The city has seen no real movement from the NFL as more and more teams are getting new stadiums. NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell has been coy regarding the issue of expansion, most recently stating that although not fond of a team moving that he’d prefer the league to expand from its current 32 teams to 34 to accommodate scheduling.
All of this begs the question: is there an alternative to the NFL? Perhaps Los Angeles should be opening it’s doors for another league to come in and see if they can’t get the fans to support it. After all the city has a history of supporting football offshoots form the Arena League to the WWE backed XFL. Los Angeles even boasts a championship
Lingerie Football League team. So what league could satisfy L.A’s pigskin fix?
Enter the United Football League.
Created in 2007 and taking the field in 2009, the struggling United Football League currently has four teams is looking to expand in 2012. It’s not a stretch to think that Los Angeles would welcome them with open arms.
The question is would the league think about it? Would they launch a new team or perhaps relocate a team that is not doing so well at it’s current home? The most likely candidate for a move would be the Las Vegas Locomotives (or Locos, for short). Unlike the NFL, the Home Depot Center would eliminate any stadium drama, as their only main tenants are the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA soccer teams. In fact, the Locos were originally supposed to share time between Los Angels and Las Vegas in it’s
inaugural season, but it never came to pass.
The UFL fan website UFLAccess.com posted an editorial discussing the future of the Las Vegas franchise. The editorial focuses more about the team moving to Salt Lake City than Los Angeles, but it’s curious as to why the country’s second largest media market isn’t being considered.
Los Angeles they would be perfect because, it’s a championship winning franchise just what Los Angeles residents/sports fans are used to and also expects from any team coming into this city.
Surprisingly, Las Vegas is not supporting the two-time UFL champions that almost made
it a 3-peat before losing in the championship game against the Virginia Destroyers, that was coached by former San Diego Chargers coach Mary Schottenheimer.
It’s been speculated that in a town such as Los Angeles that image is everything and celebrity drives sports nearly as much as winning. With movie stars even now populating Los Angeles Clippers games, would fans come out to support a fledgling league? After all, it even took international superstar David Beckham to resurrect professional soccer here. Whether it’s sports or business, numbers often drive optimism and L.A is in no short supply.
Los Angeles County has over 10 million people with more in Orange County, Ventura and the Inland Empire that are hardcore football fans. With ticket prices that will be a fraction of the projected Farmers Field, it’s easy to speculate “If you build it, they will come”.
“The league, would also have a bigger chance of getting a television contract in Los Angeles especially with Fox Sports West losing the broadcasting rights to the Lakers, Galaxy, and possibly the Dodgers. The regional sports network will need more sports to fill it’s schedule. That could also open the doors for ownership at the local and corporate levels.
The league could use Los Angeles to bolster it’s sagging attendance and revenues, but it could also use the extra shot in the arm from a public relations perspective. Many fans and media see the league as a mismanaged experiment that’s on life support, at best, and they may have a point.
The league was in trouble last year and cut its season short elimimating two games off the league’s six game schedule. The league has been losing money since it’s debut and that’s not exactly enticing to perspective owners, vendors or fans. The team has suffered multiple stops and starts of potential franchises with a perspective season scheduled to begin in the spring.
Unlike the NFL, the current strife can’t be blamed on players salaries. UFL players get $5,000 dollars a game. The league ended the season early in order not to pay players, coaches and team operations.
UFL founder and owner Bill Hambrecht told Las Vegas Sun that the league would turn its focus to "building a blueprint for the long-term success of the league" and that there were plans to expand from four to six teams in 2012.
“The UFL has experienced significant funding issues and at this juncture it seems most prudent that I step aside while the owners work to raise the necessary funds to conduct a fourth season,” Michael Huyghue told Bloomberg.com. Huyghue who had served as the league’s commissioner since its inception in 2009.
The media has not been to kind to the three year-old league that has been able to accomplish more then most professional football leagues have been able to do as they survived three years.
Can Los Angeles be the Hail Mary that saves the league? Will business and league officials take the plunge in the city of angels or will fans be forced to sit idly by while Goddell and company dictate the terms of the return of the NFL? More importantly, would a city starved for football support a UFL team that calls L.A it’s home? Let us know by going on facebook, twitter and by commenting below.
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