USFL (Alt History)

[WideRight]

The 1992 season of my alt-history USFL simulation is in the playoffs, and with the offseason approaching, the first of the new Nike-designed uniforms is about to be released.   1993 is the first year the league has a league-wide contract with Nike.  Only 1 team is being updated this year, the Michigan Panthers.  In future years it will be 3-4 per year very likely.  Some will be minor modernizations, some will be significant transformations.  Here is the old Michigan uniform, and just for the Chris Creamer crowd, the first look at the 1993 Michigan Panthers (with commentary to follow)

 

Pretty accurate to the actual 1983 look.  But now here is the 1993 look.  You can guess where the inspiration comes from.   (If you click on the image and then again, you should get a full size version via Imgur.)

 

 

Some quick notes.  As cited in the image, the new version of the panther is directly from the U. of Houston, which, I feel, has the best panther/cougar logo ever and allowed me to incorporate more white and champagne into the look.  The rest of the uniform is basically a version of the NFL Carolina Panthers.  Looks like Nike must have jumped on this just before the NFL expansion franchise was official.   Of course, with the USFL already having the Panthers, maybe the NFL team in Carolina (if one even exists) will be something else.  

[neo_prankster]

Nice changes for the Panthers.

[BengalErnst]

I love everything about this change. Making the switch to the Houston Cougar logo with a color change was excellent and beautiful. Those jerseys are perfect for this team. And I love the way you went about releasing this to the public. Always raising the standards around here 

[qckgnc]

On 8/2/2021 at 1:33 PM, WideRight said:

The 1992 season of my alt-history USFL simulation is in the playoffs, and with the offseason approaching, the first of the new Nike-designed uniforms is about to be released.   1993 is the first year the league has a league-wide contract with Nike.  Only 1 team is being updated this year, the Michigan Panthers.  In future years it will be 3-4 per year very likely.  Some will be minor modernizations, some will be significant transformations.  Here is the old Michigan uniform, and just for the Chris Creamer crowd, the first look at the 1993 Michigan Panthers (with commentary to follow)

 

Pretty accurate to the actual 1983 look.  But now here is the 1993 look.  You can guess where the inspiration comes from.   (If you click on the image and then again, you should get a full size version via Imgur.)

 

 

Some quick notes.  As cited in the image, the new version of the panther is directly from the U. of Houston, which, I feel, has the best panther/cougar logo ever and allowed me to incorporate more white and champagne into the look.  The rest of the uniform is basically a version of the NFL Carolina Panthers.  Looks like Nike must have jumped on this just before the NFL expansion franchise was official.   Of course, with the USFL already having the Panthers, maybe the NFL team in Carolina (if one even exists) will be something else.  

 

A perfect style for the 90s, hopefully the team can modernize the look after the mid-late 2000s like my Carolina Panthers should have.

[Skycast]

Overall I dig the new Panthers logo, especially the oval, but I think the purple needs to be more prominent inside the logo on the helmet. 

[qckgnc]

13 hours ago, Skycast said:

Overall I dig the new Panthers logo, especially the oval, but I think the purple needs to be more prominent inside the logo on the helmet. 

 

I agree with this, color the upper half of the Panther in the wine color (do the same for the helmet logo) and use the champagne for the inner circle as well. Everything else could stay the same. 

[WideRight]

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. 

 

[Bomba Tomba]

I suggest steel blue become the main jersey color, because navy is overused.

[WideRight]

2 hours ago, Bomba Tomba said:

I suggest steel blue become the main jersey color, because navy is overused.

 

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. 

[BengalErnst]

I hope San Antonio gets to keep their team while also getting to celebrate having their city name replace “Texas”

[GoCubsGo]

Yeah, this is Definitely Nike’s crap. Love it!

[WideRight]

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. 

 

[neo_prankster]

On 8/14/2021 at 6:23 AM, WideRight said:

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. 

 

 

Looks like the Bandits are overhauling their look aren't they?

[WideRight]

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)

[Karnage84]

1 hour ago, WideRight said:

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)

It might just be me but I feel like there are two issues with this set (as nice as it is).

- Pant stripes: These feel way too traditional for a jersey set that is experimenting with funky stripes.  The pants typically will have matching funky stripes

 

- Helmet Logo: I feel like you should use the horse and rider logo on the sleeves of both jerseys, replacing it with the TB logo on the helmet. You'd get that balance by not over-using the TB logo while the horse logo just seems too detailed to be seen from afar. 

[BengalErnst]

I tend to agree with Karnage, the TB may actually look better on the helmet. Something just seems off with the horse main logo on the helmet especially with that new style jersey.

 

as far as Atlanta is concerned, as much as I love the Orlando Predators, and how good of a name as the Atlanta Posse is.. I’ll be voting for Atlanta Centurions 

[neo_prankster]

13 hours ago, WideRight said:

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)

 

I'm thinking Atlanta Fire because I don't want to see the Birmingham or Rhein flame logos go to waste.

[ManillaToad]

I disagree with the others about the helmet logo, the TB seems more like a sort of goofy secondary logo. Maybe if it was just the letters without the hat it could work on the helmet, but for me the horse rider fits much better, has been there for a decade, and looks even better now that it's been enlarged

[Skycast]

14 hours ago, ManillaToad said:

I disagree with the others about the helmet logo, the TB seems more like a sort of goofy secondary logo. Maybe if it was just the letters without the hat it could work on the helmet, but for me the horse rider fits much better, has been there for a decade, and looks even better now that it's been enlarged

 

For what it's worth, I concur with this.

[WideRight]

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.