Aaronhere
07-15-2008, 04:42 PM
INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL FEDERATION (1999) - The league, which would play in the spring of 2000, had 13 proposed franchises - New York, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Denver, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Toronto (Turbos), San Jose, Houston, Hartford (Connecticut Patriots) and Hawaii. WHA founder Dennis Murphy and Edward Litwack (picturd below), the league's president and chief executive officer, acknowledged having preliminary discussions with NBC and Turner Broadcasting, the networks that lost out in the $18 billion NFL contract negotiated in 1998. Entertainer Dionne Warwick was identified as a part owner of the two franchises in Southern California. The league was never heard from after its first press conference.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v398/notoriousap/iff/iff.jpg
TURNER-NBC FOOTBALL LEAGUE (1999) - First unveiled in May 1998, the new league would begin in eight cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, as well as in mid-sized markets such as Salt Lake City, Orlando,and Birmingham. The league would target the smaller markets to ensure a strong fan base, essential for survival, according to league executives. The schedule would extend 12 to 16 weeks, likely starting in July or August to avoid too much overlap with the NFL, which starts in September. Ad execs said they liked the July-September time frame because of a dearth of major sports at that time of year, except for baseball. The networks said they were looking at a start in 1999 or 2000, but the proposed league, which had grown to 12 franchises, folded when the two networks worked out a $1.2 billion deal with NASCAR. NBC and Turner entered into six-year contracts with NASCAR beginning in 2001 that would provide sports programming for Sundays in July and August that would conflict with the proposed schedule of a summer football league. NBC did cast its lot with the XFL in 2001 and found itself on the end of the worst ratings in sports television history.
ALL AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE (2006) - The league, based in the spring and trying to cast a "college" appearance, was first announced in the fall of 2006. Six charter members were announced - Team Alabama (Birmingham), Team Florida (Gainesville), Team Tennessee (Knoxville), Team Texas (Houston), Team Michigan (Detroit) and Team Arkansas (Little Rock). The 10-game season was scheduled to kick off in April 2008, but the AAFL Board of Directors voted in mid-March to postpone their inaugural season to 2009, claiming that a single owner system that was hampered by the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the U.S. that had trickled down into other sectors, such as federally guaranteed student loans, and securing a television agreement late in the game doomed the league.
http://www.birminghamprosports.com/otherteams/logoaafl2.gif
UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE (2007) - The league was first unveiled in late May 2007 on Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's web blog. An article the following week in the New York Times revealed that William Hambrecht, a Wall Street investor and former minority partner in the USFL's Oakland Invaders, and Tim Armstrong, a senior executive at Google, were the founders of the league, with Cuban the first to publicly profess interest in owning a franchise. Eight teams were expected to compete in the inaugural season, which was originally scheduled for August 2008. The league initially intended to place these teams in markets (including a few outside the United States) where the NFL had no presence. In October 2007, the league announced it would allow fans in 13 communities to pay for reserved season tickets at ticketreserve.com (now firstDIBZ.com) in what would be a competition to help league officials and potential owners select the UFL's first eight markets. This vote came with the promise that "If their city isn't selected, the money is refunded". Expected to announce its first six franchises by the end of March 2008, the UFL instead saw that month pass with no team locations having been finalized. According to fan website "UFLAccess" in February 2008, the league's opening games were pushed back a year to August of 2009 to allow for more time to attract owner-investors, negotiate a TV broadcast deal and build league branding. According to UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue, it is likely that the league will launch in August of 2009 with eight teams. These will most probably include the following six markets, as well as two markets which have yet to be named - Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, San Antonio, Orlando, and Salt Lake City. Rachel Gary, public relations director for the UFL, said that the league would hope to make a more concrete announcement before the end of the summer of 2008.
UPDATE: According to an article on Sports Illustrated's website authored by Peter King, the UFL is scheduled to kick off in 2009, with a season that will last until Thanksgiving. Huyghue said there will be six teams: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Orlando, New York and Hartford.
http://www.birminghamprosports.com/otherteams/logoufl.gif
THE NEW USFL (2010) - On August 23, 2008, a press conference revealed plans for The New USFL, a direct revival of the league,
planning to start play in Spring 2010. Tom Shapiro, former Assistant City Attorney of Santa Barbara, California has been hired as Commissioner. Some new rules have been announced:
* Fans will be able to purchase stock in any franchise
* No pre-season, just a 16-game regular season
* No touchbacks on kickoffs, if the ball goes out of the endzone, it will be placed at the 15 yard line
* Field goals of at least 55 yards will be four points
* A three-point conversion will be placed at the 10 yard line
* One foot inbounds for a catch
* No kneel downs
* Safeties are worth 4 points
* Overtime will be played like in college
The New USFL season is planned to begin in February and run for sixteen weeks plus playoffs, with a championship game at the end of June. The league will introduce 12 franchises for the inaugural season, with hopes to grow to an eventual sixteen teams. Franchises have been awarded to ownership groups in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Jose, Portland, San Antonio (Northwest Divison), Orlando, Little Rock, New York - West Point and Baton Rouge (South-East Division). The other 3 franchises could go to Dallas, Houston, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, Memphis, Mississippi, New Jersey or Alabama.
http://www.onlinesports.com/images/cd-usflhelmet.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v398/notoriousap/iff/iff.jpg
TURNER-NBC FOOTBALL LEAGUE (1999) - First unveiled in May 1998, the new league would begin in eight cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, as well as in mid-sized markets such as Salt Lake City, Orlando,and Birmingham. The league would target the smaller markets to ensure a strong fan base, essential for survival, according to league executives. The schedule would extend 12 to 16 weeks, likely starting in July or August to avoid too much overlap with the NFL, which starts in September. Ad execs said they liked the July-September time frame because of a dearth of major sports at that time of year, except for baseball. The networks said they were looking at a start in 1999 or 2000, but the proposed league, which had grown to 12 franchises, folded when the two networks worked out a $1.2 billion deal with NASCAR. NBC and Turner entered into six-year contracts with NASCAR beginning in 2001 that would provide sports programming for Sundays in July and August that would conflict with the proposed schedule of a summer football league. NBC did cast its lot with the XFL in 2001 and found itself on the end of the worst ratings in sports television history.
ALL AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE (2006) - The league, based in the spring and trying to cast a "college" appearance, was first announced in the fall of 2006. Six charter members were announced - Team Alabama (Birmingham), Team Florida (Gainesville), Team Tennessee (Knoxville), Team Texas (Houston), Team Michigan (Detroit) and Team Arkansas (Little Rock). The 10-game season was scheduled to kick off in April 2008, but the AAFL Board of Directors voted in mid-March to postpone their inaugural season to 2009, claiming that a single owner system that was hampered by the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the U.S. that had trickled down into other sectors, such as federally guaranteed student loans, and securing a television agreement late in the game doomed the league.
http://www.birminghamprosports.com/otherteams/logoaafl2.gif
UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE (2007) - The league was first unveiled in late May 2007 on Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's web blog. An article the following week in the New York Times revealed that William Hambrecht, a Wall Street investor and former minority partner in the USFL's Oakland Invaders, and Tim Armstrong, a senior executive at Google, were the founders of the league, with Cuban the first to publicly profess interest in owning a franchise. Eight teams were expected to compete in the inaugural season, which was originally scheduled for August 2008. The league initially intended to place these teams in markets (including a few outside the United States) where the NFL had no presence. In October 2007, the league announced it would allow fans in 13 communities to pay for reserved season tickets at ticketreserve.com (now firstDIBZ.com) in what would be a competition to help league officials and potential owners select the UFL's first eight markets. This vote came with the promise that "If their city isn't selected, the money is refunded". Expected to announce its first six franchises by the end of March 2008, the UFL instead saw that month pass with no team locations having been finalized. According to fan website "UFLAccess" in February 2008, the league's opening games were pushed back a year to August of 2009 to allow for more time to attract owner-investors, negotiate a TV broadcast deal and build league branding. According to UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue, it is likely that the league will launch in August of 2009 with eight teams. These will most probably include the following six markets, as well as two markets which have yet to be named - Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, San Antonio, Orlando, and Salt Lake City. Rachel Gary, public relations director for the UFL, said that the league would hope to make a more concrete announcement before the end of the summer of 2008.
UPDATE: According to an article on Sports Illustrated's website authored by Peter King, the UFL is scheduled to kick off in 2009, with a season that will last until Thanksgiving. Huyghue said there will be six teams: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Orlando, New York and Hartford.
http://www.birminghamprosports.com/otherteams/logoufl.gif
THE NEW USFL (2010) - On August 23, 2008, a press conference revealed plans for The New USFL, a direct revival of the league,
planning to start play in Spring 2010. Tom Shapiro, former Assistant City Attorney of Santa Barbara, California has been hired as Commissioner. Some new rules have been announced:
* Fans will be able to purchase stock in any franchise
* No pre-season, just a 16-game regular season
* No touchbacks on kickoffs, if the ball goes out of the endzone, it will be placed at the 15 yard line
* Field goals of at least 55 yards will be four points
* A three-point conversion will be placed at the 10 yard line
* One foot inbounds for a catch
* No kneel downs
* Safeties are worth 4 points
* Overtime will be played like in college
The New USFL season is planned to begin in February and run for sixteen weeks plus playoffs, with a championship game at the end of June. The league will introduce 12 franchises for the inaugural season, with hopes to grow to an eventual sixteen teams. Franchises have been awarded to ownership groups in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Jose, Portland, San Antonio (Northwest Divison), Orlando, Little Rock, New York - West Point and Baton Rouge (South-East Division). The other 3 franchises could go to Dallas, Houston, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, Memphis, Mississippi, New Jersey or Alabama.
http://www.onlinesports.com/images/cd-usflhelmet.jpg