WideRight

And here are the 1999 Pittsburgh Maulers uniforms. Shoulder yokes are becoming a real trend in the league (Jax, Chicago, Orlando, etc.). Will that trend continue or will side panels make an unwanted appearance? In addition to the shoulder yoke, the other major additions are the use of a purple pant set and a secondary motif of hexagonal "bolts" on the helmet and pant stripes.

Slight change of plans, we will have 3 clubs with new identities & uniforms in 1999, but Birmingham will not be one of them. As I work on B'Ham for 2000, the St. Louis Knights (who started the year 6-0) are getting a new look for 1999. So it will be Pittsburgh, Portland, and St. Louis getting new Nike designs. I am going to start with the least dramatic shift, at least in logos. Pittsburgh will have a very different uniform, but their logo is more of a modernization than an overhaul. Less cartoony, more X-treme (it is the late 1990's after all). ORIGINAL 1984 LOGO (my version) NEW 1999 LOGO New Pittsburgh Uniform up next, then St. Louis and an original logo.

Some teams just tweak a look they already have established, like the 9ers or Giants, others do something more dramatic, like Tampa did moving away from Bucco Bruce or New England did with Flying Elvis. Some go modern and then may revert to a traditional look like Cleveland did, and some may just move to modern permanently like Arizona or the Seahawks. Very few teams stay truly traditional like the Bears or Packers. Especially in a league whose initial looks came from the early 1980's. I actually think this is one of the harder aspects of bringing the USFL through the 90's to today. Most clubs would not have stuck with their 1980's looks, but we all remember those looks fondly because the league died. Had it lived I think you would see a lot of change, so we have to fight the instinct to stay with the looks we all remember from 1983 and balance tradition with the reality that most pro sports teams from 1983 until today do not look the same.

Just about to kick off the 1998 season in the Alt History of the USFL (Website here), which means that NIKE will be announcing which 3 teams will get facelifts for 1999. The 3 1998 clubs (Washington, Baltimore and Memphis) kick off their new looks and now 3 more teams will get a facelift. I actually have 4 designs ready to reveal, some just tweaks, some whole new looks. So, which of these 4 teams should make the cut for 1999? Oakland Invaders Birmingham Stallions Pittsburgh Maulers Portland Thunder Only 3 will make the cut, and this could be the last year for NIKE, with bids coming in for the USFL uniform and fanwear contract starting in 2000 (and Phil Knight no longer the principle owner of a club.)

OK, I could not wait any longer. Here is what the 1998 Federals will be wearing. I altered the middle right logo a bit, and used a different font, because I think the original version was a bit too 2010's and not 1990's enough. It may evolve into that later form over time, or we might go another path. And just a word about the designs. I often borrow heavily from a design I find online. When I do that I do all I can to reach out to the creator and get permission (like I did with Fraser Davidson on the Denver logo). In other cases it is not possible to find the creator and if that is the case I try to cite where I saw the original. In other cases several different logos may be blended together to create an amalgam. In those cases I am less likely to credit the original artists, but will if I feel a major portion of their design is the base for mine. In this case, the image for the new logo comes from about 4 different designs, including elements of the original Federals IRL logo.

Before I reveal which Washington look is the new 1998 branding, some unfinished business, the BFBS revamp of the Memphis Showboats.

So I have to ask, do folks not like the Upper right or middle left, or is it that they are not seen as good transitions from the first two logos the Feds have had? I ask because I was seriously considering both for 1998.

The Washington Federals just cannot decide on a new logo. They don't want to look too much like the Eagles, but they have 15 seasons with a green & black color scheme. They are down to their Top 6 Finalists. One of these will be the new look of the Feds in 1998. But which one? Anyone want to take a guess as to which one I am opting to go with in 1998? Of course understanding that they may change logos again in 2003, 2011, 2019, etc. At least I can guarantee they will never be called the Commanders. And yes, two of these are based on real teams (upper left is SLC Screaming Eagles from indoor football and bottom left is a reworking of the UFL's Hartford Colonials), the rest take inspiration from a wide range of eagle-based logos around the web.

I also find the "2" theme very boring, but it is pretty common in global football. I just wish they had been more original: Inter Miami Dos Vancouver 2nd Wave Minnesota FC 2nd Born Twin NYCFC 2 Train LA Binary Galaxy LAFFCC CIncinnatwo FC Philadelphia Union 2nd Shift Montreal CF Deux Chicago FIre 2nd City Something interesting at least.

And we have our second logo reveal (uniforms coming). The Memphis Showboats get on the BFBS bandwagon of the 90's. It is not officially BFBS since there has always been a hint of Black in the Showboats logos and uniforms, but never officially as a team color. That changes in 1998 when the Showboats add more black to all aspects of the team identity, including the main logo, the wordmark, and the new secondary "S"-wheeler logo. How will this upgrade of black impact the Showboats' red & silver sky (blue/silver) uniforms? That will be revealed soon. Then on to the once-again reimagined Washington Federals.

A move is not entirely out of the question. That Hartford Colonials logo is calling to me.

OK, one more question for everyone. Let's assume that the Federals realize that there are a ton of DC fans who are not happy with the similarity between the Federals and the Philadelphia Eagles. This tends to be more of an issue when the Eagles are good, so perhaps the Donovan McNabb era. If the Federals wanted to distance their look from that of the Eagles, which of these strategies do you think they would be most likely to try: 1. Stick with the look, but stay at Kelly Green when Philly goes to Midnight Green. 2. Change the secondary color from black to something else like Navy or purple. 3. Change the primary color from green to something else entirely. 4. Keep the colors the same but replace the eagle imagery with some other "federal" icon like the capitol building. 5. Both change colors and logos to separate completely. 6. Something else I have not thought of.

OK, folks. Time for a FAN VOTE. I have 2 designs for the Washington Federals' new logo. The first is based on a whole slew of eagle-head-in-shield logos. The second is basically the SLC Screaming Eagles arenaball team logo. They may both get used, or maybe only 1. My question for you is, which feels more 1998 to you? Not better, just more typical of the late 1990's. Here they are:

It would be hilarious for a back in the new USFL to insist on giant shoulder pads, just for our sake.

Hi all, So here is the Baltimore Blitz's new look. Not a major departure, with some altered striping patterns and a modern element in the stripe "shifts". Billy Blitz makes an appearance on the sleeve, but otherwise very much recognizable as a Blitz uniform. Not happy with how the numbers turned out on the figure uniforms, but you get the basic idea.

Ok, we have seen all 8 uniforms. Here are my thoughts on the last 4: New Jersey: Exactly what I expected and very solid. A. MIchigan: Close to great, but not a fan of the sleeve stripes using white over champagne and the logo is not as good as the original. New Orleans: Really disappointed here. In my mind this version of the wave helmet is just not anywhere near as good as the original. I think that going with the lighter blue as the main color and having greater difference in tone between the two blues would have helped. The sleeve waves don't work for me at all. Just overall downgrade over origninals. I give it a C. Philadelphia: Basically on point, but not a huge fan of the striping, especially on the helmet where it seems entirely gratuitious. B, maybe B-. Overall, they did a good job of modernizing, but I think a few misses along the way. As someone currently obsessed with the USFL (see my thread in the concepts board) I was hoping for more.

I will review the final 4 when we get to them all, but the first thing that came to mind when I saw a Generals jersey with #22 on it. FLUTIE!!!!!

Ok, 4 teams in. Here is my midpoint anaylysis. Across the board good things: Not going with only 1 jersey (AAF mistake) No unitards except white over white. All uniforms have pant stripes. No white stripeless socks 2 clubs so far have 2 different pant sets for greater variability. Birmingham Overall very solid. The pant stripe is a bit plain but I like that they have a gold and a white set. A solid, if somewhat nondescript A- Pittsburgh A solid variation from Birmingham by using the yoke instead of stripes. Not sure why they repeated the helmet logo on the jersey when their secondary is a strong option. Surprised in the lack of grey in the uniform except the facemask. A solid A/A- Tampa Bay Kind of maintains the tradition from the 80's though I don't like the striping as much. Here they did use a 2ndary logo on the sleeves. While I am not a fan of sidepanel striping, I like that they have the stripes coordinate from jersey to pants. B+ just because I think the original 1980's look was better. Houston I like the helmet better when it had stripes. A well-balanced uniform over, all, though black-red-black pant stripes would be my preference. Not a fan of these side panels, too drab/plain. Not a fan of having 2 different grey pants. Why not either white & grey sets or a black set? The darker grey seems almost blue, which is weird B-, just because a few minor tweaks could help a lot. I think I know what to expect from New Jersey. For me the entire league will hinge on how they handle Michigan and New Orleans, since those were such iconic "forward looking" identities back in the 80's.

OK folks, the first new item for 1998, Baltimore introduces not only a secondary logo, but a new character to the world of football mascots. Introducing.... Yup, a character many of you may remember from a short-lived kinda over-the-top league makes an appearance as the personification of the Baltimore Blitz's X-treme 90's personality. But how will Billy be used? Of course there will be a large foam-headed Billy on the sidelines, but will this logo make it onto the Blitz uniform? The helmets? Just how gung ho will Baltimore go with this idea? Unis are coming soon, but for now bask in the glory that is this bizarre Hulk-Frankenstein-Schwarzenneger mashup!!!

Not bad for team Bimbo, but had they centered the stripe and crest, that would be outstanding. Hoping my team (NYCFC) has a strong 2nd jersey this year. I have a home from year 1, but am hoping to add a clash kit jersey some year (just have not liked most of them.)

NIce debate. I actually like both the Arizona Wranglers overall look and the Oklahoma Outlaws, but not so much the Arizona Outlaws. But, since the Outlaws (now in San Antonio) and the Wranglers are now (1997) well-established teams, I don't think we will see a merger any time soon. That is not to say that both the Wranglers logo and the Outlaws logo won't see updates as time goes by. There are very few teams that will not have some type of modernization, but most will be tweaks instead of complete logo overhauls. Think more Minnesota Vikings with just a few Buccaneers mixed in. A lot of revision and a few total redo looks. Oh, and there is one team which will have at least 5-6 differnent primary logos between 1983 and 2022. They already had one and they are soon to get a second. Can you guess who that is?

San Diego, along with several other large metro areas (Dallas, Boston, Miami, KC, Indy, Twin Cities, etc) seem poised to either push for another expansion or to try to start poaching current USFL teams that have stadium or attendance issues. We shall see if any of them are successful.

A quick poll for you all: WHich of these teams do you think would absolutely upgrade, update, or swap out their 1980's logo at some point if they existed into the 2000's? And which would be too "iconic" to ever change? Pittsburgh Maulers Jacksonville Bulls LA Express Oakland Invaders Tampa Bay Bandits Memphis Showboats Philadelphia Stars Birmingham Stallions Arizona Wranglers Just pondering who to do minor tweaks to and who to overhaul as I get close to the 2000's in my alt history.

Gearing up to complete the NIKE design changes for 3 clubs in 1998. Not going to reveal much yet, except to say that the age of BFBS, of side panels, yokes, and the move away from sleeve stripes is in full effect. Some NFL Europe influence, some XFL influence, and some late 90's NFL influence. I can also tell you that one of these teams will get a brand new logo, one will get a significantly modified logo, and two will officially get a secondary logo for the first time in club history. Two Atlantic clubs and one from the South. Baltimore Blitz Washington Federals Memphis Showboats

Working on the 1998 new designs from Nike for the USFL, but decided to do something a bit odd, looking at the early 2000's. First I thought Tampa, but then decided that Houston needed to go a new direction. Tell me what you think of this jersey for the Houston Gamblers, based on designs common to western shirt embroidery.