GSL Rumor Mill

As some teams' seasons have come to an end, we've seen quite a few circulating rumors about what changes we may see in the upcoming 2022 season.
So why not get all these in the same place?
If you've got some rumors, or I missed any in this post, share them here.

What we've heard:

Uniforms in 2022
Louisville and Toronto have had reports of some changes, with Toronto's expected to be much bigger changes.

Logos in 2022
Toronto is one team that is expected to have new, or at least updated logos for 2022

Relocations
Dallas has made it pretty clear that they plan to move, although, no official relocation application has been submitted to the league office at this time.
Norfolk has been rumored to be looking at a move, which Charlotte as the only city so far that has potential, although, this has come from the city of Charlotte themselves looking to welcome a GSL franchise. With Charlotte in the territorial rights of the Commanders, 2022 will not see an expansion team move to Charlotte, as long as the Commanders are in Norfolk.

Ownership
Several prospective owners have already given their interest in joining the league for 2022.
As for current owners who may not return for 2022, there are two owners who will not be returning (the league will not be mentioning these teams until the off season official begins in August). There is also at least two other teams who's ownership is in question for 2022.

2022 Franchise Fee
What we know for new owners: new owners, (or current owners who take over a second franchise) will have the same franchise fee as 2021 owners ($20), to be fair to the original owners of the 2021 season
Possible information for returning owners: given the success of recent ad campaigns on the GUD, unless something goes wrong, it is expected ad revenue will cover a good bit of hosting and domain expenses coming in 2022. This means, the franchise fee for returning owners will not be $20, and in fact, it won't be more than $10, and I'm thinking it could be less than that even. I'm still waiting on some payments, and filling some remaining empty ad slots that opened up recently. Once I make a decision, I'll send out that announcement.
We also know that playoff results effect the franchise fee as well.
I posted this way back in December, and this is still somewhat true:
Next in the agenda, is regarding awards for teams making the playoffs, and winning playoff games. As stated on the league about page, the franchise fee is a yearly donation required to stay in the league. I'm hoping that our new ads go well, and I can reduce, or eliminate the franchise fee altogether for future seasons, so post season awards will be based on a percentage of whatever the franchise fee may be for 2022.
- 2021 GSL Champion (no franchise fee for 2022 season)
- 2021 GSL Runner up (75% off franchise fee for 2022 season)
- 2021 GSL semi finalists (50% off franchise fee for 2022 season)
- 2021 GSL playoffs participant (25% off franchise fee for 2022 season)
I didn't know what the playoffs format would like like at the time I posted this, so, translating to the current season, here is the official fee discounts:
- 2021 Gridiron Bowl Champion (no franchise fee for 2022 season)
- 2021 Gridiron Bowl Loser (75% off franchise fee for 2022 season)
- 2021 Redemption Game Winner (75% off franchise fee for 2022 season)
- 2021 Redemption Game Loser (50% off franchise fee for 2022 season)
- 2021 Playoff Participant (25% off franchise fee for 2022 season)
This makes the Redemption Game have some meaning for the owner, and gives meaning to teams to at least get into the Conference Championships, while also rewarding all playoff teams.

I am hearing some rumors of mild tweeks to the uniforms and helmet of the Miami SOL. More information as it becomes available. (Or I can get into my paint program to see how it would work out. Lol)

Someone on the CCSLC boards said that someone on Reddit said that his friend who is the brother of an intern in Norfolk who saw through an office window what he thinks is a mock-up of red uniforms.

rbronish wrote:Someone on the CCSLC boards said that someone on Reddit said that his friend who is the brother of an intern in Norfolk who saw through an office window what he thinks is a mock-up of red uniforms.

I do believe some validity to this, as I may have seen a couple weeks ago some questions about good team names for Charlotte. Red as a color certainly works with the most popular name suggestion ...

Someone's getting fired for this...

rbronish wrote:Someone's getting fired for this...

Must be that same intern

Austin Snelick wrote:

rbronish wrote:Someone's getting fired for this...

Must be that same intern

Oh well some one is on the "chopping block"

John

rbronish wrote:Someone's getting fired for this...

OOOOOOOOH I get it!

Going back through the power rankings thread, I think  i found a leak?

Havent seen this Bluebirds logo befor...


Or maybe just and unused logo?

No news from the Stags office, things are quiet after the season ending.

RUMOR: St. Louis and Washington have emerged as frontrunners to land Lightning QB Jameill Davis IV.

Patrick Davis wrote:Going back through the power rankings thread, I think  i found a leak?

Havent seen this Bluebirds logo befor...

Or maybe just and unused logo?

No news from the Stags office, things are quiet after the season ending.

Ha, I was wondering if anyone would notice this. I actually forgot about it, it was so long back. This isn't anything official. Back when originally going over designs on this team we tried a cartoony bird an a more lifelike bird. The lifelike one didn't go to well, and my wife picked the cartoony bird for the logo. I went back a couple months ago to try some things, and put this logo in the bracket image to see how it scaled to the actual logo, and forgot to take it out. Then I just kept it to see if anyone would notice. Thought no one would after a while, or at least, no one said anything about it.

NeauXone wrote:RUMOR: St. Louis and Washington have emerged as frontrunners to land Lightning QB Jameill Davis IV.

It'll be interesting to see how this may playout with St. Louis, given their front office and ownership situation

This was found on a local Miami Blog The SFCOM can not confirm or deny. But could be interesting.




John
President and CEO of The SFCOM

With the topping off of Aztec Stadium in San Diego being recent news, rumor has it 2022 may be the final season for the Breakers playing at Petco Park. This may dependent on ownership moving forward, but with current ownership planning to return for 2022, and possibly beyond, and with ownership being an in name only situation, as the league runs the team, a lease agreement, to start in the 2023 season, after the stadium is complete (expected September 2022), would mean the Breakers would move from a primarily baseball facility in Petco Park, to a primarily football facility at Aztec Stadium.

The plans, under current ownership, with the league in control of the team, would aim to make the new 35,000 seat Aztec Stadium the long term home for the Breakers, assuming ownership doesn't change hands prior to the 2023 season.

Evolving our brand.
Get a sneak peek at our 2022 updates this Wednesday:

As of today, we also found out that the Keystones will have some uniform coming up in the 2022 season.

NeauXone wrote:Evolving our brand.
Get a look at our 2022 updates this Wednesday:

I don't mean to delay plans, but since I already did this with Dallas a little bit ago, unveiling new team logos, uniforms, etc. should be an off season task.
You can how ever tease some changes, and have some "leaks" of course, but August 8th is the start of the off season, at which point, by all means, go crazy showing off new stuff.
Also, another reminder is that changes must go through the league office for approval first (officially the first day for that is August first, but "pre-approval" doesn't hurt either).

It's mostly a formality, kind of like the NFL and their official date of July 1st as the first day teams can unveil alternate uniforms (even if we've seen the leaks well in advance).

Austin Snelick wrote:

I don't mean to delay plans, but since I already did this with Dallas a little bit ago, unveiling new team logos, uniforms, etc. should be an off season task.
You can how ever tease some changes, and have some "leaks" of course, but August 8th is the start of the off season, at which point, by all means, go crazy showing off new stuff.
Also, another reminder is that changes must go through the league office for approval first (officially the first day for that is August first, but "pre-approval" doesn't hurt either).

It's mostly a formality, kind of like the NFL and their official date of July 1st as the first day teams can unveil alternate uniforms (even if we've seen the leaks well in advance).

I can make that work.

RUMOR: 2021 Playoff Bowl to be Memphis’s final GSL game as the “Comets,” per source.

Untitled0717 wrote:RUMOR: 2021 Playoff Bowl to be Memphis’s final game as the “Comets,” per source.

Sounds like the team is staying in Memphis though?


Also, a reminder about relocation/name change rules. Once you change the name, or relocate, you've got to stick with that city and name for at least 3 seasons. (So, for Memphis, they'd have the new name from 2022 through the 2024 season).

Memphis, as of now, has full intentions of staying in place for 2022 and beyond.

Despite reports from anonymous sources calling Jameill Davis IV to Washington "a done deal", Adam Schefter reports that talks haven't advanced with Washington nor St. Louis, although interestingly enough the Knights have shown interest as of late. Louisville is asking for at least a first round pick plus a defensive impact player in any potential trade.

Despite having one of the worst offenses in the league this past season, Icons management has reasserted that they’ll fully commit to starting rookie QB Chase Saxton, who had a positive impact in the games he played despite the lackluster supporting class and line around him. The team also intends to be “very aggressive” in building a suitable offense around their QB and top 3 defense.

While nothing has been confirmed by the team, several coaches, front office personnel and high ranking members of the Colorado Cabras were seen entering the Nike headquarters near Beaverton, Oregon over the weekend. It was also noted that Head Coach J.J. Harold was seen after the visit wearing a light gray Cabras hoodie, an item not currently on the team’s site and, more controversially, a color not seen in on the field uniforms or sideline apparel this past season which has led some fans to believe this may indicate a color shift coming in 2022.

The team has already stated previously that New Era will remain the official headgear provider of the Carbras but has not commented on any potential uniform provider for some time. In 2021, Colorado's uniform provider was Champion, but their contract was not renewed following the conclusion of the Cabras season.

Sneak peek #1...

While we wait for Davis news + the uniform reveal, we would like to announce that we will be raising our first division championship banner during our first preseason game of the 2022 season.

NeauXone wrote:While we wait for Davis news + the uniform reveal, we would like to announce that we will be raising our first division championship banner during our first preseason game of the 2022 season.

I like this. Maybe there needs to be a place on the team pages for things like Division, Conference and Gridiron Bowl Championships.
I would say, under the season images, before the team bio section.
https://www.gridiron-uniforms.com/GSL/controller/controller.php?action=team-history&team_id=LSV

And the title section would just be an image. That would be a simple addition, that would preserve team history, even through name changes and relocations.

This reminds me of in the Creamer forums where posters have Championship banners and similar stuff in their signature.

Rob Holecko wrote:This reminds me of in the Creamer forums where posters have Championship banners and similar stuff in their signature.

Yep. But related too the GSL and UWFFL. :-)

John

Well the Creamer forums is where most of us met. So that is a fond memory. It's how the Gridiron Fields Database was formed.

John

sfcom1 wrote:Well the Creamer forums is where most of us met. So that is a fond memory. It's how the Gridiron Fields Database was formed.

John

Yeah, that's true. I think Rob was the one who reached out to me, and if that didn't happen, there'd be no GSL, and Rob would have had a mental breakdown updating every page of the GUD by hand for the past few years haha.

Austin Snelick wrote:

sfcom1 wrote:Well the Creamer forums is where most of us met. So that is a fond memory. It's how the Gridiron Fields Database was formed.

John

Yeah, that's true. I think Rob was the one who reached out to me, and if that didn't happen, there'd be no GSL, and Rob would have had a mental breakdown updating every page of the GUD by hand for the past few years haha.

How true ....! The rest of you have no idea how true it is!

sfcom1 wrote:This was found on a local Miami Blog The SFCOM can not confirm or deny. But could be interesting.




John
President and CEO of The SFCOM

Seems like your current profile pic is a leak to me ...

Yep. I selected a new profile and pulled the wrong pic. Oh well the new helmet is out now. Lol

Due to a picture posting too soon the SFCOM. Confirms an update to the Helmet of the Miami SOL. Mostly consisting of a darker grade of orange and blue. Along with a "sharper" logo and blue and white striping. To complete the look. The "Eclipse" helmet follows in the same graphic pattern with the black helmet updated with the new graphic package except in gray and silver.

A new uniform provider.

It is being reported that the GSL received its first official relocation application yesterday afternoon, and that the application for the new city and team name have been approved. Logos, uniforms and field designs for the new team will not be subject for approval until the offseason officially begins August 8th.

The GSL is not releasing which team has been approved for relocation at this time, but an official statement is expected to come out next week.

Official GSL news story regarding the move: https://www.gridiron-uniforms.com/GSL/controller/controller.php?action=news-story&story=2021-08-02-1

I just saw this actually, so I may update the news story with some words from the official team statement.

The GSL has the full logo and uniform sets for the Carolina Reapers and the Memphis Demons.
Given all the other new logos and uniforms coming out today, I'm a little behind, but, if the owners of these teams would like to release these when they're ready, (maybe later this week please, so I can get caught up haha) that's up to you.
Or, you can let me release your new team designs when I get to them.

Memphis has decided to allow the league to reveal the full set when ready, but will give their fans a sneek peek.

Okay, The Louisville story should go up at some point today. Maybe Carolina tomorrow, then Memphis Wednesday.

If anyone wants to review jerseys and write the stories for Memphis and/or Carolina, let me know. That'll get the stories up quicker and allow me to focus on other things for the league. I'll send the necessary files for review.

Is it me or does the Demons tease look familiar?

rbronish wrote:Is it me or does the Demons tease look familiar?

I thought the same thing at first, but oddly enough, once you see the full logo, it's surprising how different it is from what the preview looks like.

Question in regards to the schedule: I know the teams aren't finalized but do you know which divisions are playing against which?

NeauXone wrote:Question in regards to the schedule: I know the teams aren't finalized but do you know which divisions are playing against which?

Not entirely. Right now, what I have set up in my schedule making code, is that, like last year, each division in each conference plays two divisions from their own conference, and one division from the other conference.
Year 1 of the rotation, IF, the division names end up being what I had released before (that's not 100% set yet), then, you'd have the following division matchups:

Conference 1st matchups
East v North
Atlantic v Central
Pacific v West
South v Heartland

Conference 2nd matchups
East v Atlantic
North v Central
Pacific v South
West v Heartland

Non-conference matchups
East v Pacific
North v West
Atlantic v South
Central v Heartland

Unlike last year, you won't have all teams in the same division play against another division, and all be the same home or away in the same week. My scheduling code will randomize the schedule much better, and it avoids a team playing three consecutive games on the road or at home. The final week is all division games, and no team will play the same team twice in a string of three matchups (must be at least two games played against other teams before you play the same team again). The only thing I haven't figure out is how to manually set games in specific weeks. I can schedule those games into the code, but then the schedule generator always gets stuck, and never finishes. But At least I have a much better way to make the schedule now.

Lightning training camp has been underway for a week now, time to detail the early returns:

-QB1 Cam Armstead had an up and down week. Looked great somedays and others he seemed nervous. I expect him to get more comfortable as camp progresses.
-Terrance James is looking like a great addition to the RB rotation.
-Rookie Kyle Bates has crazy potential but he likely won't see much playing time this year being behind all the other passcatchers. But the future...
-There could be a real battle between Terrell Smith and Kevin White for WR2. Smith put in a lot of work this offseason after being 5th on the depth chart last season.
-Offensive line is... getting there. First team reps looked ROUGH early on in the week but Friday's session was at least mediocre. Bit of a concern early on
-Defensive line is generating pass rush just like last season, but still leaving something to be desired in the running game.
-R.J. Moore is already making an impact in the linebacker core. Kid looks good out there.
-Dare I say the secondary is looking... pretty serviceable so far? Xavier Gordon was a great addition in the offseason of course, but it seems the rest of the corners have stepped their game up this first week.
-Wishing I could say the same for Blake Holland. Has not performed well at all but the team doesn't really have much of an option at safety right now.
-KHD is the real deal. Will absolutely be winning the KR job, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see him in on offense as a gadget player someday...