The New UFL (Football to compete with NFL)

Thesifer · 05-30-2007, 08:00 PM

Has anyone heard about the new UFL (United Football League) ? I first saw it mentioned on ESPN when I was eating lunch. Here is an article about it..

Your thoughts?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2887465

Quote:

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is part of a group considering formation of a football league that would compete with the NFL for players drafted lower than the second round.

The league, still very much in the preliminary stage, would play its games on Friday nights. The NFL does not play then because of the potential conflict with high school football.

"It's a pretty simple concept," Cuban said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "We think there is more demand for pro football than supply."

The proposal was first disclosed by The New York Times on its Web site, which said it was the idea of Bill Hambrecht, a Wall Street investor who was a minority partner in the Oakland Invaders of the USFL, which played in the spring from 1983-85. Sharon Smith, a spokeswoman for Hambrecht and Company, had no comment and said Hambrecht was traveling and unavailable to talk about the idea.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said he was aware of the proposed league, but had no further comment.

On his blog, Cuban explained how the new league, dubbed the UFL, would actually be good for the NFL.

"The NFL wants and needs competition," Cuban wrote. "They have grown so big and powerful that every move they make is scrutinized by local or federal officials. A competitor allows them to point to us and explain that their moves are for competitive reasons rather than the move of a monopoly."

There have been numerous leagues that have tried to compete with the NFL and a few that actually played games, starting with the AFL, which began in 1960 and fully merged with the NFL a decade later. It included such current franchises as New England, Oakland, Kansas City, San Diego, Buffalo, the New York Jets and Denver.

More recently came the World Football League in the early 1970s, which raided the NFL for such stars as Larry Csonka. Then came the USFL, which played in the spring before folding after receiving only $3 in an antitrust "victory" over the NFL.

The USFL featured such future Hall of Famers as Jim Kelly, Reggie White and Steve Young, but lost millions of dollars trying to compete for players. It also had internal struggles among a majority of owners who wanted to stay in the spring, and the best known among them, Donald Trump, who wanted to move to the fall and try to force a merger with the NFL.

The most recent pro football league was the XFL, founded by the World Wrestling Federation and televised by NBC. The XFL lasted just three months in the spring of 2001 and was best known for a player named Rod Smart, called "He Hate Me," who later played as a return man and backup running back in the NFL.

So far, the proposed new league is in its infancy and Cuban is the only potential owner for what the founders hope will be an eight-team league.

Cuban said in his e-mail he believes the salary cap makes it easier to compete financially with the NFL because of the salary imbalance that leaves lower-level players with lower salaries. That would allow the new league to fill its rosters with players taken lower than the second round, as well as late NFL cuts and free agents who escape the NFL draft.

Many such players, including Tom Brady, a sixth-round pick of New England, have become NFL stars.

"That's not to say it will be easy. It won't," Cuban wrote. "We still have to cover quite a bit of ground and have a lot of milestones to hit. That said, if we can get the right owners I obviously think we can make this work."

gear02 · 05-30-2007, 08:52 PM

The XFL failed because they didn't treat themselves seriously and it was pretty damn silly. I do think there is some demand for a minor league football if 1) the names are relatively recognizable and 2) they actually play football with NFL rules.

Thesifer · 05-31-2007, 12:51 AM

This doesn't seem as much "Minor League" as just a Small Tier below NFL. And that's really only to get it started. I'm sure their plans are to compete on equal footing with the NFL. I would say they are hoping for a few good years, and then a major buyout, but I'm not so sure the FTC would allow that.

VTGreg · 05-31-2007, 06:21 AM

I think this league has a chance at succeeding if they play in the spring. I don't see them going head to head with the NFL in the fall and winning. They should be able to get some pretty good exposure by going to the big markets that don't have football teams but they aren't going to get much buy in from the major networks if they want to go head to head with the NFL.

Kevster · 05-31-2007, 01:39 PM

I was listening to John Madden talking about it this morning and he was surprised that they were thinking of playing on Friday nights, which is verboten in the NFL since that is reserved for high schools. The NFL does not start playing on Fridays until after the high school football season is over. I'm not sure if that was an agreement or a regulation, but that will definitely be a sticking point.

The key for this possible league to make it would be to get a national TV network to go for it. Anything less and they'll fail just like the predecessors.

VTGreg · 06-01-2007, 05:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevster

I was listening to John Madden talking about it this morning and he was surprised that they were thinking of playing on Friday nights, which is verboten in the NFL since that is reserved for high schools. The NFL does not start playing on Fridays until after the high school football season is over. I'm not sure if that was an agreement or a regulation, but that will definitely be a sticking point.

The key for this possible league to make it would be to get a national TV network to go for it. Anything less and they'll fail just like the predecessors.

I've heard that rationale for the NFL not playing on Thursday's nights and competing with college but I can't remember the NFL ever playing a game on a Friday night. And even thought the NFL doesn't play on Thursday nights to avoid competition with college, they still open up their season on a Thursday night opposite a college football game. I guess there rule is more of an initial suggestion.

ski · 06-03-2007, 04:55 PM

Friday night network TV is lacking. It always has since X-Files and Walker Texas Ranger stopped running new episodes.

This would be a good niche for guys to get together and have something to watch while drinking on a Friday night... there's certainly some potential for this idea.

Thesifer · 06-03-2007, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ski

Friday night network TV is lacking. It always has since X-Files and Walker Texas Ranger stopped running new episodes.

This would be a good niche for guys to get together and have something to watch while drinking on a Friday night... there's certainly some potential for this idea.

I think so also. High School Football can't take up that much of the market.

05-31-2007, 06:21 AM	#4
VTGreg Rear Admiral Lower Half Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 2,533	I think this league has a chance at succeeding if they play in the spring. I don't see them going head to head with the NFL in the fall and winning. They should be able to get some pretty good exposure by going to the big markets that don't have football teams but they aren't going to get much buy in from the major networks if they want to go head to head with the NFL. __________________ It only ends once... Anything that happens before that is just progress. Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.

05-31-2007, 01:39 PM	#5
Kevster Admiral Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: NorCal Posts: 6,124	I was listening to John Madden talking about it this morning and he was surprised that they were thinking of playing on Friday nights, which is verboten in the NFL since that is reserved for high schools. The NFL does not start playing on Fridays until after the high school football season is over. I'm not sure if that was an agreement or a regulation, but that will definitely be a sticking point. The key for this possible league to make it would be to get a national TV network to go for it. Anything less and they'll fail just like the predecessors. __________________ I think over again My small adventures, my fears. The small ones that seemed so big, For all the vital things I had to get and to reach. And yet there is only one great thing, the only thing: To live to see the great day that dawns, And the light that fills the world. -old Inuit song

06-03-2007, 04:55 PM	#7
ski Admiral Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Utah Posts: 5,420	Friday night network TV is lacking. It always has since X-Files and Walker Texas Ranger stopped running new episodes. This would be a good niche for guys to get together and have something to watch while drinking on a Friday night... there's certainly some potential for this idea. __________________ And closer...

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05-30-2007, 08:52 PM	#2
gear02 Admiral Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 7,223	The XFL failed because they didn't treat themselves seriously and it was pretty damn silly. I do think there is some demand for a minor league football if 1) the names are relatively recognizable and 2) they actually play football with NFL rules.

05-31-2007, 12:51 AM	#3
Thesifer Vice Admiral Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 4,338	This doesn't seem as much "Minor League" as just a Small Tier below NFL. And that's really only to get it started. I'm sure their plans are to compete on equal footing with the NFL. I would say they are hoping for a few good years, and then a major buyout, but I'm not so sure the FTC would allow that.

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