IDM, so stoked to see you back with this series! I've been holding dearly on to my Redbacks sig, I'm glad my stubbornness has paid off! Haha.

It sounds like we're headed for a downturn though. It feels weird to be in a different division after so much success in the Central. I'm gonna have to re-read the series to catch back up but something that might be cool is a TL;DR recap for each team before the new season. But I'm looking forward to your new content. 

There are a couple teams releasing new looks this offseason (including the Atlanta expansion team), but before that, we're gonna have to go through all the old looks. That's because SandStorm Sports, the league's uniform provider, has released a new template, which every team will be wearing starting in 2025. (This also lets me reintroduce all of you to the teams! How convenient!) The new jersey template, shown on a new presentation and modeled by each of the league's three divisions, is below:


Some things of note: the hem of the jersey is now straight, the hem of the shorts is now curved, and there are three unique collar designs which have quickly earned the nicknames of U, V, and W. That's about all there is to say on that, but if you have any C&C on it let me know!

I'm also posting the logos and uniforms of every team that didn't make major changes, as well as a signature for each and a brief summary per Steelman's suggestion (spoilered so that this post isn't five miles long):

California Sea Lions:

Spoiler »Brief summary: The league's first powerhouse, the Sea Lions won each of the first two championships, and to this day, have never missed the playoffs and have never had a losing record. That said, they've developed a reputation lately for not being able to finish the job, as while they're still frequent patrons of the NDL Championship Series, they still haven't won it all since 2018. The Lions are in the running for most successful team in NDL history, and look to add to that résumé in 2025, but are in a madhouse of a West Division along with Seattle and Texas teams who, like California, will be angling for a championship this year.

The Sea Lions made no changes to their uniforms, apart from shortening the pointy stripes on their shorts to fit on the new cut:

Los Angeles Sabertooths:

Spoiler »Brief summary: The Tooths, as they've come to be called, were the "little brother" to the Sea Lions for a while, finishing second in the West behind California in each of the league's first three years and being eliminated by the Sea Lions twice in that span, including a brutal 2017 NDLCS in which they blew a 3-1 series lead. Since then, they've been rather underwhelming, with only one playoff appearance and zero playoff wins in the last five years. Thanks to a below average team and a slew of injuries last year, they finished 1-51, and are definitely still in rebuilding mode this year, especially in the group of death that the West is right now.

The Sabertooths had to slightly modify the width of the stripes on their primary and tertiary uniforms as well as the width of the sash on their secondary uniform in order to better fit the new jersey cut, but otherwise made no changes:

Miami Palms:

Spoiler »Brief summary: The Palms started off in Phoenix, where they were decidedly below average for the vast majority of the time, briefly poking their head into the playoffs once only to get immediately swept in four games. Then, in 2023, their last season in the desert, they overperformed, going 35-15 and earning the 4 seed, but once again were swept out of the postseason, this time in two games. After their first season in Miami ended up a disappointment due to lots of injuries, they remain the league's only original team without a playoff win. That said, they look to have rebounded, and look to be in a position to change that this season.

The Palms modified the hem striping on their shorts to accommodate the new cut, but otherwise made no changes:

New York Chargers:

Spoiler »Brief summary: Entering the league in 2019 as the league's first expansion team, the Chargers have never seen much success. The lone exception was in 2022, where after three years of building a contender, they entered the playoffs as a five seed, upset the Sabertooths in a two-game sweep, and put up a six-game fight against the eventual champion Redbacks. A slew of injuries set them back in 2023, but they've been working their way back up, and should be a prevalent part of the race for the East Division crown this year.

The Chargers made no changes, apart from adopting V-neck collars:

Orlando Orbits:

Spoiler »Brief summary: One of the two surviving members of the 2022 expansion class, the Orbits started their existence off with a 2-48 season, but immediately turned things around in 2023, going 25-25 and making the playoffs as the 6th seed. The next year, they improved on that record just slightly with a 28-24 campaign which also earned them the 6th and final seed. While they got bounced without a win both times, Orbs fans were pretty confident in their team's standing. Unfortunately, with Miami and Nashville having both seemingly moved ahead of them, it may be difficult for them to continue to improve for a third straight year in 2025.

The Orbits had to reposition their orbit stripe to fit above the new number position, and also had to slightly shrink the rocket blast on their shorts a bit, but otherwise made no changes:

Philadelphia Row:

Spoiler »Brief summary: The Row missed the playoffs on tiebreakers in 2017, which seemingly fueled them to a 34-6 record and a Finals appearance in 2018. Then, in 2019, they got hit pretty hard with the injury bug, and bounced around the bottom of the league for a few seasons before their rebuild paid off in the form of a 43-7 campaign in 2023 that ultimately earned them a First Trophy. They returned to the NDLCS in 2024, and as such, have turned every playoff run in their history into an NDLCS appearance. That said, their window may already be closing, and with Chicago and New York also being competitive in the East, it may be hard for them to continue that trend.

The Row slightly shrunk the brick design on their alternate shorts and straigtened out their sleeve striping, but otherwise made no changes:

Seattle Sawyers:

Spoiler »Brief summary: The Sawyers were towards the bottom of the league early on, squeaking out a winning record in 2019 but failing to make the playoffs until 2021. Since then, though, they've won three West Division titles, and they've been a perennial playoff contender, but haven't managed to turn it into a whole lot of postseason success. They've only reached one NDLCS, where they were swept by Texas, and are 12-21 lifetime in postseason play. They look to still be a very good team this season, but as I've mentioned, the West Division is absolutely loaded, which may lead to more disappointment for Sawyers fans.

The Sawyers made the most significant change of this bunch, thickening up their number font, adopting a new NOB font that more closely matched their number font, and raising their chest stripe slightly to better align with the numbers on the back:

Texas Redbacks:

Spoiler »Brief summary: The Redbacks were average for their first few years in the league, hovering around .500 and making one unceremonious playoff appearance in 2017. In 2020, though, they became elite, and have never looked back since, having won 5 straight Central Division titles and completing the league's first and so far only undefeated regular season in 2021. They've been able to parlay that into plenty of playoff success as well, appearing in four of the last five NDL Championship Series and winning three of the last four. This year, they still look very good, and will likely be title contenders yet again, but (and forgive me if I'm beginning to sound like a broken record here) the West Division will be brutal this year, so this may be the beginning of the end.

The Redbacks shrunk their wordmark a tad in order to fit it above the new, higher numbers, but otherwise made no changes:

Thanks for taking a look! I know that for those of you who were following this series last year, there isn't much new content here, but hopefully you enjoyed it nonetheless. If you haven't picked a team yet, don't worry; I've still got four more teams to post, including three existing teams, plus the new Atlanta squad. Oh, and if you have C&C on any of this, lay it on me!

Last edited by ItDoesntMatter (5/28/2020 3:16 pm)

I'm still a huge fan of the Sawyers look, so I think they're still my team.

(redacted)

Last edited by dvdbubba27 (5/26/2020 3:36 pm)

It's OK, sevsdast.