What the UFL is doing right!

[uflorlandofan]

I think if you look through the graveyard of other Football leagues that have came and gone you will notice the big difference with them and the UFL. Think about all of the upstart leagues, XFL, WLAF, USFL, ETC..... They all thought it was a good idea to play in the spring. I think the smartest thing the UFL could have done is come up with a traditional fall Football schedule. Everyone knows that spring time is Baseball time and other tradional late winter and spring sports. Fall is football time and I think if they sell themselves to channels such as versus, Fox Sports Net, ETC..... the UFL could be very successful! You could have Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night games that I think would do very well as far as advertising revenue. Hey football on 7 days a week from August through December would be a very good thing!

[rams80]

That is the dumbest part of the UFL model.

College football has already colonized and occupied the weekday for games. The UFL, which is planning on using those stadia, would be out of luck. (And that assumes the colleges would be willing to let teams play there in the middle of a game week.)

[uflorlandofan]

Here is the deal. Every Football league with the exception of one has made the dumb mistake of playing there schedule in the spring. Remember the exception was the AFL, and in away they are still around. You have to give the UFL credit for trying to succeed where the others did not. I know I will be at the Citrus Bowl to root them on next fall!

[rams80]

Here is the deal. Every Football league with the exception of one has made the dumb mistake of playing there schedule in the spring. Remember the exception was the AFL, and in away they are still around. You have to give the UFL credit for trying to succeed where the others did not. I know I will be at the Citrus Bowl to root them on next fall!

The USFL failed BECAUSE they shifted to a fall schedule; many of their teams played in NFL stadia, and while successful in the spring, a move to the fall would put them in direct competition with the NFL. They would most likely still be around if they had stuck it out in the Spring. The XFL was improperly marketed, which brought about its demise, while the World League of American Football was undercapitalized.

What you are doing is comparing apples and oranges; the NFL was a lot weaker back during the American Football League days, so the AFL could establish a foothold on the American sporting public. That isn't the case today. If a new pro football league hopes to survive, then it must play in the fall.

[firewolff]

I think it's a mistake to play in the fall as well. Most of the news coverage will be about the NFL and college. The UFL will be buried. Most of the cities being considered at this time (and in the future) don't have MLB teams so I don't think that will be an issue. As a Portland Breakers season ticket holder, I appreciated the milder Spring weather and knew that the annoucement to move to the Fall was the death knell of the league.

All the same, I wish the UFL the best of luck and hope to watch them on tv next year.

[JOHNLT1]

The question is, is there a market for the game? and the answer is yes, they are putting out a nfl based product. playing alongside nfl games may actually turn out to be a brilliant idea, the nfl is not going to want to share revenues and this game will cut into that, if they can put in the money needed to make it through the startup phases and get the game solidly based we would stand a lot better chance of being enveloped into the nfl. There is more than enough money, fanbase and players to support this game whenever it is played.
This is the one point to consider and i assure you the Las Vegas 110+ summer days has played no part in this opinion. yeah!

[rams80]

The question is, is there a market for the game? and the answer is yes, they are putting out a nfl based product. playing alongside nfl games may actually turn out to be a brilliant idea, the nfl is not going to want to share revenues and this game will cut into that, if they can put in the money needed to make it through the startup phases and get the game solidly based we would stand a lot better chance of being enveloped into the nfl. There is more than enough money, fanbase and players to support this game whenever it is played.
This is the one point to consider and i assure you the Las Vegas 110+ summer days has played no part in this opinion. yeah!

If by enveloped you mean...the NFL will merge with the UFL.

No. That will never EVER happen. The NFL is not interested in that level of expansion for the foreseeable future. In fact, if the UFL were to try to force a merger, the NFL would probably try to actively kill it. In short...competing with the NFL is not smart.

[Pounder]

There is a market for football in cities alienated by both NFL and college ball.

There is a far larger market FOR THE NFL.

Frankly, to me, spring or fall doesn't matter. The best thing to do is to be budgeted to slip below the radar and develop fans first. I get the hunch that Mark Cuban wants this to be high profile right out of the gate, sealing its doom.

[JOHNLT1]

I agree we are comparing apples and oranges when it comes to ufl vs nfl and at this point im expressing wishfull thinking. It is a nfl dominated sport and rightfully so. Being a native Nevadan and a fanatic football fan i feel i have missed out on the fellowship a home town team musters so i get a little excited at the prospect of a team of our own. nfl is the holy grail of sports and will remain that regardless of whenever ufl plays its games. I dont get the impression Mr. Cuban flies under the radar of anything so i say bring us a team keep it away from sun, mon, thur, playoffs and the bowl and my ass will be in the front row. i dont see how that leaves ufl a lot of time left but i will make some time and the wife will have to get a little more understanding.

[Jamie]

Everyone knows that spring time is Baseball time and other tradional late winter and spring sports.

Spring time is Arena Football time!

All other so-called sports are what you watch while waiting for football to be on TV.

;-)

[SignGuyDino]

My concern frankly is if the UFL takes off and is basically a legitmate minor league, they'll get raided by the NFL as injuries mount up. Especially at quarterback.

What was said about the USFL is exactly correct, the difference is today there are far more channels. Cuban can put games on HDNet as an afterthought. Can probably get a deal to have games on Versus too since they are now HD. I think it could be a lot of fun.

High school football is so (bleeping) political in hometowns it's unwatchable to me. I'd rather see players playing their hearts out.

I DO want to see some rule changes, not just to be radical for radical's sake, but because they make sense. Like kickoffs being untimed. If somebody gets a great run at :03, maybe a last second field goal wins it. Also, conversions spotted at the 20. The game is "FOOTball," why shouldn't there be some drama in the conversion, like there is in rugby, where the conversions are far more vital. Also, on kickoffs, receiving team must be 15 yards away from the ball at kickoff, but ball only has to go 10 on onside kicks. Make them run for it. Also, to speed up the game, don't do what the colleges stupidly did last year. Simply state on 1st and 3rd quarters only, after the ball is spotted after incomplete passes, restart the clock. It'll speed up the game, nobody will notice, and is not vital to the end of the game unlike the stupid timing rules the collegs had.