WideRight

I will be releasing uniform sets for all 4 expansion teams starting early next week. That is the LA Express (v2), the Seattle Dragons, Atlanta Fire, and Ohio Glory. But I have a question for you today. Looking at these CFL-USA and WLAF/NFLE Identities, which, if any do you see as possible "evolutions" of teams currently in the league. I have a couple in mind, but would love to see if you think any of these identities could morph into an evolved look for a USFL club. WLAF: Riders, Surge, Skyhawks, Monarchs, Galaxy NFLE: Thunder, Fire, Admirals, Centurions, Sea Devils, Claymores CFL-USA: Posse, Gold Miners, Barracudas, Mad Dogs, Stallions (already used a bit), or the short-lived Ottawa Renegades. Let me know which, if any, and what team you think would "evolve" into the new look.

It is not entirely new. There will be a lot of the Barcelona Dragons in the uniform and the colors match. I just never liked the dragon they used in Barcelona, so this one was borrowed from another source.

I think this is going to disappoint quite a few folks on this board, but... I think you will like the uni's when I reveal them, and the other three may be a factor if/when the USFL has either more relocation or another expansion. I just loved the old Barcelona Dragons, and with the XFL 2.0 Seattle Dragons, it gives me the chance to potentially update the logo as we get late into the 2010's. That plus having green & yellow in Seattle seems a good fit (Supersonics). And, no, we will not be busting out these monstrosities.

Ok, Here are the looks for the 4 team identities. The winner is among these 4.

Not ready to reveal the team names yet, but I can confirm that Seattle will be the 24th USFL franchise, beating out Dallas for the franchise and adding a rival for the Portland Thunder. The designs for all 4 finalist names, all based on either WLAF, NFLE, or CFL-USA logos will be released soon, but I can offer you the color schemes proposed for the 4 Seattle options right now: Seattle Sea Devils: Navy, Teal, Red Seattle Pirates: Purple, Orange, Gold Seattle Dragons: Green, Yellow, Red Seattle Admirals: Navy, Teal, Salmon

And I would argue that Glory actually makes sense for Ohio. There is a lot of reverence not only for that state's role in producing U.S. Presidents, but its role in the CIvil War (think Bluejackets) and in producing other noteworthy Americans, such as U.S. Senator, Astronaut, and part owner of the USFL franchise, John Glenn.

I will say that all 3 finalists in the "Name the Team" contest have been named in this thread. Next week we will find out which was chosen by the ownership group. Lots of good options have been suggested, but only 1 can enter the league in 1995.

The last of the 4 is the most distant from reality. Atlanta Fire being the WLAF Birmingham Fire. Ohio Glory being the WLAF team, LA Express being a return to a USFL identity, but St. Louis Knights being a version of the NY/NJ Knights of the WLAF. I can promise that the next franchise (Seattle or Dallas) will be based on a concept from either the WLAF, NFL Europe, or the CFL foray into the USA. So, speculate away. I likely won't announce it until next week, because I have to focus on the 1993 playoffs and offseason.

I think some of you are going to be disappointed by how unimaginative I am being with expansion in this case. Here are some t-shirts which were shipping out to K-Marts in July of 1993 just before the official expansion announcement was made. As I said at the onset, where there is a precedent (a real team in that location) I will often try to use that as it ties things together a bit more than just creating entire identities out of thin air.

I had completely forgotten about that color scheme. Guess my subconscious might have still had it connected with TN. So, count that as another link between the design and real life teams/bids. Next up... we reveal the 2 additional USFL expansion clubs and then the LA Express and Atlanta Fire uniforms.

There will be a later adjustment in the 2000's, so you may get your wish. And, after much consideration I decided I did not really care for the Titans-Bombers mashup for the NFL 95 expansion franchise. So, something totally different. When the Oilers first moved to Memphis there was a grass roots movement to rename the team the Tennessee Copperheads. They had helmet mockups, even jerseys. They went to Oilers games in Memphis to get signatures, and had a real movement going . But either Bud Adams or NFL Properties insisted that a snake-themed franchise would not have broad appeal. Let's say that is not the case, and with a groundswell of popular support, the NFL and its new Tennessee owner do opt for the Copperheads. So, what I have created here is a mashup of a few different designs. Jacksonville Jaguars (Black helmet with the animal head formed from color blocks on the black background) Baltimore Bombers jersey style, which is similar to the first Titans uniform with the tapered shoulder yokes. Original Copperheads colors, which were mostly green and copper orange, with a bit of red. Texas Copperheads logo from Arena Football 2 Included the shape of Tennessee as part of the wordmark. And, so there you have it, a totally new 1995 Expansion team that borrows from the Titans, Bombers, Jaguars, and arena football. I think this is much better and feels like it could be very 1990's, at least in colors. And, yes, I am aware that having a team called Copperheads and not having a copper helmet seems weird, but the kind of weird the NFL would absolutely do. Maybe in the mid 2000's they will do the 2-color helmet thing like the Jags did and fans will hate it just as much.

And since you asked, the 1995 NFL expansion teams will be the Carolina Panthers (who look just like in reality) and the Tennessee Titans. The Titans, free from the heritage of the Oilers, go with Navy, red, and silver as their colors. If you look closely at the jerseys, you may recognize them from one of the failed 1995 NFL expansion bids. The helmet turns the logo to imitate the NFLE Scottish Claymores. And, yes, I realize that eliminates the T, but it kind of looks OK to me. And, added bonus, because of the look of these Titans, the Patriots never abandon Patriot Pat and their red-dominant look.

And, because I am only days away from revealing it on the Alt History website, here are the new Nike designed uniforms for the 1994 Philadelphia Stars. Not a huge sweeping change, but some elements that are new.

I have not announced it, but the second NFL expansion team in 1995 is the Tennessee Titans, in place of Jacksonville. Announcements on the 23rd and 24th USFL expansion cities are coming soon.

I looked into this before I switched the league over to Nike, both the small wordmark on the chest and the use of small logos on the collar had begun to be seen in the 1990's, so it is era-appropriate. The NFL logo on the collars began in 1990 and the first wordmark I could find on an NFL jersey was in 1997 with the Broncos redesign, so I am about 4 years early with that, but since the USFL was an innovator, and Nike was responsible for the new Broncos look, I think it makes sense that we would start seeing names on USFL remakes as early as 1994.

I see where you are coming from, but if the mid-90's are irritating because of those changes, the 2000's and beyond may not be much relief for you. With Phil Knight being a team owner, I am not sure how and when Nike would ever not be the league's uni producer.

Wow! I have to say I am surprised. I fully expected folks to balk at changing the Breakers' colors. I was all set to use this as my version of the 49ers 1-day helmet and write about it as a major fumble for a New Orleans front office that is already losing favor among fans. Guess I will have to rethink that since folks seem to think it is a good look. I might opt not to do contrasting sleeves, but here is the early mockup I did of the full look.

Well, folks, here we go. In the Alt History league a Nike proposal to recolor the New Orleans Breakers is going to leak to the press. Here is the update proposed for 1994, what do you believe the reaction should be among Breaker fans: Enthusiastic Support. Take my money!!! Meh, It's OK, I might buy a jersey. We'd rather not. The old colors were better. What are you thinking? That's not a good look at all. Immediate outrage leading to cancellation of the plan.

Not really putting much thought into CFL expansion except that USFL means no CFL-USA attempt. Next up is going to be Nike switching a team to teal, because 1990’s. But who? And how will it be received?

You were correct, Neoprankster. I could not pass up the legacy of the WLAF Fire and with the Olympics in Atlanta in 1994, the torch symbol seemed too good to pass up. Yes, I get it. Sherman and all, but Atlanta also uses a Phoenix on its city crest, so they clearly can build on the rising out of flames imagery. Uniforms will be released when the Alt History reaches the 1994 season (about 10-14 days). And here is the tweak to the Tampa look, with a more "modern" pant stripe pattern to match (and link up with) the jersey.

Any last guesses on Atlanta? I will reveal later today. As for Tampa. I think the rider logo is iconic at this point, and somewhat timeless, so I don't see myself taking it off the helmet, maybe updating it in the 2000's, but not removing it. I agree about the pant stripes. Look for an update this weekend before it goes live on the USFL Alt History website.

Hi all, I am in the home stretch of the 1993 USFL season in my Alt History Simulation and we are going to have 2 new uniforms for 1994 and the announcement of 4 expansion teams. In the next few days I will reveal on that site the 1994 new look Tampa Bay Bandits and the logo/name for the newly announced 1995 expansion team in Atlanta. I always like to give this group a preview of what I am doing there, because this is where the real hardcore uniform and logo fans are. So, for today, here is the new look of the Bandits. Below will be a question for you about the Atlanta team. With the Bandits look I really wanted to lean in a bit more on Burt Reynolds as the owner, the image of Smokey & the Bandit, but also I wanted to have Nike (the uniform provider) start to experiment with uniform elements much as they did with the Broncos, and with schools like the U. of Miami back in the 90's. So, this uniform takes inspiration from Western style button down shirts with their embroidery patterns, as well as incorporating the new TB monogram logo with the very Burt Reynold's cowboy hat. The other noteworthy change is that I am using much thinner stripes on the helmet and pants, again to emulate the kind of embroidery we might see on a western shirt. Let me know what you think. Remember that if you click on the design you can get a zoomable image to see more detail. So, next up is the reveal of the logo for our 1995 Atlanta franchise. I will do that in a couple of days, but wanted you to take a guess as to which identity I went with. Remember that I am basing any new identities and some updated logos on real teams that existed in the WLAF, NFL Europe, CFL-USA, Arenaball, and as we get into the 2000's you may see some XFL, AAF, UFL, FXFL, or XFL2.0 concepts turning into USFL revisions/expansion. So, here are 5 possible Atlanta teams, which do you think will be the identity for a 1995 expansion team? A. Atlanta Centurions (NFLECologne) B. Atlanta Posse (CFL-USA Las Vegas) C. Atlanta Predators (Arena Orlando) D. Atlanta Fire (WLAF Birmingham/Rhein) E. Atlanta Red Dogs (Arena New Jersey)

1994 will see Philadelphia and Tampa Bay get their first uniform and design changes since 1983. Bits and pieces for a while. I love the Bandits main logo, but felt they needed a secondary, as so many teams got in the 90's. After toying around with the ubiquitous bandit head design, I decided to go another direction. I was looking at the logo packages of the Quad City River Bandits, one of the best looks in minor league baseball, and thought, hmmm...that hat on script logo could work. So, here is a monogram logo for Tampa Bay that will appear on the home jersey sleeves and in marketing materials for the team. The full uniform redesign will be coming soon.

In most leagues, yes, but, at least in 1990's USFL it is not the case. LA is the only team with navy as their primary color. The other blue teams use lighter tones: Baltimore = Royal/Flag Blue Orlando = Royal New Orleans = A bright royal or "ocean" blue Oakland = Sky Blue For now, LA is likely to remain navy just to differentiate themselves more from the Breakers and Renegades. That may change if other teams shift to a darker blue as part of the 90's/2000's emphasis on dark colors.

The 1993 USFL Season has begun, and while the expansion LA Express are still 2 years away from taking the field, their ownership has revealed the updated team logo. The team will retain the navy & silver focus of the team that played in LA from 1983-1991, but they have swapped out the burgundy red of the original Express and replaced it with an icy metallic blue they are calling "steel". The motif of the motion "LA" remains, with highlights in the new steel color. The wordmark is angled to fit with the motion of them main logo. Uniforms will not be revealed until the 1994 season, but the "New" LA Express now have a logo. And for those not following the league, the original Express have relocated to St. Louis (Knights) and an expansion team was part of the deal so that the TV networks would not balk. The California-based owner of the Texas (formerly OK) Outlaws has sold his team to more local interests in San Antonio and has been granted the LA expansion franchise. LA will be one of possibly 2 or possibly 4 teams to join the USFL in 1995.