On one hand I think the news that Zach Nelson, CEO of NetSuite, has bought into the United Football League’s Omaha franchise is good. On another the news that he is looking to bring in other owners seems kind of troubling.
Let’s be honest, a UFL franchise is not like buying a team in one of the more established sports in this country, or in buying an established team. I wonder how much could a UFL franchise actually be worth? On top of that why can’t the CEO of a pretty successful company afford to buy a franchise outright?
Everyone will say, "it is the economy stupid," and to a point I agree with that assessment. However I think the UFL is looking to get a premium for a team that is located in a football hotbed, and has a very good chance at succeeding. Still, how much the franchise could charge would 25 to 40 million dollars, and that seems like it has to be on the very high end.
This is where I have a problem: the UFL franchise teams should be low enough where one motivated guy, locked out of NFL ownership, can run a team. The UFL wants to grow, and I don’t see how they can lock up multiple owners in each team and still have enough owners to grow the league.
The answer seems to be that Nelson will look to recruit local Omaha business people to help own the team. It is the same kind of model the Miami Dolphins have used with celebrity minority owners. This is yet another step in the local-first strategy of this league.
It is a very good strategy, work with the locals first, build a solid fan base, and then go after national fans. With only five teams in year two it is absolutely the right strategy.
The real good news in all of this is the five UFL teams now have four distinct ownership groups with the league only operating the Florida Tuskers. They already have Jim Speros locked in for a sixth team in Norfolk, Virginia in year three. I would also suspect they will look to Mark Cuban to add a Texas franchise in the near future.
Related Links:
• The Business of the UFL
• Omaha Nighthawks news
• Omaha Nighthawks notes
• UFL news Inquisitr.com
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