2025-07-28, 11:29 AM - Word count:
I had appended this originally to the end of my other article about Cities that I want to see, but decided that some of the ideas I liked so much I want them separate in case people didn't get there in my other article!
When I was planning to apply for expansion I included a little note in my application that stated I was willing to take on any existing team branding IF the BoD wanted to shuffle some branding around or knew of a team that wanted a redo maybe on one of theirs. It was truly meant to be an open invitation to let them do anything they wanted if they had any ideas, as I was less focused on the specific locations and more just wanting to get involved in a team in general and figured I would still get to make one of the teams from scratch either way. This gave me some ideas since then that I think could be really fun and would like to see explored in the future to help get the entire site involved in the expansion process so it's less of a black box process. I think the dual branding the SSL has actually opens up a lot of doors to make the expansion process more fun without taking away the ability for the OM to get "their" team so to speak. Here are a few I really liked:
1. EXPANSION TAKEOVER - Grab a Minors team to move up into the Major league (or maybe the other way too!)
In full on WWE energy I want a future expansion to allow the expansion managers to take over an existing league branding from an organization. There are a few reasons this could work out well. First, it would be absolutely amazing and could be done in a very entertaining fashion if you think about different ways to pick which brand since it could be any game of chance or really any method to pick 1 of many. Second, it would allow a "redo" if any existing organization is talking about wanting to move a team or redo a branding etc (as is always common when you get management changes in these leagues). You can still touch it up in the process, but instead of having older team branding be nuked off the face of the earth forever like has happened in some other leagues, they can get put in another organization with a little bit of a refresh instead. The third reason is that without promotion/relegation we ended up with some really odd alignment. I will be honest, seeing a team from England and France in the Minors is jarring (although a little funny), and I wouldn't be surprised to see that be something that the league will probably be looking at ironing out long-term, especially if we start running out of bigger nations to expand to. This is one way to do it that I think would "work" and still be fun and organic. The expansion manager can still make at least one new brand to get the team they really dreamed of, while the Majors team that lost their brand get to completely make a new one from scratch while picking a new location and everything so it can fit better with the one they kept or be more in line with what they wanted. I think it could be a real win-win for everyone as we don't lose the history as people take over and want change, while also giving a lot of people the chance to make the team they really want to make. It also gives a nice opportunity to touch up branding if it feels like it is needed without having to scrap the entire thing. Pulling in an existing organization to the expansion process could also add a lot of fun for at least some of the users on the site too. (Yes, this would probably need to be opt-in).
2. Democracy Rules - OMs that are approved for expansion must use branding based on site-wide polls allowing the site to submit ideas for and pick them one stage a time. Similar to the Yeti branding in the NHL, but from scratch!
I think you would want to go in an order, with one thing at a time like 1. location(s), 2. theme(s), 3. colour(s) and finally the name, badge and kits. Would take a lot of time of course, but could be very fun for the site as well to have everyone get a little bit more association with the teams before they are actually being used. Of course would be a lot more effort to run, especially if we are having a pair of teams (which is actually four teams at the end of the day) be chosen, but if you could get a couple OMs on board and have a full season of runway to go through the process, I think it would work, especially if you set the locations up in pairs as rivals or have some other ideas come forward that are out there. It would also help the expansion teams build a really cool connection with site users without having to do it all from scratch in a few weeks before an expansion draft happens. You could even end up picking up people in the expansion draft who contributed to the teams identity, which could be cool for everyone. I do apologize to our graphic people for suggesting this a little bit, but it could be a chance for them to submit some cool concepts as well without having to leave their existing teams, which is kind of interesting too. Most of the process would be text-only until the end so it's not like they are drafting 200 badges and kits.
3. World Cup (or other) Edition - Real world national team that finishes the highest in the upcoming world cup or other international tournament without an existing team, gets a team.
Immediately fun in my opinion and would be really cool long-term to have something in the real world have determined something in the league. Would require a flexible (pair of) OM(s) of course, but I think having expansion be a more open and involved process than just applications into an announcement for the rest of the user base could be pure fun for the entire site and would be also in line with the global theme of the league in my opinion. Timing would be very important for this as well, but could be a fun way to bring a little energy to the site using something that would be almost no additional effort outside scheduling considerations. Even if most people don't care, I am sure some people might find it fun and with the flexibility of dual branding, if the OM wants it could be used as either Major or Minor and they can still make at least one team from scratch if they want to.
I am sure there are other cool ways to do expansion teams that would add a lot of involvement from users, but I can't think of any others right now. I think the dual branding in the SSL is actually a really cool opportunity the site has to have really interesting ideas as it allows people to make the team they really identify with even if you get one of them "forced" on you.
When I was planning to apply for expansion I included a little note in my application that stated I was willing to take on any existing team branding IF the BoD wanted to shuffle some branding around or knew of a team that wanted a redo maybe on one of theirs. It was truly meant to be an open invitation to let them do anything they wanted if they had any ideas, as I was less focused on the specific locations and more just wanting to get involved in a team in general and figured I would still get to make one of the teams from scratch either way. This gave me some ideas since then that I think could be really fun and would like to see explored in the future to help get the entire site involved in the expansion process so it's less of a black box process. I think the dual branding the SSL has actually opens up a lot of doors to make the expansion process more fun without taking away the ability for the OM to get "their" team so to speak. Here are a few I really liked:
1. EXPANSION TAKEOVER - Grab a Minors team to move up into the Major league (or maybe the other way too!)
In full on WWE energy I want a future expansion to allow the expansion managers to take over an existing league branding from an organization. There are a few reasons this could work out well. First, it would be absolutely amazing and could be done in a very entertaining fashion if you think about different ways to pick which brand since it could be any game of chance or really any method to pick 1 of many. Second, it would allow a "redo" if any existing organization is talking about wanting to move a team or redo a branding etc (as is always common when you get management changes in these leagues). You can still touch it up in the process, but instead of having older team branding be nuked off the face of the earth forever like has happened in some other leagues, they can get put in another organization with a little bit of a refresh instead. The third reason is that without promotion/relegation we ended up with some really odd alignment. I will be honest, seeing a team from England and France in the Minors is jarring (although a little funny), and I wouldn't be surprised to see that be something that the league will probably be looking at ironing out long-term, especially if we start running out of bigger nations to expand to. This is one way to do it that I think would "work" and still be fun and organic. The expansion manager can still make at least one new brand to get the team they really dreamed of, while the Majors team that lost their brand get to completely make a new one from scratch while picking a new location and everything so it can fit better with the one they kept or be more in line with what they wanted. I think it could be a real win-win for everyone as we don't lose the history as people take over and want change, while also giving a lot of people the chance to make the team they really want to make. It also gives a nice opportunity to touch up branding if it feels like it is needed without having to scrap the entire thing. Pulling in an existing organization to the expansion process could also add a lot of fun for at least some of the users on the site too. (Yes, this would probably need to be opt-in).
2. Democracy Rules - OMs that are approved for expansion must use branding based on site-wide polls allowing the site to submit ideas for and pick them one stage a time. Similar to the Yeti branding in the NHL, but from scratch!
I think you would want to go in an order, with one thing at a time like 1. location(s), 2. theme(s), 3. colour(s) and finally the name, badge and kits. Would take a lot of time of course, but could be very fun for the site as well to have everyone get a little bit more association with the teams before they are actually being used. Of course would be a lot more effort to run, especially if we are having a pair of teams (which is actually four teams at the end of the day) be chosen, but if you could get a couple OMs on board and have a full season of runway to go through the process, I think it would work, especially if you set the locations up in pairs as rivals or have some other ideas come forward that are out there. It would also help the expansion teams build a really cool connection with site users without having to do it all from scratch in a few weeks before an expansion draft happens. You could even end up picking up people in the expansion draft who contributed to the teams identity, which could be cool for everyone. I do apologize to our graphic people for suggesting this a little bit, but it could be a chance for them to submit some cool concepts as well without having to leave their existing teams, which is kind of interesting too. Most of the process would be text-only until the end so it's not like they are drafting 200 badges and kits.
3. World Cup (or other) Edition - Real world national team that finishes the highest in the upcoming world cup or other international tournament without an existing team, gets a team.
Immediately fun in my opinion and would be really cool long-term to have something in the real world have determined something in the league. Would require a flexible (pair of) OM(s) of course, but I think having expansion be a more open and involved process than just applications into an announcement for the rest of the user base could be pure fun for the entire site and would be also in line with the global theme of the league in my opinion. Timing would be very important for this as well, but could be a fun way to bring a little energy to the site using something that would be almost no additional effort outside scheduling considerations. Even if most people don't care, I am sure some people might find it fun and with the flexibility of dual branding, if the OM wants it could be used as either Major or Minor and they can still make at least one team from scratch if they want to.
I am sure there are other cool ways to do expansion teams that would add a lot of involvement from users, but I can't think of any others right now. I think the dual branding in the SSL is actually a really cool opportunity the site has to have really interesting ideas as it allows people to make the team they really identify with even if you get one of them "forced" on you.
![[Image: 6J2WgCi.png]](https://i.imgur.com/6J2WgCi.png)
