The United Football League: Future or Failure?
In the face of a limping economy, most would consider the idea of a new sporting league to be spontaneous to say the least, however a group of investors have come together and are launching the United Football League in October of 2009. The U.F.L is geared towards making professional football, affordable to the people and markets that need a professional team.
The 09 season will have six scheduled games and will play in seven different cities. The type of football being played seems like grade-B professional football as the U.F.L claims to house world class players that didnt get the chance to play in the NFL along with rising stars from college. As for coaches, thus far Jim Fassel has agreed to coach the Las Vegas franchise as Fassel states, I like the way the league is going to be run. Im excited. I want to coach.” There will be four teams for the premier season located in New York/Hartford, Las Vegas/Los Angeles, San Francisco/Sacramento and Orlando. The team names have not yet been decided, yet U.F.L commissioner Michael Huyghue states that the team names will be chosen by the fans in a team naming contest.
Huyghue hopes to add more markets for the 2010 season and prospective cities that are currently in the mix are Salt Lake City and Monterrey. This years season is set to reel in 20,000-25,000 fans per game and ticket prices are going to range from $20.00-$25.00.
This is one of the better theories that I have seen for a non-NFL football league especially when considering the simply awful X.F.L and the impractical A.F.L with its 50-yard field. Lets see what the U.F.L brings, is it the right time for a more affordable professional sporting league, or will the N.F.L out-shadow any other form of Americas great game.
I think the greatest challenge will lie with the choice of markets. Kicking off the season during the heart of the NFL and College seasons will make grabbing mind and market share very difficult in those cities. A spring league in cities like Birmingham, Memphis, Raleigh, Richmond, Orlando would probably do better. You have to fill a niche and a Southeast focused league in the spring does that. Plus, you’ll keep the travel costs down significantly if you start it out as a regional league. Finally, you’ve got to find a way to appeal to families in your pricing model. If a family of four can’t sit in the cheapest seats for less than $60 then you need to reexamine the model.
This will be the second attempt at an upstart Pro Football League. The United National Gridiron League, an 8 team league (this season) that is targeted as being a minor league for the NFL, and has scheduled their season to run following the completion of each NFL season, is still fighting to gain enough sponsorship funding to launch. Although the UFL may have funding now I’m not sure if there is enough to make this organization a viable option for the NFL. With just 4 teams targeted at minor league markets I just don’t see the market value. Let’s face it without a valuable or viable market potential the real funding will not be there when they need to launch.