[simple simon]

There's another upstart hoping to challenge the NFL on the football field, according to a report on the New York Times web site and a story in this Sunday's Play Magazine. And its first owner is Dallas Mavericks billionaire owner Mark Cuban.

Bill Hambrecht, a Wall Street businessman, is starting the UFL. According to the report, he and his partner, Tim Armstrong, a senior executive at Google, have pledged $2 million each.

The Times/Play report says the league is still in the planning stages. Billionaire Boone Pickens backed out of his plan to buy a team, but Play says Cuban remains committed. Plans are for the league to have its first first preseason games in August 2008

Hambrecht’s plan is to enter big cities where the NFL isn’t, according to Play. As Cuban wrote in an e-mail, “There are quite a few good-sized non-N.F.L. cities that can support a pro team.” According to Play, the UFL has decided to put teams in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Mexico City. (Cuban is considering taking the Las Vegas franchise.) Each owner will put up $30 million, giving him an initial half-interest in the team; the league will own the other half. Eventually each team is going to sell shares to the public, according to Play. Then the owner, the league and the fans will each own a third of every franchise.

One television advantage the UFL will have is Friday night. Thanks to the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act, the NFL. is prohibited from televising games on most autumn Friday nights. Any new league would have televised football all to itself on that evening, the Play story says.

Roger Noll, a sports economist at Stanford University, told Play, “The crucial barrier to entry is finding stadiums in the biggest cities,” he replied — something UFL executives insist is not a problem in the places they are considering. “If you can do that, it would be easy to have a league.”
http://www.nbcsports.com/sports/1569872/detail.html?dest=rss|nfl

[simple simon]

more power to them im all for more football on TV

[Lefty Noob]

Good luck to them, but the quality of play in the NFL the past few seasons hasn't been great. I doubt there's enough talent out there to support a second league when there's barely enough to support a first

[simple simon]

Originally Posted by Lefty Noob

Good luck to them, but the quality of play in the NFL the past few seasons hasn't been great. I doubt there's enough talent out there to support a second league when there's barely enough to support a first

i disagree that they will struggle ...... if they do it right

many of these cities will love the teams and the chance to snub their noses at the NFL

i think the football they play has to remain the same .... dont try and tweak it cause if you tweak wrong people will be pissed

as for the talent ........ we dont know yet the salary cap also they can offer back-ups the chance to start

do you want to back-up Vince Young in Tenn. or do you want to start in Vegas ?

[Bette]

do you want to back-up Vince Young in Tenn. or do you want to start in Vegas ?

I have to go with Lefty on this. There is some really bad football in the NFL. If you are backing up Vince Young, its probably because you are an untried young quarterback who needs a little time, or you are a Drew Bledsoe or Vinny Testeverde. Nothing against either, they were great quarterbacks, but they are not starters. As for the other positions, my sister says second string is usually second string for a reason. I tend to agree with that in general.

[simple simon]

well Bette ........ you may just be amazed ......... but i agree with everything you said

however (yes there has to be a however) i still think enough people would watch it, i know i would

think about it ........ many times you watch what's available ...... sure you may want to watch a Big 12 match-up but if the WAC is all you have then that's what you watch

and like i said, we dont know what the salary cap will be they may actually be able to attract talent

[Bette]

well Bette ........ you may just be amazed ......... but i agree with everything you said

Amazed isnt the word for it. Yeah, I'd probably turn it on too. And if they were able to attract decent talent, maybe I'd turn it on again. Like you said, never too much football. But maybe this would weaken the NFL.

[simple simon]

well i think it has alot to do with the cities they choose as well

so far Vegas, LA and Mexico City sound like good ones

[Lefty Noob]

Originally Posted by Bette

I have to go with Lefty on this. There is some really bad football in the NFL. If you are backing up Vince Young, its probably because you are an untried young quarterback who needs a little time, or you are a Drew Bledsoe or Vinny Testeverde. Nothing against either, they were great quarterbacks, but they are not starters. As for the other positions, my sister says second string is usually second string for a reason. I tend to agree with that in general.

Exactly. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't really want to watch a league that has Kerry Collins, Drew Bledsoe, Cleo Lemon and Matt Cassell as their marquee quarterbacks. With the NFL, CFL, Arena League, NFL Europa and numerous semi-pro leagues already out there, I just don't think there's enough grade-A talent to support a start-up and make it entertaining.

[MJHMarc]

Sounds cool, but I wouldn't watch it.

NFL+AFL.

[vincesanity82]

We've received several e-mails over the course of the day about the new pro football league that is being planned by a couple of rich guys of whom we previously hadn't heard, with a team to be owned by a rich guy whose face and name are instantly recognizable to even the most casual sports fan.

The New York Times reports that, as soon as 2008, the UFL will launch as an alternative football league with teams in cities that don't currently have NFL franchises.

The pros? The new league can televise games on Friday nights and Saturday nights from September through early December, and the NFL can't (without jeopardizing its antitrust exemption). The new league will employ a salary cap to prevent bidding wars with the NFL for players, focusing instead on guys who don't make the final cut at the NFL level. The teams eventually will be owned equally by the league, an individual owner, and the fans. Ticket prices will be lower. And since the NFL has teams in only 29 of the countries top 50 markets, the new league can build following in some major American cities.

"There are quite a few good-sized non-N.F.L. cities that can support a pro team," said Mark Cuban, who has committed to purchasing a franchise.

With plenty of other really rich guys who'll never get a shot at owning an NFL team, it shouldn't be all that difficult to fill out the dance card. The key will be to have owners who are willing to let the league grow, and who won't expect an immediate financial return on their investment.

The cons? It's not the NFL. It's not the NFL. And it's not the NFL.

But that's something that could change over time. If the UFL is patient, and if it tries to be different and edgy (with franchises planned in cities like Las Vegas and Mexico City), it could work. Then again, success initially will come on a regional level, at best. And even with Friday nights devoid of NFL games, plenty of members of the target audience will otherwise be playing or attending high school football games.

Frankly, we think that there's a way for the leagues to coexist. We've advocated for years the creation of a true NFL minor league that plays in cities that currently don't have NFL teams, giving players who otherwise would be on the practice squad or working at Subway live game reps against quality opponents.

Then again, we see the potential for trouble, even if the UFL knows and understands that it's not on the same plane as the NFL. The guys who become stars in the UFL will surely attract the attention of the NFL. But will the UFL players be allowed to bolt for greener pastures? Or will they be forced to stay put against their will in a league that their ability and fame have outgrown?

The UFL also could become a safe haven for former NFL stars who, for whatever reason, have fallen out of favor in the senior circuit. Pacman Jones, Chris Henry, and even Michael Vick are players who could ultimately land in the new league, and they likely would use their platform to launch verbal missiles at the old league.

In balance, then, our guess is that the NFL would prefer that the UFL not come to fruition. And we think that the NFL could have easily avoided this development if the "real" pro football league league had opted to create a true minor league system in the United States that would have brought football on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights to major cities that don't currently have an NFL franchise.

Either way, we'll be paying attention, and we fully intend to cover both leagues. Though we don't care much for Canadian football or the Arena Football League, we like the idea of more American pro football in the fall. And we think there's room for both the NFL and the UFL.

ProFootballTalk.com -- The Best Pro Football Scoop on the Internet

[Lefty Noob]

Using the word "edgy" brings back cringe-worth reminders of the XFL. I see the same fate for this new upstart league.

[bears9]

Originally Posted by Lefty Noob

Using the word "edgy" brings back cringe-worth reminders of the XFL. I see the same fate for this new upstart league.

i dont see the the same a fate as Areana football itll stick around wont be popular as the NFL the problem is when the NFL wants to add more teams they will goto these citys so that might be fatell to this luege

[azrael492]

First off, why is the NFL not allowed to show games on Fridays. i have never heard this rule before.

I don't think the league will last for more than a couple seasons either. Every player dreams of playing in the NFL. If a player gets recognition in the new league, they will be offered a contract in the NFL. It will end up being a practice squad for the NFL

[Bette]

Vince, I am kind of intrigued by this title. What do all the abbreviations mean????????????????????????????
signed
just a rookie