verbi Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 houston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verbi Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 16 hours ago, WideRight said: That was a very close vote, and with one last nod to the aviators, the count is: Kings 3 Archers 4 Aviators 5 Rampage 7 St. Louis, you have your franchise, the St. Louis Rampage!!! Yes, it's a left-handed nod to the St. Louis Rams. No, rhinos are not indigenous to Missouri. And it means that of two AAFL teams to date, we have yet to see a plural nickname (a nickname that ends in -s). We have the San Diego Surf and the St. Louis Rampage. But what will the Rampage look like? Well, we know they will sport orange helmets with the charging rhino logo on either side and a single navy and grey "horn" from the facemask to the crown. But what about the rest of the look? Well, here it is. Orange jerseys with grey sleeves, white jerseys with orange sleeves, grey and white pant sets and navy socks. We have big blocky numbers with 2 outlines, a secondary logo with an "STL" monogram within the full body of a rhino and then a tertiary mark with the R for Rampage with rhino horns. A unique color combination and an orange-dominant team. So we have 2 clubs with navy as a color but no navy jerseys yet, which I think will be helpful as we move along. So, St. Louis, let's get ready for the Rampage!!! And so, with two teams locked in to the AAFL inaugural season, there are still 6 more left to determine. Time to make our case to our TV partners. We have done well with the two largest non-NFL markets in place, but now we need major markets to make this league viable for the major TV partners (ESPN/ABC and Amazon Prime). Of course we also want to see full stadia on Sundays (and Saturdays), so that means we are limiting our pool of cities to those with reasonably sized (25-50k) venues that are not in use for baseball. The AAFL has been working with MLS to allow dual usage on stadia built as soccer specific, which does open up more options for the league. In some cases this means having an alternate field that gets trucked in for the AAFL game, in others it just means using a less durable paint for painting football field lines, so that the stadium can be reverted back to a soccer field without ugly faded football lines everywhere. We start in the West, where we have 6 top contenders for an AAFL franchise in an NFL city. All six are major markets, all have stadiums that are available and right-sized for this league. So, the question comes down to which city makes the most sense for the AAFL and will provide both TV ratings and a fervent local base of fan support. As with our non-NFL city votes, please pick only 1 city, make your case, and we will wait 2-3 days to see which city will become the 2nd of our 4 Western Division squads to start the inaugural season. LOS ANGELES Metro: 2ND – 12.8 million Stadium: Dignity Health Park (27,000) Positives: Huge metro area, great weather, perfectly-sized MLS stadium Negatives: Notoriously fickle fanbase, proximity to San Diego AAFL franchise My Take: If San Diego was not the first AAFL city chosen, I would say LA would be a must, but their reputation as a “late arriving” fanbase, and poor attendance in several other leagues makes me think that San Diego is enough in Southern Cali for this league. CHICAGO Metro: 3rd – 9.27 million Stadium: SeatGeek Stadium (20,000) Positives: Large metro area, pretty good sports town Negatives: Could have bad weather for first 1-2 months of the season, stadium is not in a great location and is borderline small. Attendance at other (USFL, XFL) leagues has been pretty bad. My Take: I love Chicago, but I am not sure Chicago loves AAA football. Neither the USFL nor the XFL drew well here. Seatgeek stadium is also an awkward fit, and I don’t see fans making a trek up to Evanston to watch a club at Ryan Field (NWestern). DALLAS Metro: 4th – 7.94 million Stadium: Choctaw Stadium (48.114) Positives: Two viable stadiums (Toyota Stadium is just over 20,000) so they could right-size the stadium to the fan response. Decent weather, strong football fanbase Negatives: As with most larger cities, crowded media base with NBA, MLB, etc. My Take: I think Dallas is a good fit simply because it is a football-first state and city, and they have 2 very viable stadia to choose from. The only possible issue is if picking Dallas means no other Texas cities get in. Texas is big enough, even if we don’t see 2 Texas franchises in the original 8, by 12 or 16 they will get a second one to be sure. HOUSTON Metro: 5th – 7.37 million Stadium: TDECU (40,000) Positives: Perfectly sized stadium for a big fan base. Could drop to Shell Energy Stadium (22,039) if the fans don’t fill TDECU. Weather is pretty good, maybe a bit humid in midsummer. Football region. Negatives: Another crowded media market, potential for bad weather (rain) My Take: Almost anything I would say about Dallas I could say for Houston. I guess the decision between the two is whether you are OK with humidity. DETROIT Metro: 14th – 4.35 million Stadium: Rynearson Stadium (30,200) Positives: Good football region, good support for USFL in the past, Stadium is a good size Negatives: Stadium is not actually in Detroit, March & April weather can be dicey My Take: A bit of a stretch here. Ypsilanti is not exactly downtown Detroit, but neither was Pontiac, so maybe you take a regional approach and use “Michigan” as the name. Early spring weather is an issue since it is not a domed stadium. LAS VEGAS Metro: 29th – 2.32 million Stadium: Sam Boyd Stadium (40,000) Positives: Great weather in early spring, entertainment hub & destination city, Good XFL support in 2001. Negatives: Very hot in summer, potential stretch of a smaller market with NFL already in town, poor XFL 2023 attendance, smallest of the NFL markets under consideration. My Take: A longshot, not only due to the weather, but the issues with UNLV not wanting to share Sam Boyd. I would also worry that with the arrival of the Knights, Raiders and A’s, the sports market is pretty saturated and a AAA football club might struggle to draw media and fan attention. There you go. Six cities, we are choosing one. Once we do that, it is on to the team identity and then we look to the East, where several huge cities are out of the running due to a lack of right-sized stadia. So, who will be left? For now, let’s get a 2nd team in the West and then we can move on. Voting will close either Wed. night or Thursday morning, with the results and the 4 possible identities revealed on Thursday. You mention no plural team names and mention the surf but I thought destroyers were SD's team, I like both designs but just curious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dozap17 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 2 hours ago, verbi said: You mention no plural team names and mention the surf but I thought destroyers were SD's team, I like both designs but just curious Agreed, I though San Diego Destroyers had won the vote 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dozap17 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 For the 3rd AFFL city, my vote is for Houston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny0930 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Houston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideRight Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 4 hours ago, verbi said: You mention no plural team names and mention the surf but I thought destroyers were SD's team, I like both designs but just curious You are absolutely right. I had a brain fart. It is San Diego Destroyers, not the Surf. Guess I need to up my Neuriva dosage. I removed the sentence about no plural names. It is Destroyers and Rampage (man, so violent. Maybe we need the Houston Doves or the Chicago Glee.) 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kooky01 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 I vote for Houston. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalErnst Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 Houston and Chicago would be perfect. Quote THE Xtreme Fantasy Football League Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideRight Posted January 17 Author Share Posted January 17 Looks like a battle forTexas, with Dallas taking the early lead but Houston coming on strong. The voting will stay open through tomorrow (THU) at noon. Get those votes in, especially if you are pushing for Big D or H-town. Sorry Chicago, looks like you are out of the running, and LA, well, we all kind of knew your odds were not good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OchentaYOcho88 Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 Chicago I live near SeatGeek and have always thought it would be a perfect fit for spring football. There is a sports dome, turf fields that could be used by the team and a hotel 700 feet from the stadium. Hotel has 109 rooms and meeting space. SeatGeek is probably going to be vacant in a year or two when the NWSL's Chicago Red Stars relocate into the city. SeatGeek also hosts high school football and was scheduled to host BYU vs Northern Illinois in 2020 (game was cancelled due to COVID) so they're 100% prepared for football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideRight Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 1 hour ago, OchentaYOcho88 said: Chicago I live near SeatGeek and have always thought it would be a perfect fit for spring football. There is a sports dome, turf fields that could be used by the team and a hotel 700 feet from the stadium. Hotel has 109 rooms and meeting space. SeatGeek is probably going to be vacant in a year or two when the NWSL's Chicago Red Stars relocate into the city. SeatGeek also hosts high school football and was scheduled to host BYU vs Northern Illinois in 2020 (game was cancelled due to COVID) so they're 100% prepared for football. I went to a Fire game at Seatgeek and I like the stadium as well, but I have seen so much negativity towards it (location mostly) that I thought I had to mention that, and, of course, the weather in March/April can be a bit dicey. That said, if there are folks out there that want to lead Chicago to a rousing comeback over the two Texas cities, I am all for that. Also, if anyone wants to make a case to me why Dallas is a better option than Houston, or Houston better than Dallas, I am open to hearing arguments as well as counting votes. I will make the final decision this afternoon, after work, and I can tell you I have designs made for both Texas cities that I really like, so whichever one wins will have some good identity options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 Dallas has much better weather during the season - Houston is too humid, especially since the team will be playing outdoors. Houston has had a spotty history with alternate leagues, but Dallas's only foray has seemed to do well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideRight Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 Thanks to all who voted in this pretty tight race. We had 17 votes and it was 8-6-3 among the only contenders to get a vote. So, with the most votes, and, honestly, some of my favorite identity ideas... Our winner for the 2nd team in the Western Division, and the first NFL city to join the AAFL is Houston, TX. So, here we go. Four identities for Houston, based on fauna, NASA history, the oil industry, and the Old West. What else would you expect? Voting starts now and will end on Saturday afternoon, so get those votes in for your favorite Houston identity, logo, and colors. Here are your contenders in alphabetical order. HOUSTON APOLLOS You cannot have a Houston team without at least considering a space-themed design. Apollos was one of the options when the Texans were created in the NFL, and the name comes back here. Unlike the AAF, we avoiding the mythical meaning and going full space program with the design. The main logo features an orbiting orange orb circling the surface of a planet or moon (sorry flatearthers, it is curved) contained within a bold ‘H” for the city. The wordmark also uses the surface curvature of the horizon and the orbiting form as well. The helmets feature a color shift from the light blue sky of the atmosphere to the deep navy of outer space. Could we see a “love ya blue” jersey with this team? HOUSTON COPPERHEADS A name I love, and it is regionally appropriate to the Houston area. Love the metallic copper helmet, and the use of a deep red and a forest green as complementary colors. I incorporate the state of Texas into the design, because state law say you have to at least once, with the viper’s head emerging ready to strike. A very unique color combination, but one which captures the greenery of East Texas and the coloring of a copperhead snake. HOUSTON WILDCATTERS You knew there had to be an oil industry reference. It is Texas after all. Rather than go with the classic oil derrick logo that would get the league sued, the dual reference to wildcats and freelance rig workers called “wildcatters” the choice to depict a hard-working wildcat seemed pretty self-evident. Throw in some background derricks and you have a logo that is both fierce and focused on one of the state’s biggest industries. The color combination of black, athletic gold, and a blueish grey will certainly stand out. HOUSTON WRANGLERS Not exactly Cowboys or Texans, but still in the vein of so many Texas clubs, the Wranglers bring back a nickname from the USFL but with a very Texas-focused design. Red will be the dominant color, with flag blue and white as secondaries. The logo features a whip-slinging horseman corralling unseen cattle as he rides past a waving Texas flag banner. A classic Red, White, & Blue design with plenty of local appeal. Once again 2 days to vote on an identity for our Texas entry in the league (Will it be the only one or can another Lone Star State club make the cut? Once we have our identity, we move on to the major NFL markets in the East, ranging from the Big Apple to the Big Easy. Some tough choices ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fowler2 Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 Copperheads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian in Boston Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 Copperheads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersReorg Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 Copperheads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalErnst Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 This is the toughest one yet for me. I’ll go Wildcatters but it’s close with the Copperheads Quote THE Xtreme Fantasy Football League Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 Copperheads. But all of them look great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heavybass Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 I would say Apollos because we already have an orange helmet team... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCarp1231 Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 Copperheads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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