Report: New start-up league could rival NFL

[Doomsday101]

I would think those last 20 players will go to training camp with an nfl squad, so this league will be getting the nfl's leftovers in September. (which should be better talent than what the UFL will be taking to camp) Building their squad with players that didn't go to camp with them is going to make for really sloppy play. That isn't going to work.

You mean players that would be going to the CFL. :laugh2:

 

[Catch-22]

The talent disparity would really be too much to overcome. One of the primary reasons the XFL flopped is because the game itself was far too similar to the NFL, and with a low lalent of talent, it ended up looking amateur. The reason the AFL has had success is because it has some football elements, but the game itself is very unique so it masks the talent deficiency with high scoring, entertaining games.

 

[Doomsday101]

They should compete with College Football. IMO colleges will never pay athletes and the league would get a lot of good young players.

How could they compete against the college ranks? You have the student body and more important the alumni who are dedicated to their schools. I agree the NCAA needs to make some changes but even pro teams do not have the draw that the big college programs have. We are talking stadiums that can hold over 100,000 fans and they pack them in.

 

[Doomsday101]

The talent disparity would really be too much to overcome. One of the primary reasons the XFL flopped is because the game itself was far too similar to the NFL, and with a low lalent of talent, it ended up looking amateur. The reason the AFL has had success is because it has some football elements, but the game itself is very unique so it masks the talent deficiency with high scoring, entertaining games.

The NFL also helps to back the AFL which is why owners like Jerry can't stock pile players on his AFL team without them going through the NFL waiver wire.

 

[Billy Bullocks]

It's at least "interesting." As long as they don't take the XFL approach and try not to be too much too fast then it's a nice idea. A lot of people thought starting the old AFL was stupid I'm sure and look how it turned out, it just depends on how this UFL is ran really.

But the old AFL ended up merging with the NFL. The NFL is pretty much set in stone right now in terms of its make up. Its the biggest sport in the country, just look at the TV deals.

This new league runs into several problems right away. First off, what network is going to carry the games. The major networks all have football now, and I'm sure there is some clause in the contracts for them to keep it exclusive with the NFL.

Between Saturday NCAA football (and the midweek games), and the NFL holding Thursday, Sunday and Monday, whenare you going to play the games? Unless I misread this and it's playing in a different time of year

Is this a price point sort of idea? Cheaper for fans (NFL games are expensive)? I think Arena Football has carved itself out in that aspect. And I would think it is more exciting than B-list talent.


So the bottom 20 players on a roster and the 20 cut are intechangable? That might have been true in teh 80's when Walsh was coaching, there were fewer teams, and there was no salary cap. I'm pretty sure the 20 guys who get cut at camp are not interchangable, because most of them don't make another NFL roster. Does anyone here really want to watch a bunch of UFA and 7th rounders who couldnt cut it playing in some other league?

Sure these guys were standouts in college, or most of them, but the problem this league will face is that it wont have superstars from the college ranks. College football has that. I think that is part of the appeal to NCAA football, which this league wont be able to take away. NCAA you get to see star athletes dominate the playing field. This league is going to be a bust just like XFL. No one wants to watch "HeHateMe" and Tommy Maddox.

This new league sounds like it MIGHT be able to rival the CFL

 

[Doomsday]

Talk about a waste of money, now is not the time to try and compete with the NFL.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

WFL
USFL
XFL

Now UFL?

Everyone thinks they are Lamar Hunt, Ralph Wilson, and Al Davis, et al.

They aren't. Give it 2, maybe 3 years before it pushes up daisies.

Dont forget the AFL.

 

[DallasEast]

This new league runs into several problems right away. First off, what network is going to carry the games. The major networks all have football now, and I'm sure there is some clause in the contracts for them to keep it exclusive with the NFL.

You're probably right about the broadcast networks, but it doesn't cut the new league from televised exposure via the ESPN networks, Comcast SportsNet, the Fox Sports networks, TNT, etc. Their nationwide exposure would be extremely limited, but they have options to get their product out to a lot of fans.

 

[Hostile]

Dont forget the AFL.

I didn't, that's why I said these guys think they are on par with Lamar Hunt, Ralph Wilson, and all of those AFL owners.

Unless you mean Arena Football League. I don't see them as a rival who wants to go head to head the way previous leagues have. Theirs isn't even the same product.

 

[iceberg]

Yeeeeeeeee Haaaaaaw! :laugh1:

congrats DE - all those years of trying has finally paid off!

 

[DallasEast]

congrats DE - all those years of trying has finally paid off!

Thank ya, thank ya. Heck, I feel like singing!

"Where, oh where, are you tonight?
Why did you leave me here all alone?
I searched the world over and I thought I'd found true love.
But you met another and PTHHP! you was gone."

 

[Sarge]

We've been thru this before.

 

[Angus]

They might do well and eventually overtake the NFL if they threw out all the "sissy" rules the NFL has adopted and returned the game to old-time, rugged, two-way players for both offense and defense, and to the knock-down, drag-out battles -- more like rugby.

That would spell the end of gargantuan players because they couldn't last in that milieu, I'm afraid. Many players in the NFL have a hard time playing through a half, it seems, and that's only playing on one side of the ball.

The NFL could end up like boxing, watching a more exuberant, rougher kind of "match" take over its following, like ultimate fighting is doing for boxing.

At first, people would retain their old franchise loyalties and latch on to one of the new contestants as a secondary favorite. But, if the show was good enough, they could come to view NFL play as anemic and slow.

Iron men attract attention.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Didn't we go through this whole process about 20 years ago? It didn't work then and it won't work now.

 

[Angus]

I'm sure Jerry is shaking in his boots


The New York Times reports that some rebellious rich dudes plan to put together a pro football league that would supposedly challenge the NFL.


Guess who is on board as the first (and only, at this point) owner? Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.


The plan: Put teams in eight NFL-sized cities that don't have teams. Cuban reportedly is considering Las Vegas.


The potential for this league to be a massive failure -- just like the USFL, XFL and every other upstart that tried to get a piece of the pro football pie -- is extremely high. I'm sure Cuban, who loves fighting The Man, considers it a chance to prove his genius.


It's also a chance to stick it to his sworn enemy, Donald Trump, who was the USFL's big-name owner. His New Jersey Generals were also-rans in the afterthought league despite having Heisman Trophy winners Herschel Walker and Doug Flutie. Not sure what Trump's cut was of the $3 settlement the USFL was awarded in its antitrust suit against the big, bad NFL.


Posted by Tim MacMahon http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/img/standing/icons/email.gif at 11:53 AM

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I didn't, that's why I said these guys think they are on par with Lamar Hunt, Ralph Wilson, and all of those AFL owners.

Unless you mean Arena Football League. I don't see them as a rival who wants to go head to head the way previous leagues have. Theirs isn't even the same product.

nah youre right and the nfl as it is aggresively pursues new markets unlike the incarnation of the nfl in the 50s.

i think the model that the XFL went with was sound business it just wasnt delivered correctly. im pretty sure all of us would like a league on par with quality of the ncaa to watch right about now.

that is where the xfl fell short. they didnt give enough time for their teams to practice enough to play well on the field. if the games would have been well played wed all be watching xfl today.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

The XFL's failure had nothing to do with practice time. It had to do with not having any good players. People don't want to watch bad football.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

The XFL's failure had nothing to do with practice time. It had to do with not having any good players. People don't want to watch bad football.

hey they were all old ncaa div 1 players for the most part. if im not mistaken they gave them about a month to practice befere putting them on the field.

 

[dallasfaniac]

It could work if they don't try to compete with the NFL but instead just focus on staying active for at least 5 years.

The USFL failed because they switched from spring games, when they were gaining a fan base, to fall games and losing out to direct competition with the NFL.

The XFL failed because they had a 2 week training camp before the season started, no preseason games and stupid rules. I went to two games here in Vegas and it got very rowdy. Most people were watching the chearleaders and getting extremely drunk as opposed to watching the game (myself included to an extent). Not knowing the rules threw off a bunch of people too; I mean for the coin toss, they would have one player from each team line up like 20 yards from the football at midfield and the one that walked away with the football received the kickoff.

Like I said, their best bet is to just try to stay alive for 5 years and hope that they could start selling merchandise and airtime.

 

[CoCo]

I disagree I think if it came down the Jacksonville of the UFL or the Dallas Cowboys who are you going to watch? I know many like me who will make time for the Cowboys game but when the USFL was around I may watch it or not because the passion was not the same. What the NFL has built has taking place over many many years

Well of course I'm going to watch the Cowboys regardless. They will always be my passion.

I'm not suggesting that passionate fans are going to suddenly jump ship. Most will not. But there would be some. In the days of the USFL my buddy was a big time Bronco fan. Then the Denver Gold came to town and he bought season tickets sight unseen. He didn't drop the Broncos, he added the Gold. In part because he could actually get season tickets to the Gold while the Broncos have had waiting lists for years.

There would also be NFL fans whose town does not have a team who would very likely be won over if a team came to town. That happens all the time within the NFL with fans who move from one NFL community to another. You and I cannot image that since we are passionate Cowboy fans even outside that city but not every one is like that.

I'm just saying that there are a certain percentage, not all, of fans who would change allegiances under the right circumstances or make room in their heart for another team.

That's why you see fans at Arena games or CFL games.

Certainly its a huge mountain for the organizers of that league to climb, and I'm not predicting success, just saying I wouldn't rule it out.