There are so many talented people putting out amazing logo/crest/uniform mocks on the internet for free.

There are so many teams doing soulless, unsuccessful rebrands built from too many conference calls with agencies & not enough engagement w/ community.

Hire the first group.

Teams are so concerned with designs leaking or working from existing wishlists that they consistently pretend things like Reddit and Twitter don't exist.

Reddit and Twitter are communities you should be looking at nonstop.

You should be bringing fans in, not keeping them out.

When people are upvoting or RTing mocks and sending them viral, it means THEY LIKE THEM.

You are getting a free focus group.

The least you can do is invest in that discourse and reward fans and designers by valuing their input.

That's the community you should WANT to build.

Branding in sports is about communication. It's about creating something that resonates with fans, that makes them feel proud or inspired or motivated or represented or cool. You shouldn't be GUESSING about what makes them feel those things. You should KNOW. By LISTENING TO THEM.