Other UFL - United Football League

[JeffDunne]

Here is the official site for the United Football League


An article about it.

Post all discussions, pics, youtube videos, in this thread.

 

[Grimmett]

You would have to think that in a nation the size of America a sustainable seocnd tier comeptition would be possible. However, with the NFL not open to expansion currently I wonder if it is an attempt by welathy guys like Mark Cuban to try an establish an NFL franchise by the backdoor. We all know that the success of the AFL in the 60s forced a merger with the NFL. IF teams are not available through expansion and buying a franchise costs mega-millions this may be an alternate route for getting in as an owner.
For mine, I hope it's successful as the establishment of a second tier competition would allow for more opportunities for players. Fringe NFL players could showcase their wares in a decent US based league and 'late' developers would also be in the shop window. Would also allow for neglected cities/states such as LA and Vegas to get involved in pro football. Currently all some of them have is Arena football which is a bit like comparing Twenty20 cricket to test matches.
Be interested to see if this idea develops legs at all.

 

[Exe Gesis]

What they should do is almost try to swallow up the CFL completely, so that all the teams in the CFL are now part of the UFL, under US-rules, not the Canadian rules, or incorporate some of them at least.

Like the MLB and NHL have absorbed Canada into the league. So, UFL (united) could help them have a stronger foothold. If there was a merger later on, it would be cool then to see all the CFL and new UFL cities all merged into the NFL.

As a second tier US league tho, there's plenty of room for it even if they never forced the NFL to merge etc.

 

[haterade]

I can see this league becoming successful, if they play in the Spring ( Feb-June) and not directly go head to head with the NFL. THere are plenty of cities aching for a football franchise: San Jose, LA, Las Vegas, Portland, Oklahoma City.

 

[Vick<Footy]

What they should do is almost try to swallow up the CFL completely, so that all the teams in the CFL are now part of the UFL, under US-rules, not the Canadian rules, or incorporate some of them at least.

Not a bad idea. They could create North and South Divisions with the 8 teams from the CFL in the North and 8 new teams from the States in the South.

Quite honestly I think this is a good idea not because I think a new league can survive, but because I think it is a good idea for the investors. I think if they can create a stable league for a couple years, the NFL will buy them off, suck up the better teams into the NFL, and the investors will make oodles of money.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Not a bad idea. They could create North and South Divisions with the 8 teams from the CFL in the North and 8 new teams from the States in the South.

Quite honestly I think this is a good idea not because I think a new league can survive, but because I think it is a good idea for the investors. I think if they can create a stable league for a couple years, the NFL will buy them off, suck up the better teams into the NFL, and the investors will make oodles of money.

And the NFL would see the benefit there for themselves in allowing the UFL a short leash to prosper. Especially with Goodell being interested in expanding the game internationally, Canada would be a logical step too.

 

[Vick<Footy]

And the NFL would see the benefit there for themselves in allowing the UFL a short leash to prosper. Especially with Goodell being interested in expanding the game internationally, Canada would be a logical step too.

I think there are some great candidate cities out there that would already be prepared. For instance Birmingham, Alabama had a succesful USFL franchise, and from what I recall had good attendance for their XFL team. And their AFL franchise is pretty good.
The approach they are taking is really good. If you have revenue sharing for the media exposure, then everyone gets coverage. And the fans will come if you are putting teams in football hotbeds, especially those that don't have NFL teams.

 

[Exe Gesis]

I think there are some great candidate cities out there that would already be prepared. For instance Birmingham, Alabama had a succesful USFL franchise, and from what I recall had good attendance for their XFL team. And their AFL franchise is pretty good.
The approach they are taking is really good. If you have revenue sharing for the media exposure, then everyone gets coverage. And the fans will come if you are putting teams in football hotbeds, especially those that don't have NFL teams.

Birmingham, Las Vegas, LA, San Jose, should get a look in.

 

[Vick<Footy]

Birmingham, Las Vegas, LA, San Jose, should get a look in.

Well if they are planning on 8 US teams, you would imagine they would split them between East and West coast.
So to further your suggestions, maybe look at:

West Division:
LA
LV
SJ
Boise
Seattle
Denver/Colorado Springs/Bolder
San Antonio

East Division:
B-ham
Tallahassee
Orlando
Atlanta
Charlotte/Charleston
NY
Boston
Cincinnatti
Knoxville

 

[Roll Tide]

Birmingham is a curse to every upstart football league.

http://www.birminghamprosports.com/​

 

[Exe Gesis]

Well if they are planning on 8 US teams, you would imagine they would split them between East and West coast.
So to further your suggestions, maybe look at:

West Division:
LA
LV
SJ
Boise
Seattle
Denver/Colorado Springs/Bolder
San Antonio

East Division:
B-ham
Tallahassee
Orlando
Atlanta
Charlotte/Charleston
NY
Boston
Cincinnatti
Knoxville

You forgot Chicago!

But that's a pretty good league of teams you got there. The usual places have to be hit and would be no-brainers, like: Chicago, NY, LA, Colorado, Boston, Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Washington State, San Francisco, Texas.

It's the certain new cities that are more the interesting equation. Just which regions to definitely take in.

For sure, LA, LV, SJ, Birmingham, Orlanda is a good one, San Antonio too.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Birmingham is a curse to every upstart football league.​

http://www.birminghamprosports.com/​

It's not Birmingham's fault! They're starving for National exposure. They should be involved in any genuine expansion terms.

 

[Vick<Footy]

You forgot Chicago!

But that's a pretty good league of teams you got there. The usual places have to be hit and would be no-brainers, like: Chicago, NY, LA, Colorado, Boston, Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Washington State, San Francisco, Texas.

It's the certain new cities that are more the interesting equation. Just which regions to definitely take in.

For sure, LA, LV, SJ, Birmingham, Orlanda is a good one, San Antonio too.

I think they should put us on the board of directors. I think we could get this moving in the right directions. ...Oh, and buy Ferrarri's with the money we would make.

 

[Exe Gesis]

I think they should put us on the board of directors. I think we could get this moving in the right directions. ...Oh, and buy Ferrarri's with the money we would make.

Do you ever have bad ideas? The UFL will be hiring left right and center. Put your hand up, you'll make any organization you work for better. Put a good word in for me while you're at it.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Michael Vick - 2009??

Saw this on rotoworld.com.....

The commisioner of the United Football League, Michael Huyghue, says there is a "98%" chance Michael Vick will play in his league in 2009.
Huyghue is basing the claim primarily on speculation, not conversations with Vick. The upstart league plans to have six teams next year, but there's hardly any guarantee the league will start, much less attract Vick's interest.

Thoughts??

 

[Sven]

Re: Michael Vick - 2009??

Saw this on rotoworld.com.....




Thoughts??

Its like Pacman signing with TNA Wrestling. Just another league owner trying to get some free advertising for his league via the internet and (hopefully) the press.

 

[JeffDunne]

Re: Michael Vick - 2009??

Would probably be a good deal for both.

He'll need to play somewhere if he wants another shot.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: Michael Vick - 2009??

Is he even out this year to be ready for 2009 football?

 

[Supermercado]

Re: Michael Vick - 2009??

Maybe they'll base a franchise inside the prison, featuring a team of convicts led by Vick hoping for redemption. It's got movie written all over it. May as well given that the whole thing will probably go **** up within five weeks anyway.

 

[Dagless]

Re: Michael Vick - 2009??

A team of convicts vs the guards!!!1!11... Now THATS a movie

Burt Reynolds would star as Vick in the movie!!!!!1111111111!!!!!

 

[Crumpler83]

Vick would be a good fit on the Cowboys roster.

Vick, Tank Johnson and PacMan...what a trio!! Tank could show him how much easier it is to simply shoot a dog rather than electrocuting it and PacMan could surely teach him how to "make it rain y'all"...

 

[dockers_bengals]

Re: Michael Vick - 2009??

A team of convicts vs the guards!!!1!11... Now THATS a movie

Burt Reynolds would star as Vick in the movie!!!!!1111111111!!!!!

And maybe call it the Longest Yard

 

[Vick<Footy]

Some info in the Washington Times today about this Falls upcoming new pro football league, the UFL.

Teams: Las Vegas, New York, Orlando, San Fransisco

Schedule: Seve-game regular season starting Oct. 8 and ending with championship game in Las Vegas on Thanksgiving weekend. Games will be played Thursday and Friday nights.

TV: Versus will air a game every Thursday.

Coaches: Jim Fassel (Las Vegas), Jim Haslett (Orlando), Dennis Green (San Fransisco), and Ted Cottrell (New York). Each team will have 10-member coaching staffs.

Roster: Teams will sign 60 players for training camp and keep 50 players for the regular season (45 active players on game day).

Salaries: Players will sign one-year contracts and can't leave for an NFL team until after the UFL season. The minimum salary will be the same as an NFL practice squad player ($5,200 per week).

Rules: They will be nearly identical to the NFL.

Tickets: Average ticket price will be $20.

---------------------

I honestly think that if they do this right, and get more tv promotion than the XFL did, they may have a shot. The US can certainly support two leagues. If they sell this as the "NFL minor league" I think they could make it work like the MLB does with Tripple A. I know at least in the South, Tripple A is huge. Specifically in my area, the Rome Braves, and Gwinnett Braves have 20,000+ seat stadiums and regularly sell out games. With ticket prices of $20, you could see a lot of ticket sales with dad's finding it more affordable to take their family to UFL games rather than the $45+ tickets of NFL games. Especially considering the economy, time may be ripe for them to get in on the action and find fans that would come out to a game because of the lower price. Furthermore, the selection of Fall was a good idea versus the XFL's spring schedule. People will be primed for football in the Fall, and Thursday/Friday games won't run into the college/pro focused weekends. Hopefully they will do ok this year and be able to look for expansion next year. I would expect possible expansion team sites to be in Birmingham, Charlotte, Charleston, Oklahoma City, Portland, Knoxville, and other medium market cities.

 

[Nappies]

Re: United Football Leage info

What ever happened to the league they were looking at setting up along the lines of Aussie Rules amateur footy - ie. Old Boys.

I heard they were looking at a 'minor league' where the guys who dont get drafted from USC, Penn State, Florida etc. can play for a college old boys team to provide some sort of comp, as well as keeping and enhancing the school spirit once they actually leave school.

 

[Vick<Footy]

Re: United Football Leage info

What ever happened to the league they were looking at setting up along the lines of Aussie Rules amateur footy - ie. Old Boys.

I heard they were looking at a 'minor league' where the guys who dont get drafted from USC, Penn State, Florida etc. can play for a college old boys team to provide some sort of comp, as well as keeping and enhancing the school spirit once they actually leave school.

You're right on the money. This is the AAFL All-American Football League which was supposed to start this spring. The theme of the league was to be bring a college spirit and thematic element to the pro game. They had a draft in 2008 with intentions to run their first season in spring/summer 2009. They canceled their season because of the economy with new intentions to begin in 2010. The Washington Times article indicated that there are talks of combining the league with the UFL.

The original teams and "big name" players were:

• Team Alabama – (Birmingham, Legion Field), coached by Mike Jones, former head coach of the Frankfurt Galaxy in NFL Europa. The team includes former Crimson Tide players Reggie Myles, Alonzo Ephraim, and Marcus Spencer, Auburn Tigers players Karibi Dede, Tre Smith and Kendall Mack, Troy Trojans players Rob Austin and Franklin Lloyd, as well as UAB players Ernest Respress and Shamar Abrams

• Team Arkansas – (Little Rock, War Memorial Stadium), coached by Ron Calcagni. Signed players include former Razorback star Clint Stoerner.

• Team Florida – (Gainesville, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium) coached by Shane Matthews. Signed players include former Gators quarterback Chris Leak and former FSU standout and 1st round draft pick, Peter Warrick. The two final home games would have been played in Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, Jacksonville and Raymond James Stadium, Tampa.

• Team Michigan – (Detroit, Ford Field), coached by John Fontes, former assistant coach of the Detroit Lions. Players have been signed from Central Michigan University, Ferris State University, Michigan State University, University of Michigan and Western Michigan University.

• Team Tennessee – (Knoxville, Neyland Stadium), coached by Andy Kelly. Signed players include former University of Tennessee kicker James Wilhoit, and Rod Smart better known as "He Hate Me".

• Team Texas – (Houston, Rice Stadium), coached by former University of Louisiana-Monroe player JT Dunbar. Eric Crouch, the 2001 Heisman Trophy winner, was drafted by them.

We shall see...
While I certainly believe the US can support two leagues, three is probably out of the question. But they certainly seem to have different business plans and markets. The UFL's approach is one that I think works better. They are intending to be a NFL minor league. A stepping stone for players that almost made the cut. It seems to be aimed at guys who barely missed getting draft and didn't get picked up in free agency and are looking to use the league as a spring board into the NFL. There is certainly an argument that getting tv time and media exposure as a starter in a minor league may make it easier to get picked up than fighting your way onto a team as a practice squad player. Rod "He Hate Me" Smart is definitely the ideal example of this, as his XFL exposure leap frogged him back into a starting roll in the NFL. Additionally, if the UFL shows promise after a few seasons, there is also certainly the chance that the NFL comes along and buys it and creates an official NFL minor league out of it. Similar to how they used NFL Europe.
On the other hand the AAFL seemed to have the goal of seperating themselves from the NFL as a league with payed players but within a college atmosphere. But we already have this. It's called NCAA College Football. Those kids already get payed. You just try not to get caught. lolz
I think they would certainly fair better if they joined forces and financial backing. Only time will tell.