New spring league in the works?

[Aaronhere]

http://deadspin.com/5878954/exclusive-here-are-plans-for-a-new-professional-football-league-run-by-former-nfl-xfl-and-usfl-executives

The document below is a November confidential summary obtained by Deadspin of something called the Spring Professional Football League, which presents itself as a non-hostile NFL alternative, to be built on the bones of the several leagues that have tried and failed before.

According to its own forecasts, the SPFL, whose management includes a number of former XFL and NFL Europe executives, will debut in 2013 with eight teams playing a 14- to 16-week season. The summary lists the cities under consideration as New York, Washington, Memphis, Orlando, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Denver, Dallas, Phoenix, Houston, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Teams would be centrally owned by the league, a la Major League Soccer.

You can read the full summary for yourself at the bottom of the post. Keep in mind that the document is intended to goose investment; the numbers are projections, and rosy ones at that. It's not clear where things stand with the league today. If the SFPL were hewing to its timeline, we should expect a league unveiling sometime this month. A call to the SPFL's CEO, Mark E. Singleton, was not returned.

With the exception of Singleton, a former accountant at KPMG whose CV has him both investing in Mongolian mining and running a non-profit, non-partisan, largely non-existent Internet forum for public policy debate, the SPFL's management has been pulled from the NFL and the wreckage of its old competitors. The president and chief operating officer is Michael F. Keller, a former Michigan linebacker and defensive end who was drafted by Dallas in 1972 and who went on to become, in his words, "a start-up guru." Keller has worked with the Cowboys, the Seahawks, the NFL League Office, NFL Europe, and the USFL. He was reportedly the first hire at the XFL—the league founded by WWF owner Vince McMahon that lasted only one unruly season—where he served as vice president for football operations. (And he's the father of former Nebraska and Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller, who in 2009 sued the NCAA and EA Sports over the use of his likeness in video games.)

In addition, the SPFL's vice president of football operations, William C. Baker Jr., is a former NFL scout who has worked with the USFL, the Arena Football League, and the XFL. The assistant to the president, David A. Rahn, has done front-office stints in the NFL, the USFL, and the MLS. The director of cheerleading, Jay Howarth, was in charge of XFL cheerleading, which is just about all anyone remembers of the XFL anyway.

The summary invokes those defunct leagues—under the header "Learning From the Past"—and offers a few "reasons for failure." One of them is, "Directly competing with the NFL in the fall or for talent," suggesting the SPFL has no plans to do either. (That's ultimately what did in the USFL, the last real threat to the NFL's monopoly.)

I sent the summary to sports economists Roger Noll and Rodney Fort to get their take on the league's viability. They weren't nearly as optimistic as the proposal's authors. Fort called it a "cute document," full of "pie-in-the-sky plans" and a lot of "what-ifs." Noll wrote in an email: "My overall assessment is that this is XFL redux without the pizzazz and the McMahon baggage, but with all of the other flaws." We'll have more of their analysis later.

Seattle to get another professional football team? - http://blog.seattlepi.com/football/2012/02/01/seattle-to-get-another-professional-football-team/

Spring Professional Football League Reportedly in the Works - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1048852-spring-professional-football-league-reportedly-in-the-works

[preeths]

Given the current economic climate and the failure of the UFL, obtaining financing is going to be even more challenging... and it wouldn't have been easy before. Having said that, I like their plan better than the UFL's already.

[Aaronhere]

Given the current economic climate and the failure of the UFL, obtaining financing is going to be even more challenging... and it wouldn't have been easy before. Having said that, I like their plan better than the UFL's already.

The UFL is running on fumes. Their best bet is to merge what little assets they have left with this proposed league.......

[Dan K]

Similar to other spring attempts like the new USFL [www.thenewusfl.com] and the developmental Spring Football League [www.springfootballleague.com]?

[tops804]

Given the current economic climate and the failure of the UFL, obtaining financing is going to be even more challenging... and it wouldn't have been easy before. Having said that, I like their plan better than the UFL's already.

This is kind of like saying "I'd rather jump into the ocean and drown, then getted burned to death by the lava."

The USFL grew on the pretense of a TV Contract, and not enough sports (or channels) to watch in the spring. It failed.

WLAF grew on a "football hungry audience" and as a developing ground for the NFL. It failed. (Sooner rather than later in the states.)

The XFL was born on flash, dash, and cash. It failed.

As much as I like the idea of spring football. March Madness, Spring Training, NBA Playoffs, and NHL playoffs all take precedence...Even if not by myself, or us...The media piece of pie just isn't big enough to give a new league notice, let alone support and stability.

[ca]

do it now in orl , mem , louisville , chi , akron and det
with loop owned teams , a salary cap and using existing facilities this could work for 2012 w/o a tv deal cause aaa baseball doesnt have one

[Sam Hill]

It can work....for the spring...of 2012? Which begins (officially) a month and eleven days from now? Really? You think you can put together an entire football league in six weeks?

Did you notice that these people don't actually have investors yet...so "loop owned teams," a salary cap and existing facilities don't really matter?

And AAA baseball has eff-all to do with anything. Holy cow, what planet are you on?

[ca]

so if they dont play by 2013 what will be their excuse then probably not enough tickets sold so lets hold out for some fantasy tv deal that may never come so we talk it to death
crap or get off the pot

[preeths]

But that's expensive and foolishly so. Their "excuse" will probably be that they can't secure enough financing. Not really so much an excuse as a valid reason. Just for starters, AAA baseball has the benefit of many more games (chances to sell tickets, etc.) and not having to pay for their players (MLB does that). The players are going to be a major expense for any alternative football league.

There are a lot of factors against any new alternative league. It's not just as simple as establishing a few teams and hoping things work out somehow. Any real money is going to want to see a plan to get a return someday... or it's already tied up in the UFL.

[ca]

this new loop needs to be agressive in selling tickets and stop waiting on this fairy godmother tv deal or it will just be another paper league

[tops804]

this new loop needs to be agressive in selling tickets and stop waiting on this fairy godmother tv deal or it will just be another paper league

What percentage of total revenue does ticket sales account for in any sport? Let alone a league with no teams, coaches, or talent? You are definitely counting on a fairy godmother it you think this thing could ever get off the ground....

Furthermore, AAA baseball doesn't need a TV contract. It has this thing called a major league affiliate to help support it. What is CA's SFL going to use?

[ca]

does need to try and i think it could do well selling tickets . if this doesnt happen then its just another proposal for a tv deal may never come

[preeths]

I must confess, I haven't run the numbers on this. But I have talked to a lot of people who have, some with lots of experience with alternative leagues, and I've been told you cannot do this on ticket sales alone. Outdoor football at a true professional level is outrageously expensive. You need another source of revenue to cover those expenses.

[tops804]

A few other facts to chew on:

The USFL ran for 3 years (with a TV contract) and planned a forth season (complete with schedule, teams, rosters). How'd that turn out?

The WFL ran for 1 year with a TV contract, and began a second. How'd that turn out?

According to the MAHL (which claimed a part of it's success plan was to be profitable) "even if they had zero attendance" they could move forward. (Where are they today?)

Bottom line is
1 - You need leadership.
2 - You need owners with deep pockets, and willing to take an early loss.
3 - You need media coverage (and yes a national TV contract, especially for outdoor football. Regional or local might work just as well in a minor league)
4 - You need local and national sponsors.
5 - Otherwise, You'd be better to invest your money in something else.

Without the first four above. I wouldn't even bother to invest in a ticket prior to game time. So far, these alleged spring leagues (The New USFL and AAFL for example, couldn't even "die" with a whimper....For nobody was there to hold the wake...)

[centraldesk]

So far I know of at least 5 groups trying to put together a spring league and of course the UFL is in the mix to what degree no one knows. The question is where are they on the timeline.

UFL - everyone jumping ship, unpaid bills, no direction for their failed national minor league.

SFL - rinky-dink... nuff said.

A1 Pro Football League - ????????

SPFL - little known at this time but apparently led by former execs from the NFL, USFL and XFL. This give me no real confidence considering that this kink of makeup were also behind the WFAL and the UFL.

USFL - sold to management and marketing firms. I am currently trying to get some more information.

UFL - who is left??? their email contact for their website no longer works and all that I have heard from them is from their unpaid players. They too have questioned whether or not to go to a spring season. Again they show absolutly no leadership or direction.

[Sam Hill]

What percentage of total revenue does ticket sales account for in any sport?

Varies. NHL teams generated about $1.2 billion in ticket revenue last year an average of about $40 million per team, which was about 39% of each team's revenue. NFL teams get about $93 million a year just from TV, but their ticket revenue is split 60/40 with the road team and so it's a different animal. Most MLB TV revenue is from local/regional deals rather than national deals. But they all still generate a bunch of ticket revenue that sets the stage for everything else.

Bottom line: Yes, you usually need TV revenue to make ends meet, but you're not going to get it unless you also generate ticket revenue. No one gives a league a big-money TV contract unless they're proving people are interested by selling tickets, even if it's not 50%+ of their actual revenue.

An alternative pro football league can launch without a TV contract, but it's going to lose a ton of money because football is incredibly expensive to do. Player costs, insurance and workman's comp, plus the cost of equipment and travel and stadiums and all that make it an incredibly expensive proposition, especially if you're just starting from a blank piece of paper.

The XFL nearly met its goal of a million tickets sold....and lost tens of millions of dollars, even with a TV contract. The UFL has sold some tickets in some places and demonstrated some interest...and lost tens of millions of dollars.

There's money out there for TV football....NFL and NCAA TV football. Alternative leagues don't have much of a chance of getting a piece of that. Especially if they haven't proven people are actually interested in the league on a big scale.