WideRight

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. 

22 minutes ago, heavybass said:

7, Move to Boston....

Nah I'll choose 1 or 2

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:  

1 hour ago, ralphz said:

With his massive '80s shoulder pads. 

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:

1. Not going with only 1 jersey (AAF mistake)
2. No unitards except white over white.
3. All uniforms have pant stripes.
4. No white stripeless socks
5. 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!!!

5 minutes ago, EddieJ1984 said:

https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/philadelphia-union-unveil-2022-the-for-u-kit
 

The Philadelphia Union had unveiled their new primary kit.

 

Its better than their last one, but anything would've been, glad a stripe is back, but would prefer it in the center.

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?

4 hours ago, neo_prankster said:

 

The iconic teams I think would be the Express, Stars, Bandits and Wranglers. Especially the Stars because of the success they had in the Eighties.

 

Either way, I still would love for San Diego to get a USFL team at some point.

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.  

Last one for 1997, the Denver Gold.

Many Thanks to Fraser Davidson, who gave me permission to use his Denver Miners concept.  Fraser is one of my favorite designers and this logo for me was the perfect update of the Gold.  Comments on the update after the images. 

While a lot remains from their past look, the big shift is the logo, but there are other, perhaps more subtle shifts.  Having 2 different gold tones lets me create a forced "shine" as one blends into the others, as we see on the helmet stripe and pant stripes.  I also opted to move away from traditional sleeve stripes towards more of a "Houston Texans" shoulder swoosh, either in black and gold (white jersey) or two golds (black jersey).  The last addition is a new font for the wordmark.  

Thoughts?  Not a huge departure, but a shift to be sure. 

One question, why Corsairs for Oslo, Norway?  A corsair is a pirate operating along the African coast of the Mediterranean, not really relevant to Oslo, Norway.  Maybe an Italian team, or a Greek team, or Istanbul, but not really a fit for Norway.  Maybe something about vikings, stags, wolves, blizzard, etc. 

Thanks both of you.  Yes, I agree and may tweek the angle of the tomohawk.  If you were around for an earlier project of mine, you likely recognize the logo from I think a Cleveland project, where it was aligned with a C instead of an O.    The font will change, perhaps sooner than I anticipated.

The big issue with Orlando is if and when they will opt to either rename the team or design a non-Native American identity for the Renegades.  The name itself is not an issue, but I don't see the tomahawk surviving well into the 2010's or until today.  We are only at 1997 right now, so there is time, but I expect to have a battle over the name/iconography and I think (if Orlando retains the team all the way) that it might get at the least a non-Native visual image.  Perhaps a renegade rhine, shark, or a Dallas Renegade XFL look (but with the Outlaws, Gamblers, Wranglers and Bandits, I hesitate to add one more "old west" theme, especially in Florida).   

Time will tell.  

Next up is a new look for Denver, but one based on one of my favorite pro designers who has posted on this site. 

Alright USFL Fans, here is the first new logo of the 1997 group, the Orlando Renegades.  

I decided that the "hand drawn" version of the tomahawk should not survive any longer, replaced by a more linear, block-based tomahawk.  I decided to also use this opportunity to remove the singular use of red in the logo and solidify the team colors as Royal, Black, and Silver.  I retained the Renegades script, but demoted it off of the helmet, replaced by a block "O" (from the UConn font, for those of you who love fonts.)

The uniforms are based very heavily on the XFL from 2001, namely the Chicago Enforcers, as well as a much greater emphasis on Black.  Not entirely BFBS, since the logo always had black in it, but certainly a much higher level of black as the dominant color.  

Here you go, the 1997 Orlando Renegades. 

Not ready yet to reveal the next two designs for 1997, but here is a hint of how things may be changing for two more USFL Clubs. 

4 hours ago, ralphz said:

Blue helmet with green jersey and pants would be a great alternate set for Texas. 

That is a possibility, along with perhaps a BFBS version as well. 

Here is the first of three new looks for the 1997 USFL season.  The Texas Outlaws take yet another element from the real world CFL San Antonio Texans by adopting the snakeskin pattern in their striping.  They retain a green helmet with royal blue jersey, though i do think a blue alternate helmet will definitely be an item before too long.  

The other main addition is the new wordmark, which includes the iconic shape of the Alamo as a feature.  This thin outline is also added to the jerseys in lieu of a team name across the chest.  This helps tie the team to San Antonio while still allowing for the broader "Texas Outlaws" name to be retained. 

The uniform uses a block number which contains a couple of midpoint accents (triangular points) but only on the numbers 1, 6, 9, and 0.