Where a new league should place teams

[tested]

It seems that every few years some group of people get together and try to form a new football league to compete with the NFL. It rarely if ever amounts to much more than just talk. It remains to be seen if the UFL will be any different.

However, I've thought about it and come up with a list of places I think any new football league should try. They are places that are generally not currently served by any football team or few major league sports.

Portland, OR - they've just got the NBA and are big enough to support something more.

Sacramento - same as Oregon. Besides, it would have natural rivalries with LA and Portland

Los Angeles - big enough to have enough fan support and no NFL team makes this a pretty obvious choice.

Salt Lake City - very loyal sports fans with only one major league franchise to support. I think they could support another.

Oklahoma City - football crazy state with only an NBA team to its name. Its a growing area and I'd bet they could support a team.

San Antonio - the city has shown it will support an NFL team. I'm sure they could get enough support for a new league too.

El Paso - no one has tried anything out here. This is a big city with a football crazy population. Give it a shot.

Albuquerque - same situation as El Paso.

Memphis - they had the Oilers for a year or so and supported them pretty well. Give them their own team and I'd bet you would do just fine.

Milwaukee - now that Green Bay has quit playing games here it seems like a new league might find a pretty good base of fan support.

Columbus, OH - the NHL is the only major league here. It's a football crazy state and I'm sure they'd watch on sunday.

Orlando - Football crazy state with only an NBA franchise to support. Makes it a natural choice.

Some of the places I left off the list have been tried before without much success. Birmingham and Las Vegas in particular. I also didn't include New York, but I assume a team would have to be in that market to be considered a real league.

[preeths]

Not a bad list, but Birmingham's been as successful as Memphis in secondary leagues, and the XFL did well in Las Vegas. I'm less sold on El Paso and Albuquerque. I also think you're correct in stating that New York would be necessary, especially if they hope for a TV deal.

[Wolf33]

How about an NFL Developmental League like the NBA D-League:

Portland, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, San Antonio,
El Paso, Albuquerque, Memphis, Milwaukee, Columbus, Orlando, Birmingham,
Las Vegas: Take these 14 cities plus two more locations for a total of 16 teams. Then have each of the 32 NFL teams put up $ 750,000 each per season this would give each team a $ 1.5 million budget. Players are paid $ 20,000 per man (40 man roster). Each NFL team could allocate 20 players to play on these teams. These players could be mini-camp players, future contract player or simply free agents that teams want to see play. Have the season run March, April and May ending early June.

Allow all of these players to report to NFL Camps without counting towards the camp cap similar to the NFLE. This would solve the training camp number problem and player development issues that the NFL now has. It would also give us real football almost year round.

[ca]

on this list as theyre nfl teams are a joke !

[Houston Caldwell]

It seems that every few years some group of people get together and try to form a new football league to compete with the NFL. It rarely if ever amounts to much more than just talk. It remains to be seen if the UFL will be any different.

However, I've thought about it and come up with a list of places I think any new football league should try. They are places that are generally not currently served by any football team or few major league sports.

Portland, OR - they've just got the NBA and are big enough to support something more.

Sacramento - same as Oregon. Besides, it would have natural rivalries with LA and Portland

Los Angeles - big enough to have enough fan support and no NFL team makes this a pretty obvious choice.

Salt Lake City - very loyal sports fans with only one major league franchise to support. I think they could support another.

Oklahoma City - football crazy state with only an NBA team to its name. Its a growing area and I'd bet they could support a team.

San Antonio - the city has shown it will support an NFL team. I'm sure they could get enough support for a new league too.

El Paso - no one has tried anything out here. This is a big city with a football crazy population. Give it a shot.

Albuquerque - same situation as El Paso.

Memphis - they had the Oilers for a year or so and supported them pretty well. Give them their own team and I'd bet you would do just fine.

Milwaukee - now that Green Bay has quit playing games here it seems like a new league might find a pretty good base of fan support.

Columbus, OH - the NHL is the only major league here. It's a football crazy state and I'm sure they'd watch on sunday.

Orlando - Football crazy state with only an NBA franchise to support. Makes it a natural choice.

Some of the places I left off the list have been tried before without much success. Birmingham and Las Vegas in particular. I also didn't include New York, but I assume a team would have to be in that market to be considered a real league.


Actually, Memphis was very conspicuous for their LACK OF SUPPORT of the Oilers in the one year the Oilers played in the Liberty Bowl (in the Oilers' final game at the Liberty Bowl against the Steelers, Steeler fans outnumbered the Oiler fans about 5-1). The Oilers were originally slated to play 2 seasons in Memphis while the stadium in Nashville was being built, but things were so bad attendance-wise in year 1 in Memphis that the Oilers played year 2 at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville. Memphis fans simply didn't have much enthusiasm for what they perceived as Nashville's team; the rivalry between Tennessee's 2 largest cities is VERY real.

Despite this, Memphis would be, IMO, a good location for the UFL, and Little Rock, AR would be a good location as well at War Memorial Stadium.