UFL Live - United Football League News and Fan Forum

Rounding up some reactions from around the blogosphere.

Kenn, who writes a soccer focused blog, thinks it is crazy to try and compete with the NFL. He picks apart Cuban’s first post about the matter.

Daily News Rush has a list of suggestions for the UFL.
 

Each state gets one team - so the name of the team from Texas is UFL-Texas ‘whatever mascot name you choose’, from Mexico it’s UFL-Mexico ‘geo area or mascot name’. That’s more than enough teams - the NFL only has 32 teams. Certainly, if Mexico wants to divvy up their country into geographical areas, that would be fine. But, just do the math - start with the 50 United States, add a few teams each from Mexico and Canada for starters and you’ve already basically doubled the size of the NFL. Players should come from the town where the team is located. This is the KEY to UFL SUCCESS! This is what has always been the downfall of the NFL - there is no loyalty, no reason to support one city over another. There must be some connection between the player and the city he plays for - either he was born there, went to school there, or will attend college there. Taking a player from Texas and putting him in a Wisconsin uniform just seems wrong. Take advantage of the natural human instinct to protect and root for its territories.

Some ideas are better than others.

Mark Bryon is not betting against Mark Cuban

The UFL is heading to virgin (or at least NFL-unattached) territory, with proposed teams in LA, Las Vegas and Mexico City. There are a number of other big cities that could support a pro team. San Antonio had a trial run as the home of the Saints post-Katrina and could support a pro football team. Memphis would be another place that could do well; they didn’t do too well as the temporary home of the Oilers/Titans, but might shine to an UFL club. Orlando, Columbus, something in the northeast, and possibly a couple of Canadian cities might be other prospects. That might be enough, for 8-10 teams might do just fine for starters.

I think that San Antonio observation is right on.

The Sports Law blog looks at the implications for Sherman Anti-Trust provisions with a league that has teams with split ownership, such as the how UFL looks to be set up.

The Sports Column Blog thinks they could be on to something here.
 

Who knows whether the UFL will play a single snap but it sounds like they have their thinking together and this isn’t just some gimmicky WWF meets NBC desperation for Football league. Getting Mark Cuban on board is key. He is the ultimate self promoter and his involvement makes this venture much more likely to succeed. While we love the NFL and think they can do no wrong, a competitor would only do the fans good.

Agreed.

Meanwhile Josh Alper at The Feed sees another reason why the UFL is destined for success
 

Unlike the USFL there’s no plan to challenge the NFL for the highest profile players and the $30 million buy-in is paltry when compared to the $800 million it takes to get an expansion franchise. The growth of cable television and outrageous television rights fees for mainstream pro sports makes it easier to secure space on programming schedules and judging from the growth of the Arena league there’s a thirst for football in this country that can’t be quenched.

The low buy-in is a lesson learned by the failure of the WUSA (which is planning a comeback with a lower buy-in, btw). Of course, that low buy-in gives you an idea of what the starting salaries will be like.

Finally, USAToday’s sports blog wonders half-seriously if this isn’t just some plot to accelerate the NFL’s return to Los Angeles. That might work for San Antonio too.

One final note, isn’t there already a UFL out there? The Ultimate Frisbee League. Let’s hope there are no comparisons to that sport.

One of the great things Mark Cuban has going for him is his un-mediated access to his fans. He accomplishes this in many ways, but mostly through his blog. So I looked to BlogMaverick.com for some additional words on the URL and I wasn’t disappointed.

Here are the reasons Cuban thinks it’s a good idea

1. There is obviously demand for top level professional football. That is exactly what the UFL hopes to be someday, an equal of the NFL, if not more.

It was 20 years ago when the NFL owners called in the Replacement Players. They don’t look to make that mistake again. But that’s not to say all is peaceful between the league, its players, and its fans. The UFL will have to have a strong plan to compete with the NFL, but it will also provide as a check against NFL’s anti-fan policies.

2. The NFL wants and needs competition. 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.

Okay. This is one of those business ideas that appears backwards at first and then looks wiser upon reflection, right? The NFL’s real competition is for their fans entertainment dollars. I’m sure Cuban gets that and is planning to provide entertainment value for the UFL fans.

As I stated above, I think the competition will mean good things for the fans and possibly the mid-level players who might be a third-string on a NFL team but will find more play time and higher pay in the UFL.

3. They just extended their CBA. Their CBA structure is not designed for a competitive environment. Competition for top players, even if the UFL gets just a few, increases prices at the top end for all teams. Every star will get paid more, but still have to fit under the cap. That forces teams to use more low cost players, at the expense of signing the middle of the roster. That gives us access to quite a few very, very good NFL players. The downside is that it will significantly impact small market NFL teams and its unclear how the NFL would respond to that and what the impact would be on the UFL.

Add to this the 20-30 players who fail to make the NFL roster each year, as talked about in the NY Times article, and you have a first string team of near-NFL quality players with a few NFL quality stars. That’s a good start for any team.

4. There are a lot of markets that are bigger than some current NFL markets that do not have teams that would love to have a pro football team.

I think one of the smart decisions is to head to Mexico City. It’s proven to be a good city for the NFL games played there. Most of those were pre-season, I believe. Not having to build or occupy the new billion dollar brand of stadium while building an audience is another. Still Some towns will be excluded from the list because their existing stadium is just not good enough for a pro-team. Portland, Or comes to mind. Also, the UFL won’t be able to ignore the New York, Philadelphia, DC markets or they won’t get good television packages.

5. There are a lot of smart people involved in the UFL.

I am sure this is the case. Always hire people smarter than you.

6. Its a great TV product.

It’s also a great new media product. This could be the first social networked professional sports league right from the start. Myspace, Facebook, Player and coach blogs, internet video access to training camps and game plans, citizen journalists, etc. It wouldn’t be difficult to blow all the existing leagues out of the water when it comes to new media.

The AP sports article ads a new quote from potential UFL team owner Mark Cuban,

“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.”

This is certainly true for those major cities that don’t currently have NFL Franchises. Since that’s where the UFL plans to start, I don’t see any problem there. A lot of this is going to depend on owners who are willing to stick with the game plan and while not making any money for 4-5 years.

Judging by the title of the story in the New York Times Sports Magazine, “First and Long — Very Long“, they don’t see much of a chance for the UFL to get off the ground. The story has a good introduction to Bill Hambrecht, the initial money behind the league. Also add Tim Armstrong, VP of Advertising at Google to the mix as the other initial investor.

Finding players, owners, and cities with quality stadiums for the teams doesn’t sound like it will be a problem. Mark Cuban has even signed up to be the first owner (with a team in Las Vegas possibly). The only real problem is finding fans.

the first step in Hambrecht’s plan is to enter big cities where the N.F.L. isn’t. As Mark Cuban put it to me in an e-mail, “There are quite a few good-sized non-N.F.L. cities that can support a pro team.” So far, the U.F.L. has decided to put teams in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Mexico City. (Cuban is considering taking the Las Vegas franchise.) Each owner will put up $30 million, giving him an initial half-interest in the team; the league will own the other half. But eventually the fans themselves will become shareholders — because each team is going to sell shares to the public. Then the owner, the league and the fans will each own a third of every franchise.

So what do you think? Will that take care of building an instant fan base? You could own a share of the team, but when it comes to making decisions you’re still just a fan who has to buy season tickets.

Welcome to UFL Live - The United Football League (UFL) News and Information weblog. Yep, the league doesn’t even have one team yet, just one owner (Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks), and only a small shop exploring options. But there’s a fan blogging the action already.

I’m very excited about the prospects for a new football league that will play in the major cities the NFL has forgotten. Hopefully they’ll be placing one of the teams here in Orlando, FL. We’re even renovating the Citrus Bowl a new stadium to bring it up to professional football standards (read: plenty of luxury boxes).

The stories will no doubt be slow in coming at first, but stay tuned. I expect the volume to grow exponentially as the league gears up for a 2008 launch. Yep, you read right. All signs right now point to pre-season UFL games as soon as August 2008.

If you have any stories or leads you like to send my way, please drop me a note.