Are you ready for some more football? Once Super Bowl XLIII comes to an end and new NFL champ is crowned, a new league -- the UFL -- is ready to get into the game.
On the surface, the UFL looks like it could have a fighting chance for a few reasons:
1. The league desires to put teams in markets that are currently not homes to NFL franchises. Among the candidates for teams in 2009 are Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Orlando. San Francisco is also listed, which is a little strange since the last time we checked the 49ers do play there and the Raiders aren't too far away, but if the city has an appetite for more football, it could still work there. Check out the list of eight cities being considered. From previous reports, it sounds like six will be chosen for the '09 season will expansion possible as early as 2010.
2. The UFL seems heavy on fan involvement. From affordable ticket prices to the ability to help select team names, average Joe could be more than just a consumer. League commissioner Michael Huyghue's most recent blog entry indicates that fans can vote on controversial issues, including if Michael Vick should be allowed to play in the UFL, and on rules such as if field goals longer than 50 yards should be worth four points.
3. Games will be played on Thursday and Friday nights in the fall, a move that certainly can help wet the appetite of the football fan by being able to see some football before the big weekend of NCAA and NFL games.
The league appears to be heading in a direction of being made up of players who just missed out on making an NFL roster. That means the level of play should be very high, especially with the limited amount of franchises. Players who once had no or limited opportunities to turn somewhere else will now have a great platform to show off their abilities to try and get into the NFL, if that remains their ultimate goal.
Huyghue and league founder Bill Hambrecht recently appeared on Fox Business Channel to discuss the league and some upcoming news about it. Check out the entire interview in the UFL's Media Gallery.
So what do you think? Does the UFL have a chance? Share your commenta and vote in the poll below.
Comments
Ever hear of too much of a good thing. How many times has this been tried before, with the long forgotten WFL, USFL, and whatever that crap was that Vince McMahon served up for one season only. Lets not forget the ever popular Arena Football League. The NFL is entertaining, because only the cream-of-the crop can make it to that level. You start adding more teams, and/or leagues, and the talent level gets watered down along with the entertainment value.
If - IF - the UFL is ever lucky enough to play a down of football, it will go belly-up within two years. I don't believe they will ever kick-off. From what I've been able to gather from media accounts, they've been talking about launching this thing for a couple of years now. So far, it has amounted to nothing but delays and postponements of one kind or another. Forget the league's first season. These guys haven't managed to successfully conduct an introductory press conference yet. Why? Because despite claims - CLAIMS - to the contrary, they most likely don't have ownership groups and stadium leases lined up yet. All talk, no SUBSTANCE.
Because college ball serves as the minor leagues for the NFL it's hard to sell something in between. But hey, stranger things have happened.
Thanks for the comments. If they can get this going under the current business model, I'd give it a fair chance to hang around. The league is talking about a decent salary cap, meaning players not in the NFL could still get a nice salary while really caring about how hard they play to try and get into and stay in the NFL. Also, it has no plans to be in direct competition with the NFL -- a colossal mistake made by some previous alternative leagues. I think the next few weeks are critical. They need a major announcement right after the Super Bowl and have to get off the ground this year or else the novelty will have worn off.
"It has no plans to be in direct competition with the NFL -- a colossal mistake made by some previous alternative leagues."
Really? The UFL has no plans to directly compete with the NFL? Andy, unlike the WFL, USFL (initially)and XFL which all played seasons that sought to avoid kickin-off at the same time of year as the NFL's annual late August- early September annual launch, the UFL will be kicking-off in September and playing through late November. In other words, despite playing on Thursday and Friday nights, the UFL will be attempting to draw fan and media attention during the same time of the calendar year when football fans are trained to be focused on the NFL... AND college football... AND high school football. The result will be that the UFL will be lucky to get the "table scraps" of attention left over after football fans have sated their appetites with NFL, college and schoolboy action. Sorry, but the UFL has "FAILURE" written all over it.
Hey Jay -- I don't disagree with you on the time of year that they would play games, but the USFL, when it went to a fall product, wanted to compete as a product against the NFL. If the UFL says we'll take the guys who just missed out on making an NFL roster and let them play in our league on Thursday and Friday nights, that's not in direct competition to draw fans away from the NFL and it's majority Sunday product. To me it's kind of like triple-A baseball. There's an excitement to see those guys who are hungry to make it to the show and those games are played during baseball's season. Again, I don't disagree with the quality points you've made and are making and you could be 100 percent right. I'd like to see this thing get started and go fromn there. Thanks again for the comments.
First of all, the United States Football League only ANNOUNCED plans to go to a fall schedule. The league never actually competed as a product against the NFL; they folded before doing so.
The United Football League can try to finesse it any way that they want to, but they are most definitely going to be competing head-to-head with the NFL in the fall. The UFL has, to date, hired executive personnel such as Tomas Llibre, Ed Reynolds and Larry Upson away from the NFL. UFL Commissioner Huyghue has said, "The UFL will create opportunities for some NFL players, whether ON AN NFL ROSTER (PRACTICE SQUAD INCLUDED) or out of the the NFL for some reason." In other words, the UFL is planning on targeting NFL free agents and certain players on NFL rosters. At least two rumored UFL teams - New York and San Francisco - would be operating in markets served by NFL franchises. The UFL's Thursday evening games would go head-to-head with NFL games scheduled for that night during the November stretch of the UFL schedule.
Any way you cut it, the UFL will be competing with the NFL in the fall: for executive personnel, for players, for marketplace share and TV audiences. They're going to lose that competition.
Hey Jay,
I guess I still see it differently, but all of this is mute is the league never gets going. I don't think having a league made up of NFL practice squad players and just below puts you in direct competition with the NFL. Let's agree to disagree on that. The USFL had (at least initially) the monster budgets and payrolls that did allow it to be in direct competition with the NFL for players. It doesn't seem that will ever be the case with the UFL. I also am not sure how long the UFL season is planned for, but I would expect they'd wrap up in November, before the NFL really started pounding out its NFL schedule. I'd expect nearly 100 percent of people to say they'd rather watch an NFL game on a Thursday night than a UFL game so if the league has brains, they'd avoid going up against the NFL -- or maybe play the UFL title game at the same time on Thanksgiving as the Lions (cause then you'd have a shot at an audience :)). I love the NFL, it's not going anywhere and shouldn't. I'd like to see the UFL get going as a true breeding ground for future stars and maybe guys who still have a little something left in the tank before they trade in a jersey for a business suit.
We at uflaccess.com can report that Jim Fassel is likely to Coach the UFL Las Vegas team. For more info email me or go to the site.
There is one thing the UFL must do and one thing the UFL must NOT do. The UFL must have a TV contract for its games on Thursday and Friday nights (Wednesday and Thursday evenings might be better). And the UFL must avoid competing directly with NFL markets - except for New York - and maybe Chicago with a team a few years down the road.
The UFL should move the San Francisco franchise to Sacramento or - better yet - Portland, Oregon. The circuit should not have too many teams in the early going- certainly no more than 8. The Monterrey franchise should be moved to San Antonio. Las Vegas gambling might
jeopardize the UFL team there. My lineup of teams would
be:
Eastern Division-New York Nova, Hartford Whales, Orlando Ospreys and Birmingham Mustangs, and,
Western Division-Chicago Atoms, Memphis
Marauders, San Antonio Palominos and
Portland Pioneers.
Thanks for for presenting my comments.
Rick Worth, CHICAGO
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