UFL announcement expected this week...

[Nation86]

http://uflaccess.com/

Also - check out our new site design along with this exciting news! Our forums should be up shortly.

[Aaronhere]

Interesting comments on the UFL Access website regarding an interview the Commissioner did with a German football website:

Commissioner Huyghue apparently told Huddle that if eight teams kickoff in August those teams will be: Birmingham, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, New York, Orlando, Sacramento, and San Antonio. Those markets sound about right, although my hunch - and this is an educated guess from a few “sources” I spoke to – is that if only six teams are a go in year one the markets will be Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Sacramento, New York, Orlando, and Memphis.

I can see them going with 8 teams in 2008:
EASTERN DIVISION
New York - Giants Stadium or Shea Stadium
Orlando - Citrus Bowl
Birmingham - Legion Field
Memphis - Liberty Bowl
WESTERN DIVISION
Sacramento - Hornet Field (?)
Los Angeles - LA Coliseum
San Antonio - Alamodome
Las Vegas - Boyd Stadium

Looks a little like the USFL 1986 lineup that never played a game (minus Arizona, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville and Baltimore) - Bring back the Generals, Renegades, Stallions, Showboats

As he has to me, Huyghue reiterated to Huddle that he wants 16 teams in fairly quick order. Huyghue apparently told Huddle – and again we are relying on interpretation here – that Frankfurt and London are very likely to have teams within a few years, which would bring an international cachet to the UFL that Huyghue referenced in my earlier interview for OurSportsCentral.

Potential expansion franchises
EUROPEAN DIVISION - Frankfurt, London, Berlin, Hamburg
AMERICAN - Portland, Hawaii, Phoenix, Oklahoma

Each UFL team will have 50 players on each roster and play 14 games. That is dependent upon having 8 teams. If the league only locks down six teams they will play ten games in year one. The article also had the (old) news that the league will have a $20,000,000 salary cap. The “new” aspect of the news was that they chose this amount because it is the amount the NFL spends on the last two dozen players on its roster, which are the players that the UFL wishes to aggressively pursue. The UFL is also interested in the last players cut from each training camp. The remainder of it wasn’t so much news as following up on what has been said in the past. Each owner will pay $30,000,000 for a team – or $60,000,000 if they wish to own 2/3rds of a team. This will lead to each franchise being equipped with $90,000,000 – insuring that the UFL will operate for a minimum of three years. The last bit of actual news bodes well for penny pinching UFL fans. The average ticket price for the UFL will be $25. [Less than many college tickets run! – Editor]

Is there a television deal looming? ABC? Versus? I cannot see ESPN, CBS or NBC doing anything to upset the NFL.

[Nation86]

I will answer your questions on our forums which just launched... =)

[preeths]

It's usually considered bad form to pirate traffic from other forums.

[firewolff]

[quote=""preeths""]It's usually considered bad form to pirate traffic from other forums.[/quote]

No flashy newcomer can steal our hearts away from you, Paul.

[Aaronhere]

Paul:
Us fellow Cheeseheads will never bail on you. If Uncle Joe could not steal our affection, no one could....

[preeths]

Ha! Nation's a good guy who's written for OSC before. For everyone, I don't have any problem with people using other web addresses in their sigs, but if the question is asked here, it should probably be answered here.

[ca]

would make a good ufl market cause the nfl team here SUCKS !

[wellington]

[quote=""Aaronhere""]
Los Angeles - LA Coliseum
[/quote]

I wonder if they'd consider playing at the Home Depot Center (HDC) in Carson home of Beckham's LA Galaxy. Obviously a much smaller venue than the Coliseum, but a sold out crowd of 25,000 at HDC would look much better than 25,000 in the cavernous Coliseum.

Also, a New York franchise could play at Red Bull Park (will be completed in 2009) instead of Giants Stadium. Again, a much smaller venue, but these may be the types of venues that the UFL should consider playing in.

[Minor League Man]

[quote=""wellington""]I wonder if they'd consider playing at the Home Depot Center (HDC) in Carson home of Beckham's LA Galaxy. Obviously a much smaller venue than the Coliseum, but a sold out crowd of 25,000 at HDC would look much better than 25,000 in the cavernous Coliseum.

Also, a New York franchise could play at Red Bull Park (will be completed in 2009) instead of Giants Stadium. Again, a much smaller venue, but these may be the types of venues that the UFL should consider playing in.[/quote]
The UFL NY team would play at Hofstra's stadium for '08, and maybe in '09 move to Red Bull Park