coast swing when they played the dismal Lakers, who are on TV almost every night. I understand the market dynamics of it all. It's why I've seen three times as many Knicks games this year as I have T-Wolves. (I don't pay for the NBA TV package). But it's still a little confounding.

Are you sure they're putting the EE back inside the helmets? It's certainly easy to draw that conclusion based on the stripes on the helmet, but they could also be putting the elk logo itself on the side. And not that it's gospel, but a few posts up we have the CEO of Elks suggesting the image he posted of an EE helmet wasn't a new helmet leak.

It stands out to me that none of these images — neither the jerseys, nor the court design — say "Jazz." They not only omit the word, but don't represent it either. If they were ever to do as you suggest and rebuild their image around this look, I would hope they'd do a complete rebrand -- name and all. This is one of the many things I dislike about the current NBA/Nike jersey program. In many cases, these are what uniforms would look like if designed by regional tourism boards. They're not even meant to represent team brands. I'm not suggesting this isn't a nice look. It just looks like it could easily be on the rack at a tourist-y t-shirt shop, right next to the sweatshirts that say "Property of Arches National Park."

Back when I lived in Portland, it was much easier to get tickets to CCL matches than regular season matches, which I always presumed was because so many people figured it was an exhibition match.

I was quite disappointed a few years back when Sporting KC changed the name of its USL outfit from Swope Park Rangers, which I thought was brilliant, to Sporting KC II. I also recall attending the press conference when the Timbers announced the name of their second team and leaving incredibly underwhelmed, especially by the really weak logo. I'd be interested in hearing the logic behind the 2 trend and whether it's something encouraged by the league. It seems to me as if there's some concern about brand recognition and the teams/league wanting it (embarrassingly) clear that these are offshoots of parent MLS clubs. The NBA clearly doesn't have this level of concern since most of its G-League teams carry unique brands. I could see in some limited circumstances where the name might be convenient. In St. Louis, for example, naming the team St. Louis City 2 makes some sense when it comes to building brand equity for new a franchise. But for some of the others, it's a real head-scratcher.

I think that's been a pretty common strategy with sports movies, especially with baseball movies. The '80s were a forgettable decade for the Indians, outside of "Major League." The Twins were on their mid-'90s downward spiral toward eventual contraction talks when "Little Big League" came out in '94. The Cubs were still perpetual disappointments in '93 when "Rookie of the Year" came out, so its narrative that involved the team making the NLCS seemed like a fantasy. The Tigers were also a largely forgettable team in '99 when "For Love of the Game" came out. I've always assumed that this was one of those levers that poor-performing teams can pull when the team's poor performance is holding back revenue and exposure.

I think they've already tried that with the uniforms they're wearing now.

I know what you mean. I also think it’s kind of a lost color palette in the pro sports landscape. Other than the Canucks, is there a major league team that uses royal blue and green as its primary colors any more? (Legitimate question; I may be overlooking something.) Since the Seahawks, Mavericks and T-Wolves have largely abandoned those colors, it feels like an under-used palette.

This is really nice. I've never liked the Valley jerseys, not because of the design but because of the use of a nickname. Conrad's concept fixes that by keeping the design scheme but placing the team's primary identifiers front and center. On top of that, you can see enough hints of prior eras -- the '70s Western look and the Barkley rising sun look -- in these to make it feel like it's a direct descendent of those, which to me, is perfect.

It's entirely possible that the W is of the Zapf Dingbats family.

It's a good question, but I think it's fair to say that the bar was pretty low with these, as were the expectations. Most NFL redesigns face the opposite and tend to overdo it, making us clamor for simpler looks that don't make the same mistakes. I think that's a big reason why the USFL uniforms are so well-liked — all they had to do was offer updates on familiar looks and, for the most part, they nailed it. But there are also details on all of these that we'd crucify if they were included in an NFL roll out.

I always found that a little odd about the original league. You had Birmingham and Philly (below) essentially sharing color schemes. Same for Tampa and Memphis, Houston and Oklahoma. Makes me wonder whether the league didn't just let owners do as they wanted when it came to branding choices.

This image confuses me a bit. The original Panthers used champagne, which was sort of a hybrid of gold and silver. This picture makes it look like the helmets and pants are more directly gold, which I think throws the whole look off.

They've been releasing one per hour and have publicized the release times. I think it's pretty smart. Keeps its audience engaged throughout the day.

In terms of nostalgia, you're right. It's much different from the original. However, I think the new version does a better job of representing a wave. As much as I enjoyed the old one, it seemed almost bird- or ghost-like. I really like how the new version takes some cues from the Panthers in having the wave start from the back and really immerse the helmet. Well done.

Yes! I couldn't exactly pinpoint what I didn't like about these, but you're 100% right. I'm getting strong Bills vibes from those jersey side panels. Completely ruins the set for me.

This is really interesting, and would make a lot of sense. I find it kinda fascinating to see brands like this, which debuted in what I'd consider a modern era of sports branding, starting to go down this path of starting over. I can understand it with clubs that seem to be treading water and in need of new energy (San Jose, Montreal, Houston, Chicago's original logo), but that it's happening to a wildly popular and successful club like Seattle makes me realize just how difficult it is to create a sports brand that passes the test time. It makes me appreciate the Timbers even more.

There's an odd heaviness to that Tampa set. Way too many black outlines and shadows on the numbers. Even the alt-logo on the sleeve seems too heavily outlined in black. The red sleeve and neck treatments on the white uniform somehow add to this effect. I'd rather see the white jersey simplified to match the red one, even if it means making it more plain. The original Bandits were far more subtle in how they employed black. These road jerseys worked really well with black numbers.

Simple, yet not to the point where I'd consider them boring. This is looking good. I love that the Maulers kept the gray facemasks like the original team, but I wish they'd have used the Keystone secondary logo on the sleeve rather than repeating the helmet logo.

They'll never change the name. This is the same team that had a name-the-team-contest that didn't include Sounders, but half of all voters chose a name that was either Sounders or some variation of it. I definitely think a refresh of the brand, though, is a smart move. They never got the color balance right, and the crest carries an awkward shape.