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Interesting, but I think the NFL is way too established in the American psyche to allow for a successful compe or.
New pro football league...Mark Cuban is the 1st owner. Heard a blip about it on the radio just now, but can't find anything online...
Sounds failed to me...you can't compete with the NFL...
more details
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/...20070530005349
PLAY: The New York Times Sports Magazine Breaks United Football League Story
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PLAY: The New York Times Sports Magazine reports in its June 3 issue that Wall Streeter Bill Hambrecht and Google executive Tim Armstrong are launching a professional football league to compete with the N.F.L., and have lined up billionaire Mark Cuban as their first team owner.
In an exclusive column, Joe Nocera writes that the new United Football League aims to line up seven more owners “with Cuban’s deep pockets and contrarian mindset” so that it can debut with eight teams. Right now, the league is scheduled to play its first pre-season games in August, 2008.
Cuban owns the N.B.A.’s Dallas Mavericks. Undaunted by the monopolistic N.F.L., which has squashed four compe ors, he tells Nocera, “There are quite a few good-sized non-N.F.L. cities that can support a pro team.” So far, the league has picked Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Mexico City. San Antonio and Orlando are among other top markets without N.F.L. teams.
According to U.F.L. executives, Nocera reports, the new league will emulate the old American Football League – one of whose major characteristics was revenue sharing. Each owner will put up $30 million, worth a half-interest in a team; the league will own the other half. Eventually, the plan envisions that fans will become stakeholders – because each team will sell shares to the public to raise an average of $60 million per franchise. Public ownership will reduce the pricing pressure on the teams, resulting in cheaper tickets all around.
Officials are convinced they can land decent players from the get-go, and better players later on. “The U.F.L. will be able to offer most rookies, who aren’t top draft choices, far more money than the N.F.L. would give them,” Nocera writes.
Last edited by LEONARD; 05-30-2007 at 10:04 AM.
Interesting, but I think the NFL is way too established in the American psyche to allow for a successful compe or.
they want to play games in the fall??
the old USFL was smart enough to realize that you can't compete with college and the pros so they played in the spring/early summer.
it said preseason starts in Aug of 08' that would directly compete with the NFL. I don't see this working.
BacktoBasics I love your avatar.
Thanks.
xfl forum
i guess he decided to switch sports after he realized his squad was a bunch of pussies
so whats the over/under on number of games played before the league folds?
Busy year for startup pro football leagues. First we heard about the All American Football League (http://allamericanfootballleague.com/), then these guys?
This idea (competing with the NFL) seems to come up every five years or so. Remember when NBC and TNT were going to start a league because they got outbid on NFL broadcast rights?
Cuban's practicing for when he starts a competing basketball league. He'll probably push to have the minimum NBA age raised one more time and then he'll go buy all the high school phenoms.
Well that will not last long.
Well on PTI today they said the 8 teams would be in non NFL cities, including San Antonio.
I dunno if that was an opinion or a fact. Some folks might be interested in it but not many I imagine
No other football team has lasted in San Antonio so I cant imagine another will.
Last edited by sa_butta; 05-31-2007 at 11:09 AM.
Cuban's made some odd business moves of late.
Sounds like the investors are going to try and catch the NFL's attention. Maybe stay around a year then convince the NFL to buy them out. Money play.
From Cuban's blog @ blogmaverick.com:
is it crazy to try to compete with the NFL ?
I don't think so. Here is why:
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.
2. The NFL wants and needs compe ion. They have grown so big and powerful that every move they make is scrutinized by local or federal officials. A compe or allows them to point to us and explain that their moves are for compe ive reasons rather than the move of a monopoly.
3. They just extended their CBA. Their CBA structure is not designed for a compe ive environment. Compe ion 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.
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.
5. There are a lot of smart people involved in the UFL
6. Its a great TV product.
These are just my personal reasons for having an interest in being involved with the UFL. They still have a ton of work to do before a game can be played. Like all good ideas with a great opportunity available to it, the hard part is in the execution.
Hopefully they can get it done.
It's great in theory, but it's extremely difficult to execute. Unless you can convince some stars to join the league, it doesn't have much of a chance. It will be viewed as an inferior league and largely ignored by most, including in the franchise cities. Sure, the NFL doesn't have a franchise in LA, but does that mean LA is ignoring the league? Doubtful. If you put a franchise in SA, likely most fans will be too busy following the Cowboys to care. The USFL was able to secure a few big names but it never really gained traction.
I just don't know how they're going to compete with the NFL unless they find eight very rich guys that will outbid the Jerrys and the Dan Snyders of the world for talent. Otherwise, you'll be watching Michael Bishop and Adrian McPherson throwing to Charles Rogers and Reggie McNeal. , Reggie might play quarterback.
Who are they going to find to manage these teams? Or coach them? The NFL rapes and pillages itself for those guys. The XFL even had a national TV contract from day one and barely made one season. I think I read that the NFL salary cap is 110 million dollars.
Strangely, the CFL team probably would have been a success if the Browns didn't move to Baltimore and become the Ravens. It's average attendence was roughly what the Canadian CFL clubs were, and the owner was willing to operate at a loss for another few years, but when the Baltimore club moved to Canada leaving the SA one the only one in the US, the owner just blew it off.
But yeah, directly competing against the NFL is stupid. Something like this might work as a spring league. , the USFL might have worked if it stayed a spring league (the league, not the Gunslingers).
All depends on the economics of their business plan though.
Of course, it's not hard to guarantee the success of a San Antonio Franchise given the information here.
Step 1: Name Mark Cuban owner of the San Antonio team (keep reading)
Step 2: Announce the halftime show of every home game will merely involve Mark Cuban sitting in a lounge chair at midfield.
Step 3: Sell water balloons for $1 ea and special "muddy water" balloons for $5 ea.
Step 4: Rake in cash.
Last edited by fyatuk; 05-31-2007 at 04:56 PM.
nope, sorry Cubes. but the NFL has lasted too long, too many longstanding rivalries, too many die-hard fans. you will never be able to beat the NFL at their own game. in other words the only chance for it to succeed is to play at a different time in the year, and change up the rules a little bit so it isnt the same thing. Arena Football does both of those so it has experienced some popularity but is still nowhere near the NFL. sorry Cuban but this will be a disaster and it's impossible to surpass the NFL with this strategy.
Unless they can get their spending in control, an idea the USFL abandoned, they will just escalate a bidding war which will cost these billionaire owners alot. And just how many of these owners are willing to hang on for the long haul?
No way this works if it's in the fall. Can't compete with NFL and College in terms of TV contracts. They should have their season in the spring or summer, and compete with the AFL. NFL has to hope though history doesn't repeat it's self, anything Cuban touches turns into gold.
I'll be generous and say 5.
total or per team?
Will They Have Funky Names Like The Xfl I Wonder???
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