As we enter the 4th of July weekend I have been thinking a lot about what it means to be an American. I have been thinking about the history of the country and talking to my friends about what makes our country unique. And don’t hate on me too much… my background is in politics so we always have conversations like these.

It made me consider one of the main appeals of the United Football League and, to me, the strongest appeal is that the UFL represents - like America has throughout the history of this country - a chance for a new beginning.

For some that new beginning is actually a second chance.

The UFL offers players a chance at redemption, a second shot at their dream. A player, for example, like J.P. Losman who graduated with so much promise. Enough promise that he was a first round pick and considered a franchise caliber quarterback. For him, if he signs with the league, he has a chance for a new opportunity to show that he has certain natural abilities that may have been misused by the Buffalo Bills.

For others, like Michael Vick, the UFL offers them the opportunity to prove that despite their mistakes and flaws they are actually someone worth watching and pulling for. Comeback stories. Redemption stories. They are an essential part of what makes America great. The media builds people up, grows bored, then rips them apart. In some cases their wounds are self inflicted.

The important thing is that humans should be judged on both the good and the bad because, as Barack Obama mentioned in his biography, life is a constant struggle between the light and the dark. People like Vick may have tread into the dark side of their personality but they deserve an opportunity to prove that is not who they really are.

The UFL is about redemption - for those who failed on the football field and for those who failed in some arena more serious.

That, my friends, is an American story.

The UFL also offers players, coaches, and others a first chance. That is also what America is about. Our history is full of stories of immigrants who came here with nothing but the clothes on their back and with hard work and ingenuity managed to build something tangible.

Well, the UFL offers players who were overlooked but may have talent the opportunity to shine on a grander stage. Look past the $5,800 per game - a salary many Americans would gladly take - and realize that the true value of the league is in offering players the chance to play a game that they love in front of millions.

Not just players, but coaches.

Ted Cottrell memorably choked up at the press conference announcing his hiring. From day one he has been clear that the UFL is offering him a chance to realize his dream of being a head coach. He did all of the right things in the NFL. He played by the book… but he never got his chance. Then Norv Turner in his petty way decided to throw Cottrell to the lions den to cover up his own failures.

Now Cottrell has an opportunity to show that he deserved a chance all along.

Not just coaches, but executives.

Michael Huyghue is the first African-American commissioner of a serious sports venture in this country. That is a barrier that has been broken thanks to the United Football League. For those who say that doesn’t matter, I would encourage you to look at the ranks of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Count the minorities and the women. Then report back to me.

The United Football League could fail. No one is saying that it is a sure bet but it is trying. To paraphrase Theodore Roosevelt, the credit belongs to those actually in the arena and the fact that the UFL is trying at all is perhaps the most “American” quality of all.

Regardless of what happens moving forward the UFL is offering some a second chance and others a first shot. For those people this league means something and even if it fails it will always mean something.

Happy 4th of July weekend.

America has mastered free enterprise like no other civilization to date.   The tradition of economic freedom in America has yielded a sense of competitiveness and economic success unparalleled in the world.  The American sports industry is certainly no exception to the competitiveness of the American free market, which has given way to some of the best sports products the world has to offer.

The National Football League (NFL) is widely accepted as the authority in gridiron football worldwide.  However, even the NFL has a long history of competition that has forced the league to rise to the occasion at various points in its development.  Throughout parts of the 1920’s and 1930’s, the NFL remained an unstable venture and struggled to establish itself as a major sports league.  In fact, only five of the NFL’s original eleven teams remained by the close of the 1926 season.

From 1926 to 1941, the NFL would face competition from three different professional football leagues all by the name of the American Football League (one in each decade).  Although each of these leagues were short-lived, they produced financial challenges to the NFL that resulted in additional turnover of NFL franchises, movement of NFL franchises, and mergers with teams from competing leagues.  The NFL would later face stiffer competition from the All American Football Conference (AAFC) of the 1940’s and the American Football League (AFL) of the 1960’s.  During these respective eras the NFL had achieved greater stability, but the success of the AAFC and AFL still resulted in partial or complete absorption into the NFL.  Well known franchises of the AAFC, the Cleveland Browns and the San Francisco 49ers, remain in the NFL still today.

Several other would-be professional football leagues came and went over the years (e.g., the World Football League from 1974 to 1975, the United States Football League from 1983 to 1985, and the XFL in 2001).  Although each of these leagues were unsuccessful in posing a real challenge to the NFL, they all contributed to the development of players and coaches that would later find success in the NFL, as well as brought innovations that still have an impact on the game today.  The World Football League brought field goals in the back of endzones (instead of the front), the United States Football League influenced a myriad of NFL rule changes to include instant replay and the two-point conversion, and the XFL brought the overhead camera and microphones on the players and coaches.  Regardless of how we value some of these contributions from competing leagues, the decades long pattern still illustrates an evolution of the NFL product by way of competition.

In this respect, the American sports industry is often unique from the rest of the world because foreign sports industries typically do not have the benefit of competing major leagues.  Major foreign sports do sometimes have lower ranking divisions or minor leagues that, by design, exist solely for the purpose of player development.  But, the European model (such as the Union of European Football Associations) lacks the ingenuity potential of competition on a business level.

The UFL is the next competitor in a long line of NFL challengers.  Whether or not the UFL will achieve its goals remains to be seen, but regardless of how the masses view the UFL, consumers should root for the  concept.

ProFootballTalk.com - a newly minted NBC Sports partner - has captured a United Football League contract which indicates that they have officially been sent out to the players drafted or targeted by the league. The memos and contracts which they have published offer a revealing look at the scaled back salary structure for the “Premiere Season” of the league. As the league has scaled back to deal with the economic realities it seems that they planned for a tighter salary structure that could help sustain the league through difficult times.

As PFT outlined the majority of players will be paid $35,000 broken out over six regular season games. They will potentially receive incentives, they will receive housing, and those who make it to the title game will receive additional money and a two week stay in Las Vegas.

Quarterbacks will make $10,000 per game. More details below courtesy of ProFootballTalk:

We’ve gotten our mitts on a copy of the memorandum containing information regarding the manner in which the UFL will be paying its players.

The memo confirms that, indeed, the base pay will be $35,000.

But not for kickers, punters, and long snappers.  Per the memo, they’ll be paid at a base rate of only $25,000.

The sole exception will be the league’s four starting quarterbacks.  Though there’s no stated limit regarding their pay, each UFL teams is permitted to pay its starting quarterback an amount more than $35,000.

Players who land on injured reserve will receive 50 percent of their prorated base pay for the remainder of the year.

Each team will be permitted to bring 60 players to training camp in September.  The number reduces to 50 for the regular season.  Teams are permitted to dress 45 players on game day, along with a third quarterback.

Although Jason La Canfora of NFL.com has reported that up to $15,000 might be available in additional compensation based on playing-time incentives, the memo does not mention any specific amounts.  Instead, the memo explains that the UFL “may establish” a discretionary Player Performance Pool, which will be aimed at rewarding the top-performing players on each team.

“The formula has not been finalized,” the memo states, “and may be based on such factors as playtime, starts, and other performance thresholds and will be distributed solely at the League’s discretion after the end of the regular season and Championship Game.”

Also, the active members of the active/inactive roster of the team that wins the UFL championship will receive an extra $5,000, and the members of the active/inactive roster of the second-place team will be paid an extra $2,500.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/category/rumor-mill/

The latest update from PFT includes a look at the NFL exemption which will allow UFL players to begin negotiating with NFL teams beginning November 1. They will not be allowed, however, to workout or sign with an NFL team until the conclusion of the season.

Commissioner Michael Huyghue is on a European tour this week as the United Football League continues to plan for the future. Huyghue alerted the world via his twitter stream which we here at UFLAccess.com highly encourage you to follow for news, as he tends to loop around the constraints the UFL media team might try to put on him. Our forums were buzzing over the news yesterday as UFL fans discussed the pros and cons of the move.

Today the mainstream media caught up as Reuters issued a report about the news:

Only a few months away from beginning his U.S. football league’s inaugural season, the United Football League’s commissioner is already talking about overseas expansion.

The UFL, set to begin play in October with four teams competing in seven cities, is eyeing teams in Europe for next year or the year after, Commissioner Michael Huyghue said.

“Foreign expansion for UFL very likely for year two or three,” he wrote in a Tuesday post on Twitter, a fast-growing micro-blogging service. “Some fantastic soccer stadiums that would work perfectly.”

UFL spokeswoman Rachel Gary confirmed Huyghue’s comments and that he is in Europe. She said the UFL is looking at expansion both overseas and in the United States over the next two years.

Huyghue previously said the league will expand by at least two to four teams in 2010, and the UFL has discussed putting a team in Mexico.

Huyghue, who wrote he had visited London, Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin and was on his way to Barcelona, Madrid and Italy, said there was strong interest in American football despite the failure of the National Football League’s European league.

…

Source: Reuters

If nothing else Huyghue’s European trip has stirred debate and alerted people to the global ambitions of the upstart league, and we certainly wouldn’t count out at least one European team to join the UFL ranks in the near future.

We look forward to firm announcements on the schedule, team names, and more soon.

Yahoo! Sports reported this evening that Plaxico Burress and Michael Vick will likely face stiff penalties from Roger Goodell that could leave both on the sidelines for the 2009 season. Both players have been linked to the United Football League by at least a few reporters - although Vick has been linked to the UFL more prominently and more frequently.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is leaning toward indefinitely suspending former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress and continuing to sideline quarterback Michael Vick, three sources with knowledge of the situations have indicated. Such moves would be the latest examples of Goodell’s tough stance on players embroiled in off-field issues as evidenced with the suspension of Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth earlier this month.

Stallworth has been ruled out indefinitely by the league after pleading guilty to DUI manslaughter in the death of a Miami man in March. Stallworth was sentenced to 30 days in jail, two years of house arrest and reached a financial settlement with the family of the late Mario Reyes.

According to a source with the Giants, the league and another that’s close to Vick, Goodell figures to take a similar stance with the quarterback and Burress. Vick, a former starter for the Atlanta Falcons, is scheduled to be released from federal confinement on July 20 after serving 20 months for his part in a dog-fighting ring. A source indicated there was a reasonable likelihood that Vick, suspended indefinitely by the league in August 2007, will not be allowed to play this season and certainly not be with a team in training camp.

Goodell has said multiple times that he wants to see Vick show remorse for his actions. That means Vick may have to follow a strict path of behavior before he’s allowed to return.

“[Vick] is not just walking out one day and playing again,” the source close to Vick said. “I don’t know if he understands that yet, but that’s what it looks like right now if you really pay attention. … Yeah, he served his time, but he has to prove himself. When the commissioner talks about wanting to see remorse, he’s not kidding.”

Source: Yahoo! Sports

Such reports will likely lead to a new frenzy by reporters as they consider their future - a future that if some have their way would lead to one, or both, suiting up for the United Football League this fall.

As Howard Balzer, UFLAccess.com, and others have reported, Michael Vick’s rights belong to the Orlando franchise. Orlando fans - chime in on whether or not you would like to see Vick suit up for your team come October 8 in our forums.

A tendency exists to compare new football leagues to the leagues from the past. This, of course, is not always a welcome comparison and the United Football League tends to state that they have learned the lessons from the old leagues and that comparisons are invalid. This week Dusty Sloan pulled together data from old leagues to show how attendance varied from year to year and from team to team. This data is relevant as the majority of alternative leagues have had attendance in the same region the UFL is seeking to draw in year one.

One of the recent debates on the UFLAccess.com forums has been over the news of Wednesday games for the UFL. It seems as if the majority of UFL games will be played during the week at this juncture, although we’ll know for sure when the UFL schedule is released in the next week.

This generated a heated debate as to whether weekday attendance would be sufficient for the league to continue to exist. Minor league sports tend to suffer during the week. Womens Pro Soccer has drawn roughly half of their normal attendance for weekday games and MLS draws between 8 and 12,000 versus 15,000 or higher for weekday games. The major leagues and college sports tend to draw roughly the same during the week as on the weekend, but you could argue that they are “more important” to people due to their long term existence as part of the community and the fabric of life.

Continue reading Lessons for the UFL from the World Football League

The United Football League is well on its way to a successful first season, given the amount of preseason publicity, quality top-end structure, “name” head coaches and a strong player pool to date.

Unless there are tumbleweeds blowing through UFL stadiums in the league’s first season, there will be a second season. So what are the odds of the UFL translating possible strong attendances in 2009 into the same in 2010? Do football fans come out just because it’s football, or if it is just winning football?

Let’s look to history as a guide. And let’s use the last quarter-century, or so - meaning the United States Football League, the original World League of American Football and the Canadian Football League’s foray into America. (Yes, I know, all of these leagues played in the spring and summer, but you can’t use the 1974-95 World Football League, because no one knows what the real attendance figures were, minus freebies.)

USFL

Of the nine instances where a team had a better record in the second year than in the first, attendance went up five times. Of the six instances where a team had a worse record in the second year than in the first, attendance went down five times. There were many of variables in the case of USFL teams - Arizona and Chicago swapped rosters, Tampa Bay fell in love with the Bandits over the lowly Buccaneers, the Federals stunk, the proposed move to the fall in 1986, etc.

FRANCHISE   1ST-YEAR RECORD/ATT.  2ND-YEAR RECORD/ATT.

Arizona Wranglers  1983 - 4-14 (25,780)   1984 - 10-8 (25,568)

Birmingham Stallions 1983 - 9-9 (22,046)   1984 - 14-4 (36,850)

Chicago Blitz   1983 - 12-6 (18,090)   1984 - 5-13 (7,455)

Denver Gold   1983 - 7-11 (41,736)   1984 - 9-9 (33,953)

Los Angeles Express  1983 - 8-10 (19,794)   1984 - 10-8 (15,361)

Michigan Panthers  1983 - 12-6 (22,250)   1984 - 10-8 (32,457)

New Jersey Generals 1983 - 6-12 (33,822)   1984 - 14-4 (37,716)

Oakland Invaders  1983 - 9-9 (30,622)   1984 - 7-11 (23,644)

Philadelphia Stars  1983 - 15-3 (19,213)   1984 - 16-2 (28,668)

Tampa Bay Bandits  1983 - 11-7 (39,896)   1984 - 14-4 (46,158)

Washington Federals 1983 - 4-14 (13,848)   1984 - 3-15 (7,694)

Houston Gamblers  1984 - 13-5 (28,152)   1985 - 10-8 (18,971)

Jacksonville Bulls  1984 - 6-12 (46,730)   1985 - 9-9 (44,325)

Memphis Showboats 1984 - 7-11 (27,599)   1985 - 11-7 (30,941)

San Antonio Gunslingers 1984 - 7-11 (15,444)   1985 - 5-13 (11,554)

WLAF 1991-92

Five United States-based teams played both seasons of the original World League of American Football. All five of them had a better record in 1992 than they did in 1991. Only one team, however, had a better average attendance in the second year than in the first.

FRANCHISE   1ST-YEAR RECORD/ATT.  2ND-YEAR RECORD/ATT.

Birmingham Fire  1991 - 5-5 (25,442)   1992 - 7-2-1 (13,472)

New York/NJ Knights 1991 - 5-5 (32,322)   1992 - 6-4 (25,982)

Orlando Thunder  1991 - 5-5 (19,018)   1992 - 8-2 (16,523)

Sacramento Surge  1991 - 3-7 (17,994)   1992 - 8-2 (20,557)

San Antonio Riders  1991 - 4-6 (14,853)   1992 - 7-3 (13,308)

CFL USA

In all three instances where an American CFL team played two consecutive seasons in the same city, the attendance went down in Season 2 despite a better record. This could have been due to 1) a dwindling curiosity about the CFL game, 2) hot summer weather in California, Maryland and Louisiana and/or 3) a notion that the teams wouldn’t be around much longer, which they weren’t.

FRANCHISE   1ST-YEAR RECORD/ATT.  2ND-YEAR RECORD/ATT.

Sacramento Gold Miners 1993 - 6-12 (16, 979)   1994 - 9-8-1 (14,226)

Baltimore Stallions  1994 - 12-6 (37,347)   1995 - 15-3 (30,112)

Shreveport Pirates  1994 - 3-15 (17,871)   1995 - 5-13 (14,359)

So what is the conclusion to this historical study? That there are no guarantees that a non-NFL football league can maintain, or even add to, its first-year attendance. An improving team, as this study shows, doesn’t guarantee it.

What might guarantee it, however, is a) the UFL playing during “football season,” and b) the UFL getting as many of the top players not in the NFL as possible, no matter if they are from the CFL, NFL Europe, Arena Football, just out of college, whatever.

But just remember what this study reinforces - in the world of non-NFL football, there is no such thing as a sure thing.

Naming the Teams

Judging by the emails that we receive, the naming of the four teams of the United Football League happen to be on the top of a lot of folk’s lists when it comes to what they want to hear about.

One of the announcements that generated the most positive response was when the league announced they were going to name the teams after considering a few different options. (Of course - the next question was when they would announce the names because fans have an insatiable demand for news.)

We have been told to expect the names sometime in July. If you’re like me then you wanted to know the names yesterday - but a look at a few notable cases will tell you why they must be diligent.

Start-up football leagues must maximize every dollar - the UFL is no exception - and they can ill afford an expensive lawsuit because they are not careful when naming the teams.

The Baltimore Ravens had to alter their logo after an amateur artist and security guard who had faxed in a sketch of a potential logo to a Maryland Stadium Authority sued the team. The Jacksonville Jaguars had to reach a deal with Ford Motor Company after Ford threatened a lawsuit.

In both cases the NFL team had to change their logo which rendered their merchandise outdated. The UFL can ill afford to do that in the start-up phase of the venture.

Other examples abound, but the UFL would be wise to take their time. It seems they are doing just that.

My suggested names?

Las Vegas Guardians

New York Griffins

Orlando Sol

San Francisco Sea Lions

…. then again I change my mind daily. I can’t imagine having to pick a name that would last.

Wednesday Night Games

A few radio interviews later it is clear the UFL will play at least a portion of their schedule on Wednesday nights. This is an interesting move for the league. They will avoid Friday night high school football games on those days and if the games are telecast/webcast they might capture a wider audience.

The question is whether attendance will suffer.

MLS has struggled attendance-wise with non-weekend games. It will be interesting to see the correlation with the UFL, if one exists. The UFL does have the advantage of playing American football, which has more of an audience.

I would predict a 15-20,000 attendance average in year one.

Coming Soon

Both of these issues, and a host of others, will be confirmed soon. The next four to six weeks should be extremely busy for the United Football League as they get the ball rolling towards kickoff. Look for the schedule and venues to be released, team names and uniforms, the advertising campaigns to begin, and more players to be announced.

It is an exciting time to be a fan of the league. Stay tuned to UFLAccess.com for all of the coverage.