USFL (Alt History)

[Skycast]

Ya know, I always thought the Gold might look good using a splash of the Denver Nugget "light blue" here and there.

[Bomba Tomba]

That, or gold as the main color of the light jersey (essentially a color flip of the dark one)

[WideRight]

I like the idea of a potential gold jersey for the Gold.  Will have to think about that. 

 

As for Tampa Bay, first things first, they added a second secondary logo, so now they have their bandit rider, their TB monogram with the Stetson, and their third logo, one familiar to XFL fans, the bandit headshot.

 

 

Beyond the new secondary, there are several updates to their uniforms. 

• They removed all striping from the helmet and pants (very trendy in mid 2000's)
• They increased the size of their helmet logo.
• They added the new secondary to the sleeves and moved the monogram logo to the hip.
• They created a new number font that has 3 colors and uses angular "cuts" within the number.   Some are calling this the "alarm clock" effect, and it is not going to go over very well (although I think this version is still superior to the actual look it is based on, the Bucs' horrible alarm clock font.)

 

Next up, the third "tweak" update for 2009, the Oakland Invaders. 

[heavybass]

The tampa bay desperados and I like 

[Bomba Tomba]

I'm not calling it a good number font, but it's still miles better than what Tampa did IRL

 

In fact, this is what they should have done IRL during the digital number era

[WideRight]

And our third new Reebok look of 2009.  the Oakland Invaders.  Not a lot of major changes here.  Notes below. 

 

 

Oakland, like many teams in the late 2000's goes for a mix of minimalism, throwback nostalgia, and more alternates (pants mostly).  Here are the items worth noting.

 

1. New tertiary logo is not on the uniform, but is used in marketing.  It borrows lightning from the DC Defenders of 2020, but also has something of a commemorative patch feel to it. 

 

2. New wordmark with drop shadow, which is also a feature of the uniform. 

 

3. Striping returns to an early version of the look with thin navy lines surrounding a thicker 3-stripe pattern of lighter colors.  

 

4. New number font with a thin outline and then a contrasting drop shadow.  This element, along with the pant & helmet stripe is very much influenced by the  Miami Dolphins' look of the late 1990's.  

 

5. The collar features a modified version of the secondary logo in which the main logo is combined with wings (stripes) going out to both sides, similar to a pilot's wings. 

 

6. The sky blue is lightened slightly from the prior version, but is never seen without some element of navy to offset it against the yellow. 

 

7. New Sky Blue pants are used maybe 1-2 times a year, usually with the white jersey (Sorry, unitard fans, I hate that look, so you will very rarely see it as an option in this alt version of the USFL.  Pants and jersey should contrast except for white on white used during very hot summer games.)

 

 

[heavybass]

Pretty nice for Oakland, the minimal look and all.

[Bomba Tomba]

Think a yellow jersey with light blue numbers would look cool

[neo_prankster]

For the Invaders, is there a Navy blue sock that can be worn with the sky blue pants? Otherwise, you'd end up with the unitard look that you dislike.

[WideRight]

22 hours ago, neo_prankster said:

For the Invaders, is there a Navy blue sock that can be worn with the sky blue pants? Otherwise, you'd end up with the unitard look that you dislike.

A good point.  Navy socks, or white socks with stripes, might be needed. 

 

Also, since I am here, I have decided on the 3 teams that will get new looks in 2010:

 

Arizona-- A tweak to the logo and a bit of ombre are coming to the desert.

Ohio-- The eagle and the uniforms get an update

Seattle-- A new dragon makes an appearance, one folks might recognize.

 

We are building up to 2015, when Under Armor will get the USFL contract and every single team will have an overhaul with 2 primary sets, 1 alt set, and 1 throwback look.  Yup, teams are going to get on board with the "too many options" trend of the 2000's.  It won't be as bad as Oregon, but new combos, new alts, even 2nd helmets are coming to the USFL in about 7 seasons.   Sorry for the wait, but for now, 3 teams a year get tweaked by Reebok. 

[neo_prankster]

On 7/25/2023 at 9:45 AM, WideRight said:

A good point.  Navy socks, or white socks with stripes, might be needed. 

 

Also, since I am here, I have decided on the 3 teams that will get new looks in 2010:

 

Arizona-- A tweak to the logo and a bit of ombre are coming to the desert.

Ohio-- The eagle and the uniforms get an update

Seattle-- A new dragon makes an appearance, one folks might recognize.

 

We are building up to 2015, when Under Armor will get the USFL contract and every single team will have an overhaul with 2 primary sets, 1 alt set, and 1 throwback look.  Yup, teams are going to get on board with the "too many options" trend of the 2000's.  It won't be as bad as Oregon, but new combos, new alts, even 2nd helmets are coming to the USFL in about 7 seasons.   Sorry for the wait, but for now, 3 teams a year get tweaked by Reebok. 

 

Was there a point when the individual teams had more control over the uniform contracts before the USFL had one supplier for the entire league?

 

Also, who currently has the USFL TV rights?

[WideRight]

3 hours ago, neo_prankster said:

 

Was there a point when the individual teams had more control over the uniform contracts before the USFL had one supplier for the entire league?

 

Also, who currently has the USFL TV rights?

Uniforms:  Not really, it has always been a league decision on uniform providers.  By 1987 they were in bed with Nike, then Reebok took over in the mid 1990's and that will shift again in the not too distant future. 

 

As for TV rights:  NBC carries the Friday Night Game,  ESPN has Saturday Night and Sunday Night games, and Fox and ABC split the remaining 11 Saturday and Sunday double headers.  Typically you will see either ABC or Fox have a national game at 12 on Saturday, with the other having 2 regional games, then both have a Saturday 4pm national game.  On Sunday either ABC or Fox has a single national game at 12, with the other having 2 regional games, and then at 4pm they swap, with the other having the lone national game while the network that had their national game at 12 now has 2 regional games.  

 

All in all you have 12 games on broadcast TV each week and 2 on cable (ESPN), with no fewer than 8 games shown nationwide each week.  That is likely to change as the league gets more invested in the EFN (ESPN Football Network, which currently does not show live games, only replays, and a lot of USFL shows, as well as college football in the fall-- Think of it like the Big10 network but with the USFL for now).  That network is likely to get some games, and we may see one of the bigger antenna networks lose a contract to a cable network soon, with streaming coming quite a bit later. 

[WideRight]

We pause our USFL broadcast for this brief word about Fantasy Football.

 

The 38th Annual CFFL Draft is only weeks away.  It's a league I have been in with 11 friends, most of us from the same university, 6 of us from the same floor on the same dorm in 1986.    So, here is the draft logo for this year, with all 12 teams represented. 

 

 

If you are interested, starting at the Upper Left, we have the:   Las Vegas Gamblers, Oakland Terrors, Salt Lake City Bards, San Diego Seals, London Werewolves, Stockholm Thunder, Toronto Tundra, San Antonio Express,  Kansas Twisters, Albuquerque Generals, Zagreb Dragons, and Aberdeen Highlanders. 

 

We now return to our regularly scheduled broadcast of 2008 USFL Action. 

[neo_prankster]

Nice Robin Hood/Green Arrow hybrid logo.

[Silver_Star]

On 7/20/2023 at 9:03 AM, WideRight said:

And our third new Reebok look of 2009.  the Oakland Invaders.  Not a lot of major changes here.  Notes below. 

 

 

Oakland, like many teams in the late 2000's goes for a mix of minimalism, throwback nostalgia, and more alternates (pants mostly).  Here are the items worth noting.

 

1. New tertiary logo is not on the uniform, but is used in marketing.  It borrows lightning from the DC Defenders of 2020, but also has something of a commemorative patch feel to it. 

 

2. New wordmark with drop shadow, which is also a feature of the uniform. 

 

3. Striping returns to an early version of the look with thin navy lines surrounding a thicker 3-stripe pattern of lighter colors.  

 

4. New number font with a thin outline and then a contrasting drop shadow.  This element, along with the pant & helmet stripe is very much influenced by the  Miami Dolphins' look of the late 1990's.  

 

5. The collar features a modified version of the secondary logo in which the main logo is combined with wings (stripes) going out to both sides, similar to a pilot's wings. 

 

6. The sky blue is lightened slightly from the prior version, but is never seen without some element of navy to offset it against the yellow. 

 

7. New Sky Blue pants are used maybe 1-2 times a year, usually with the white jersey (Sorry, unitard fans, I hate that look, so you will very rarely see it as an option in this alt version of the USFL.  Pants and jersey should contrast except for white on white used during very hot summer games.)

 

 

Looks more like Neon Lemon Yellow than of Golden Yellow.

[WideRight]

Getting geared up for the 2008-2009 offseason and that means prepping 2010 uniform and logo redesigns.  Up in 2010 we have Arizona, Ohio, and Seattle, all getting some modifications in their logos and unis.    Let's start slowly with the new secondary for the Wranglers, their brand iron logo on a state map.   More to come soon. 

 

[WideRight]

The rest of the 2010 Wranglers look, including the return of the branding iron handle and a new "sunset effect" on the sleeves.  A lot stays the same, but still a bit of a new look to the  jerseys. 

 

 

 

[Skycast]

That is so freakin' sweet, one thing though, there is a little holdover Denver stuff in the Secondary Wordmark language.

[gosioux76]

How far does the branding iron go toward the back of the helmet? The various angles you have for it in the graphic seem to give contrasting views. The back view looks as if the irons nearly wrap around the helmet, while the side views seem to suggest they stop well short of that. 

[WideRight]

Thanks for the heads up.  I fixed the text.  As to the branding iron  handle.  I picture about 3" separating the handles in the back, large enough for the stickers for the "U" and the U.S. flag.