UFL Rival NFL?....No Way!!!
The UFL is attemptng to move in on the business that is Pro Football
In what could be another failed attempt at a professional football league, the UFL plans on kicking its season off in August of '08. This is what the plan should be......
Are you ready for some…..FOOTBALL?????????
There is buzz out there about a new professional football league, the UFL. As it stands, taking sites directly at the NFL, there is a very small chance at success. This may sound far fetched, but the recipe for success is simple. So simple, that it is the complete opposite of Google Inc. exec Tim Armstrong and Bill Hambrecht’s plans. Hopefully someone can change their way of thinking, here is my proposal:
First and foremost, the owners have to recognize that their league, no matter how many good players it may land or how much money they may make, as a whole, will never, never, ever compete with the machine that is the NFL. This was the biggest mistake made by the now defunct USFL, the schedule must stay in the spring, teams must stay out of NFL cities, and owners have to keep contracts within limits, because no league can function if salaries are the league’s largest expense.
Professional football as a product sells itself, if the XFL can land a television deal, there is no reason (in the spring) the UFL can’t. America loves football, there isn’t enough of a supply to meet the demand of this country. Friday nights are the targeted game nights, if the schedule schedule were to be slated for the sping, this shouldn’t interfere with high school football at all. Futhermore in the spring, the league could have Sunday games.
The only sports related competition would be March Madness, the NBA (who really watches that anyway?) and Major League Baseball (yawn). Hammering out the television coverage shouldn’t be the problem. Fans in cities that don’t have NFL franchises will flock initially to the new league, as long as the price is right. Fans will continue to support the team if the product is right.
There are players that can fill rosters for another league, as long as everyone involved remembers that in no way is the UFL the NFL. Players must realize that starting QBs in the UFL won’t make as much as starting QBs in the NFL. Owners must realize, in the beginning at least, that one big name superstar player won’t make a league. A heavy contract hanging over a team can create a crash that could be felt league wide.
Prospective UFL owners just remember these three keys: a) this league is not a rival of the NFL, b) keep the schedule in the spring, and c) don’t try to steal NFL players with ridiculous contracts.
Hopefully this advice is taken, because it would make for some on field football to write about in the spring. “Spring ’08” could be the jump off of something big or “Summer ‘08” could be the beginning of another failed football fiasco.
