Category Archives: San Francisco

California Redwoods: Playing the Field

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When the United Football League first announced that it would base one of its “premiere” season franchises in San Francisco the initial vibe among the fan base was that it was an idea certain to fail. It seemed to be a “no-brainer” that a franchise with the longevity and branding power of the San Francisco 49ers would be too stiff of competition for a fall start-up football league. The UFL pressed ahead in San Francisco and, although losses during an abbreviated season were inconsequential to ownership, the early numbers seemed to project that San Francisco would indeed be an uphill competition for the UFL. This is probably why the Sacrameno Bee reported Tuesday that the Redwoods are likely to relocate to Sacramento. The California Redwoods are a franchise clearly rooted in Northern California, and here is a comparison of some of the larger cities well north of the Los Angeles market:

San Francisco
Population (including greater metropolitan area): 4,203,898
Television Market Ranking: 5
Stadium: AT & T Park (capacity: 41,503)
Other Major Pro Sports Team(s): San Francisco 49ers (NFL); San Francisco Giants (MLB)
Former Outdoor Pro Football Team(s): San Francisco Demons (XFL)

Sacramento
Population (including greater metropolitan area): 2,091,120
Television Market Ranking: 20
Stadium: Hornet Stadium at California State University (capacity: 21,195)
Other Major Pro Sports Team(s): Sacramento Kings (NBA)
Former Outdoor Pro Football Team(s): Sacramento Gold Miners (CFL); Sacramento Surge (WLAF)

San Jose
Population (including greater metropolitan area): 7,354,555
Television Market Ranking: 5 (combined with San Francisco)
Stadium: Spartan Stadium at San Jose State University (capacity: 31,218)
Other Major Pro Sports Team(s): San Jose Sharks (NHL); San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
Former Outdoor Pro Football Team(s): [none]

Fresno
Population (including greater metropolitan area): 1,002,846
Television Market Ranking: 55
Stadium: Bulldog Stadium at California State University, Fresno (capacity: 41,031)
Other Major Pro Sports Team(s): [none]
Former Outdoor Pro Football Team(s): [none]

San Francisco has clearly been a tough market for the Redwoods with average game attendance below 6,600. Even if the 49ers do end up moving 45 miles south to Santa Clara, the 49er fan base will remain strong in San Francisco for years to come. The history of the 49ers franchise in San Francisco dates back to the team’s inaugural 1946 season (when it was part of the All America Football League). Additionally, Santa Clara is still within the greater San Francisco area’s television market, so 49er updates would still appear on the local news in the region. The brand value of NFL teams with this much tradition only comes with decades of investment, and the UFL is unlikely to take a bite out of any NFL franchises anytime soon. For these reasons, leaving San Francisco is a wise business move for the Redwoods.

San Jose has a very large greater metropolitan population, but the 49er fan base is very strong among the populace. The city of San Jose is also part of the broader San Francisco television market, and if the 49ers do eventually move to Santa Clara (which is a “hop, skip, and a jump” away from San Jose), the competition will be too strong for a Redwoods team that is based in San Jose. It would be the wrong investment for the UFL.

Fresno is a decent sized metropolitan area and, although it is only the 55th largest television market, a franchise based in central California could appeal to a much broader region than simply greater Fresno. Fresno has never been tested with any major league sports teams but does have a college football following and would possibly produce a loyal pro football fan base. Fresno is a market with potential but not the strongest option for the Redwoods primarily due to the size of the market.

Sacramento is one of the few top 20 television markets not already tapped by the NFL. It is one of the more sizable markets available to the UFL and an ideal location for the Redwoods to settle down. Sacramento has already shown its potential for professional sports with its support for the longstanding Sacramento Kings franchise of the NBA since 1985. The city also showed relatively strong support for start up football franchises the Sacramento Gold Miners (formerly of the Canadian Football League) when that team averaged nearly 17,000 in attendance in 1993, and the Sacramento Surge (of the defunct World League of American Football) when that team averaged over 20,000 in 1992. This is comparatively strong attendance for a start-up football team, especially considering that the Oakland Raiders of the then American Football League averaged attendance less than 10,000 in 1960, less than 8,000 in 1961, and less than 11,000 in 1962. Sacramento is not only the wisest choice of market for the California Redwoods, but one of the best possible markets for the UFL nationwide.

The Hard Knocks of the United Football League

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The United Football League has taken a lot of knocks for their attendance and the lack of media attention that the league, at times, received. What is often overlooked, however, is that it was in some ways a miracle they even played in the first place. The journey of the league and the way they overcame many obstacles does not excuse them for any mistakes they made in year one but it does make their journey all the more remarkable.

Think back to May, 2007 when the league was first unveiled.

The economy was doing well. Hedge funds were making money hand over fist. Dubai and Macau were throwing up high rise buildings backed, in large part, by American investors. Casinos were being built all over the country. Real estate values were continuing to go up. Bernie Madoff was viewed as a wise investor. The sports industry was generating all time highs in revenue.

T. Boone Pickens and Mark Cuban were linked to the new UFL in press reports. Rumors, well-placed rumors, had the Maloof brothers, executives from FedEx, and members of the family that owns HEB Grocery interested in teams.

Then the economy started getting a little creaky, things took longer than expected to develop, and the league was pushed back till 2009 with promises of an 8 team league – with perhaps even more teams than that! (As a side note it appeared that we had unfortunate timing in launching this site right before the delay – but it worked out for the best…)

The league seemed to be developing, albeit slowly, as Charles Wang was linked to owning a team in New York, perhaps with the Wilpon’s involvement. Northland, a major company in Hartford, was also linked to ownership.

Then the worst recession in over half a century started and many of those investors were flushed away.

Few people would have blamed the United Football League if they had shut down then and there. Hell, most expected them to do just that.

William Hambrecht, however, would have none of it. Even as the economy was diving off of a cliff he reaffirmed his commitment to the league and put in tens of millions to keep the effort moving forward. Michael Huyghue, and the others involved, continued to sell the league to prospective investors and partners. Sometimes they probably seemed to be a little too hopeful as the prospective investors watched their net worth drop like George W. Bush’s approval rating – but they kept moving forward.

The December, 2008 announcement that a season would occur – along with the Casa Grande facility being announced generated some coverage and gave fans hope. The league was moving forward!

The league couldn’t quite get six teams to commit so they moved forward with a “Premiere Season” – a scaled back, four team league that would not quite be a full launch of the UFL. At the time some wondered if they were crazy but ultimately starting small won them kudos due to the economic circumstances the country was facing.

This is when the obstacles, the ones beyond their control, began getting ludicrous.

Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids the same week that the UFL announced the Premiere Season. Trying to get coverage during the sports media firestorm that followed was difficult to say the least.

The league did manage to garner attention with the announcement of the television contract and the coaches, although unfortunately they couldn’t build on the news quite as well as one would like due to a variety of factors behind the scenes. Getting a league launched is harder than some observers and skeptics might believe after all. As one league official told me once with a laugh, “if it was so damn easy everyone would do it.”

He is right. Ask the founders of the IFF, AAFL (twice), All Star Football, the RFL, the SFL, the New USFL, the Turner-NBC Football League, and all of the other efforts that were announced over just the last two decades who either never kicked off or limped through a truncated first season.

The UFL went through the spring and summer generating the occasional buzz, primarily around the Michael Vick saga. Come August they announced their team names and uniforms – an announcement that usually generates lasting buzz but at the end of the week Vick’s return to the other football league was announced which dominated the pro football news landscape.

Their schedule was also announced. Keep in mind that putting together a schedule for a league in which you are not the primary tenant in any venue and when you must deal with television partners who have longstanding commitments to other leagues is difficult, at best. They attempted to put together a schedule that would allow them to play in all of the venues that they wanted to play in while sticking to the general schedule parameters of avoiding NFL games as much as possible.

Now let’s look at the obstacles thrown in their way, scheduling-wise, some of which were predetermined and some of which happened as the season went along – all of which hampered attendance and news attention.

All three Florida home games went up against big college football games in the area.

A police officer was killed in Las Vegas around the time of the second game which wiped any UFL mentions off of the news. The Media Day for the Championship was scheduled weeks in advance and then had half of the expected media because they had to cover ANOTHER cop’s funeral in Vegas.

Connecticut football player Jasper Howard was murdered and the Hartford home game went up against his Memorial Service which was scheduled roughly two weeks prior to the game.

BOTH New York games went up against the World Series. The Yankees were expected, by some, to sweep the Phillies and they lost game one which made game two far more crucial to New York fans. Then the Yankees could have won the Series in game five but the Phillies won which pushed back the clinching game to New York up against the second Sentinels home game.

And I can’t leave Tim Lincecum off of the list. His Cy Young victory was announced at a Press Conference in San Francisco at 3 PM local before a 6 PM kickoff for the Redwoods. The assembled media were at AT&T Park, they filmed the presser, and then they had to go back to the studio to file their stories. This cut the media at the Redwoods game by a significant margin.

Plus, it wasn’t like the economy was roaring throughout their first season.

In the face of all of these obstacles – some due to outside factors beyond their control, some due to tragedy, and some due to their own mistakes – the league still managed to make it through their first season in a respectable fashion. They averaged a little under 10,000 fans per game with Las Vegas and Orlando doing very well. Their television broadcasts averaged 124,000 viewers even with the lack of consistent scheduling and national promotion. They also signed up more than two dozen corporate partners.

The UFL has seen a wilder ride than many would give them credit for and they still keep plugging along. If they can make it to kickoff and then through a first season after the two and a half years that they have had then they might just last…

More from Media Day: A Conversation with Paul Pelosi

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Paul Pelosi seems to be loving every minute of being an owner in the United Football League. He has traveled to many of the games and before that he traveled to many of the events leading up to the launch of the league. Everywhere he traveled he seemed to have a smile on his face – owning a football team just seems to be fun for Pelosi.

Pelosi told me that he would give the first year of the UFL a 7 or 8. He went on to explain that, “You listened to Michael Huyghue speak, he is doing a great job and he knows his stuff. By and large our product was terrific also. We have to review our marketing and advertising campaigns but we will improve those.”

“The other thing that is important to note is that when we did the financial numbers for this first year we put nothing, or next to nothing, for ticket sales. So the attendance figures didn’t impact our bottom line in a negative or positive way. We understood that sponsors and television were the key for our revenue and that will remain moving forward,” said Pelosi.

He admitted, as did other league officials, that it was somewhat of a mistake to have the California Redwoods live in Arizona and just come in for games. He said that, “Look, the media loves Dennis Green. They wanted him to do interviews but he couldn’t fly in from Arizona for a round of interviews when he was rushing to put together a team in three weeks. Moving forward the teams will be in the local market and that will help.”

As for what local market that remains unclear. Pelosi acknowledged that he loved Sacramento as a market and with facility upgrades that are going on now it becomes increasingly likely. He said that the Redwoods had also looked at UC Davis, in addition to San Jose. Speaking of San Jose Pelosi said that, “My old friend Bill Walsh loves the idea of a team at San Jose State. He told us that he thought San Jose would be great for the league as we were getting this off of the ground.”

San Francisco fans should take heart in the fact that Pelosi still believes San Francisco could play a role in the Redwoods future saying that, “The fans we had were great, we just didn’t reach enough of them. The games were terrific that we played there and those who attended saw good football.”

He went on to say that San Francisco may still see games in late October and November moving forward.

Commissioner Huyghue on the State of the United Football League

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Today, a little after 11 AM local time United Football League Commissioner Michael Huyghue approached the podium in the Club House at Sam Boyd Stadium. Beneath Huyghue and the press the Las Vegas Locos were practicing for the Championship Game and throughout the conference their cheers would occasionally punctuate the proceedings.

Huyghue opened up his State of the League Address by saying, “This league was an idea ten years in the making, an idea of William Hambrecht’s. The idea evolved over time but we went out with a few core principles. One, we wanted to be in non-NFL markets as much as possible. Two, the appetite for football in this country is insatiable. We decided we were going to build with football people and have a high quality product. Our mission, period, was quality and we thought we could get NFL caliber players who could provide 80% of the quality of an NFL guy at 20% of the cost.”

Over the next few minutes, with a smile, Michael Huyghue made it clear that in his mind they had succeeded.

Huyghue highlighted the model discussing the single entity structure where the league manages and builds a foundation – controlling the quality and the content – while the local owners can lead a grassroots effort and build up a community feeling. This entity will remain for the future and it is intended, in part, to keep owners from going rogue.

A few minutes into the address Huyghue paused and then said, “We will have a 2010.” As he went forward in his remarks he contrasted this decision with other leagues which did not move forward with a second year, as well as the areas in which the Commissioner and the people involved in this effort feel that they compare favorably to past leagues. The Commissioner alluded to the fact that players are moving up already and that players now see this as a chance to be a proving ground for the NFL, something that some past leagues failed to do. He said that the decision to be complementary, not compete outright, was a wise one and that the league compares itself to the American Football League in a lot of ways and hopes to follow a similar trajectory.

Looking back, Commissioner Huyghue, said that, “The hiring of the four Head Coaches was absolutely essential to the league, they helped us establish credibility. This year we learned what we needed in a Head Coach and we believe that the results on the field showed that our coaches know how to build a football team.”

He went on to stress that the league was testing out many variables this year. For example, one of the markets had locally focused marketing while the other three took a nationalized approach and his later remarks seemed to indicate that the localized approach will be more of a focus moving forward. He said that they felt like the broadcasting quality was exceptional and that since television rights and sponsors are what will lead to the financial growth of the league the UFL feels as if it is on firm footing moving forward. Huyghue mentioned that sponsors such as Motorola, StubHub, Le Vai and Title show that the future of the league is bright.

With three of the four primary owners looking on Huyghue mentioned that the support of the investors of the league has been vital all season long, noting that the owners are unified and speak in one voice.

Previewing the future of the UFL, Huyghue said that in 2010 the league will kickoff in early September with a ten game season ending around Thanksgiving as they did this year. As previously announced, two teams will be added and the criteria will be focused on non-NFL markets with a suitable venue. Pointing out on to the field the Commissioner stated, “This stadium is the exact type of venue we are looking for.”

The Commissioner spoke for nearly half an hour with charisma and ease. Throughout his address he laid out the reasons why the league feels optimistic about the future and seemingly answered many of the questions the assembled reporters might have had.

The Morning After: It’s UFL Championship Week!

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The week of the Championship Game has arrived and UFLAccess.com will have all of the coverage that UFL fans can handle. I will be posting a daily blog beginning in Tuesday live from Las Vegas, tomorrow night we will have a special Championship Game edition of “Inside the UFL” at 8 PM EST with a round table preview of the game, and on Wednesday we will be livetweeting the United Football League’s first ever Media Day at http://www.twitter.com/UFLAccess.

It is hard to believe that the “Premiere Season” is coming to a close for those of us who have been following the development of the league from the May, 2007 article where William Hambrecht’s dream was unveiled.

This week’s Morning After is going to focus on the future, and the Championship Game, rather than the usual review of the action but before we look at the future – a quick hit look at the last two games of the regular season.

California Redwoods versus Florida Tuskers

The Redwoods gave the Tuskers a game and made it clear that they are the most improved team from the beginning to the close of the season even as their record didn’t reflect it… Shane Boyd deserves a game ball despite two costly turnovers late, one UFL player texted me after the game that “The Redwoods should have thrown that much all yr long”… Cory Ross only rushed for 45 yards, a subpar effort for him, but I still ended up supporting him for MVP… Brooks Bollinger had another solid effort, throwing for 220 yards, but he was outplayed by Boyd for the majority of the game… This game was the most entertaining game of the year – any game with two onside kicks and a pick six in the first quarter has to be highly rated.

Final thought: The Redwoods moving to San Jose, announced by the Commissioner but unconfirmed by the league as they never responded to my request for clarification, is a good move for the team. The attendance in Orlando and Las Vegas have shown that this league can work but it will need to be primarily based in non-NFL markets.

Las Vegas Locos versus New York Sentinels

The Locos rolled to the surprise of no one… The biggest surprise was the excellent attendance – 13,306 marked the second best attended UFL game of the year – and the league spent ZERO marketing the specific game proving that Las Vegas is embracing the Locos… The final score was 41-10, the New York QB’s throwing three interceptions didn’t help – one has to wonder why CJ Bacher didn’t get a shot to player and why Brian Johnson was cut in the preseason… DeDe Dorsey racked up over 70 all purpose yards and will have a big target on his back this Friday against the Tuskers… Tim Rattay looked to be, perhaps, a better QB than JP Losman in the game – then again he was playing against the Sentinels…

Final Thought: The New York Sentinels should bring Ted Cottrell back but they should change their Offensive Coordinator and players. Here’s why – Cottrell was not able to institute a 3-4 defense due to the shortened training camp, it was his first head coaching gig, and the Sentinels improved as they added some experienced vets. New York fans need to give TC a chance.

Now, on to the next one…

The Championship Game ended up shaping up the way that most of us expected as the Las Vegas Locos will play host to the Florida Tuskers. The Tuskers are looking to close the season without a loss while the Locos are looking for revenge – one has to wonder which desire is greater.

I’m voting revenge and I believe the Locos will win. Here’s why:

  • Playing at home will help. I would expect at least 13,000 fans in attendance and that should provide a lift for the team.
  • DeDe Dorsey seems to be finally getting healthy and in St. Pete he was the best player on the field.
  • It is historically difficult to beat a good team three times in the same year, that trend does not favor the Tuskers.
  • The Tuskers haven’t been as good over the second half of the season as they were the first half, although some have argued that is because they have had less to play for.
  • Teddy Lehman has been a beast at LB and the Locos D-Line should control the Tuskers front line, meaning Bollinger will have to throw more frequently and under more pressure than he is used to – something that should render him less effective.
  • Tim Rattay showed that if Losman struggles, or if his injury lingers, that he will be a fine starter – one CFL scout who reads our board texted me Friday night and said, “TR is the best QB in the league”. I’m not sure if I would go that far but he did look great during game action.

The main reason the Locos might not pull the upset? Their secondary. Wale Dada and Trey Young have looked better of late but Bollinger was basically taking Dada’s lunch money in the previous games. We will see if those two can maintain their progress over the course of the year, although if Eric Henderson is in Bollinger’s face all night they might be alright.

Thumbs Up…

I have to give a thumb’s up to Speaker Pelosi for attending the Redwoods game – the UFL investors really seem to love this league which bodes well for the future… Las Vegas making the Championship Game will only help them build on the tremendous foundation that the Locos have laid this first year… The move to San Jose will likely be for the best, if confirmed… Noah Herron seems to be Ok after a vicious hit – the entire UFLAccess.com family is rooting for his full and complete recovery…The buy one, get one free deal for the Championship Game is great for fans – go http://www.unlvtickets.com and use the promo code BOGO to take advantage of the offer… The league finished the season with an average attendance of 9,305 – not bad for a first year effort with little marketing during the worst economic downturn in three quarters of a century…

Thumbs Down…

I used to support NFL markets, on occasion, but if the attendance this year is any indication then we have to give them a thumb’s down moving forward – San Fran and New York were not on the same level as Vegas and Orlando/St. Pete… Dennis Green should be kicking himself for ever pulling Shane Boyd AND for not throwing the ball more, earlier…

Game Ball:

Shane Boyd deserves the game ball for his tremendous performance against the Tuskers. Yes, he made a few mistakes late but he looked as good as any UFL QB on Thursday night.

Remember to vote for the Motorola MVP and the Men’s Wearhouse Coach of the Year on ufl-football.com.

UFLAccess.com The Morning After: The Attendance Edition

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Week two of the United Football League is in the books, meaning we’re roughly one third of the way through the Premiere Season in turns of total games.

What did we learn last week?

The Tuskers are dominant and look to be dominant for the remainder of the season. Brooks Bollinger is bringing back echos of Tommy Maddox and his XFL days with inspired performances over the last two games. I am still not sold on Bollinger, it is likely due more to his supporting cast, but few could argue that he has not looked great so far.

You also have to give the Tuskers credit for doing well with a short turnaround as Coach Haslett mentioned after the game, “You have guys that haven’t played a game in a year or two, to play a game and be sore and tired and to play a game four days later is pretty amazing.”

The Locos offensive line needs help. JP Losman looked ordinary, although I suspect that most QB’s would look ordinary considering the rush that he faced. For the Tuskers to rack up six sacks in a league with the rules that the UFL has this first year is incredible, it also means Losman is holding on to the ball when he doesn’t need to do so.

Jim Fassel recognized that when he told the press that, “They outperformed us in the trenches and specialty areas and it’s just disappointing.  That’s not the kind of football I want to put on the field.”

They need to get better and fast.

Oh, and JP needs to find Samie Parker earlier in the game. Parker looked dominant, pair him with a healthy Andrae Thurman and the Locos could be back in the mix.

The question is whether or not Fassel is willing to take a page from Dennis Green’s playbook and change things drastically.

He might need to.

The Sentinels are far from where they need to be. They were close to dominating the Tuskers in the 1st Quarter of their first game and since then they have looked putrid. Quinn Gray has looked out of sync and Ingle Martin showed that if he is the answer then the Sentinels might be asking the wrong question – although, to Martin’s credit he only had one series after little practice time.

Ted Cottrell said he was sticking with Gray after the game Saturday night.

Getting a running game moving would help. I predicted success for them on the ground in the preseason and that has not happened.

Koren Robinson, however, offered a bright spot and seemed to be on track to recover from a nagging leg injury.

The Redwoods are not afraid to make changes.

Dennis Green made wholesale changes after week one, including bringing in eight new players and benching Shane Boyd. Green commented on the changes in the postgame press conference when he told reporters that, “It’s great to play at home and get a win.  It’s off to a good start for us.  We played much better defense, similar to how we started defensively last week.  Pretty good feeling of urgency on defense. Offensively, we sputtered a lot. Sometimes we looked okay, sometimes not so good.  But we did take advantage of some points there.  We added eight new players last week and I think in our first game, despite the fact that we had a legitimate shot against Las Vegas last week, we’re just too young.  I think this is turning out to be an excellent league.  The team to beat is Florida and they are loaded. They’ve got as much experience as most NFL teams with a lot of talent.  We had to get older and more experienced very quickly and we did it and now we probably need another week of practice with these guys.”

Mike McMahon looked Ok, but if I were Boyd I’d stay warmed up. McMahon looked erratic and against a better team his performance from Saturday night would have probably killed the team.

Cory Ross is the man and the Redwoods will continue to benefit from his running ability.

The Attendance Issue…

6,341 fans in the stands for the Redwoods home opener has led to some measure of hysterics among UFL fans. Some hysterics might be in order as it was not a good number but the league, and most observers, expected some games to come in well below average.

It is the nature of startup leagues.

The league average is just a shade under 11,000 (10,978 to be exact) through four games. Las Vegas is averaging 13,184 through two, with a third home game added to their schedule later in the season. Vegas has proven to be something of a success story and according to at least one individual merchandise sales have been very strong at each of their home games. Florida had 11,203 in the stands for their first game which happened on a dreary night and went up against the Florida-LSU game, a tough sale since Florida football is a second religion for many folks in the area.

The league is not pumped about an 11,000 average but it is far from unexpected. Going into year one they hoped to average 20,000 but those expectations were scaled down after the schedule took longer than expected and ticket sales began only a month and a half before the first game.

And bright spots are out there.

Orlando will likely have a good turnout this week following their 2-0 beginning and the fact that they are not competing against UF this week. Their game in St. Petersburg will have the promotional backing of the Rays behind it, as well as a concert from Switchfoot. The remaining Vegas game should be strong and one would expect The Championship Game to draw well if Vegas makes the game. Hartford might very well draw well as Northland has been promoting the game among their various properties.

New York will be a tough sell, with the Sentinels being 0-2 and the league only being able to afford to make a dent in the extremely expensive New York media market. The CitiField game will likely outdraw the Meadowlands game but I wouldn’t expect gangbusters at either. The same holds true for the San Francisco games that remain.

The league, however, has shown improvement and one employee promised continued improvement and flexibility in the weeks to come. They are going to do everything they can to build on what has happened already and to learn from the hiccups along the way.

The key for fans of the league who care about the long term survival of the venture is that they started the league with reasonable expectations and they have had tight cost controls thus far.

One comparison I have made before is with Women’s Pro Soccer which opened this year and averaged around 5,000 fans per game, compared to the previous effort WUSA which averaged 9,000 fans per game and had more games televised in a higher profile manner.

The comparison is a fair one to the UFL because WPS had tighter cost controls and less hype yet they are on firmer ground after year one than the WUSA, in part because they spent significantly less than WUSA.

The USFL, a shining light to many sports fans, drew 25,000 in 1983, 22,590 in 1984, and 24,375 in 1985 yet they lost hundreds of millions of dollars. The XFL averaged 24,000 but lost $60 million-plus and came in way under expectations.

Thus far the UFL has met many of their far more reasonable goals and they are on track to lose far, far less than previous efforts.

2010 will see more marketing, ticket sales beginning around the beginning of 2010 rather than two months before the season, a larger national footprint, and more of a push in general. The key is that they will be building off of a foundation from 2009 and that they will have less costs in terms of buying every single thing for the league for the first time.

League officials have been quick to point out that the fans who have attended have bought merchandise and supported the team. They also saw a rise in paid tickets for the Vegas game and luxury suites sold well in San Francisco. Perhaps most importantly, the fans have continually rated the games high in terms of professional experience, the product, and the price points.

This shows that the league has something to build from.

In 2010 I will worry more about attendance figures.

Quote of the Week…

And it relates to the attendance issue!

“Speaking as someone who thought he had a league built when I left, what’s critical is patience,” said former AFL Commissioner Baker. “Patience is more important than money. Putting butts in seats and selling sponsorships, T-shirts and TV are relatively simple operationally. There are businesses right now that can be overnight winners, like building an app for the iPhone, but football isn’t one of them.”

…from the Sports Business Journal

Quick hits…

The Sentinels must make some moves on offense but I actually think their defense has looked good… The New USFL might exist after all, former XFL Exec Mike Keller was mentioned in the Sports Business Journal and the league has apparently purchased the intellectual property rights for a lot of the old USFL teams… The league should do more pieces introducing the players to the casual fan… One hopes that the Redwoods give the Tuskers a good game Thursday, while three of the four UFL games have been more competitive than the score indicated – a competitive game or two that goes down to the wire would be nice…

Game ball goes to…

Cory Ross who continues to look like the best running back in the UFL despite others having lengthier resumes. He had the first 100 yard game in the UFL on Saturday night. Congrats Cory!

Redwoods Defeat Sentinels 24-7

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SAN FRANCISCO (October 17, 2009) – In the California Redwoods home opener tonight at AT&T Park, running back Cory Ross rushed for 121 yards and a touchdown, and wide receiver Doug Gabriel had 6 receptions for 70 yards, propelling the Redwoods to a 24-7 win over the New York Sentinels.  A complete box score can be obtained here.

Redwoods’ quarterback Mike McMahon, making his first UFL start, opened the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kai Brown with 9:39 remaining in the first quarter.

Sentinels’ quarterback Quinn Gray began the second quarter with a 9-yard pass to  Koren Robinson to the Redwoods’ 34-yard line.  The Sentinels continued their methodical march down the field, culminating in a 2-yard scoring toss from Gray to running back Chris Barclay, tying the game at 7-7.  A defensive struggle ensued for the remainder of the first-half, capped by defensive back Tony Tiller intercepting a McMahon pass on the Sentinels’ 5-yard line, preventing the Redwoods from a go-ahead score.

After the teams traded possessions in the third quarter, the Redwoods returned a short punt to the Sentinels’ 39-yard line.  Four plays later, the Redwoods set up their second score of the game with an acrobatic catch by Gabriel at the 1-yard line. The catch was originally ruled a touchdown, but Sentinels’ Head Coach Ted Cottrell challenged the spot of the reception, resulting in the call being overturned. The Redwoods would score on the following play with a 1-yard run over the right side by Ross.  After the score, both teams were again unable to sustain drives.

Redwoods kicker Patrick Douglass converted a 42-yard field goal for California, with 11:45 remaining in the game to push the lead to 17-7.  Head Coach Dennis Green would return to the ground game, running Ross and John David Washington, with Washington scoring his first career touchdown to close the scoring.  McMahon completed 16 of 29 for 145 passing yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.

The night began as 14-year old Thia Megia thrilled the crowd of 6,341 with an acapella version of the National Anthem.  Larry Baer, President of the San Francisco Giants, and Redwoods Honorary Captain Arial Gariano, from the Children’s Miracle Network, performed the coin toss.  Arial, a brain cancer survivor, overcame Rhabdomyosarcoma, a type of cancer requiring intensive chemotherapy and surgery to remove multiple tumors.

Below are quotes from tonight’s post-game press conferences:

Redwoods Head Coach Dennis Green:

Re:  Game

“It’s great to play at home and get a win.  It’s off to a good start for us.  We played much better defense, similar to how we started defensively last week.  Pretty good feeling of urgency on defense. Offensively, we sputtered a lot. Sometimes we looked okay, sometimes not so good.  But we did take advantage of some points there.  We added eight new players last week and I think in our first game, despite the fact that we had a legitimate shot against Las Vegas last week, we’re just too young.  I think this is turning out to be an excellent league.  The team to beat is Florida and they are loaded. They’ve got as much experience as most NFL teams with a lot of talent.  We had to get older and more experienced very quickly and we did it and now we probably need another week of practice with these guys.”

“Injury wise, we got banged up quite a bit.  It was a very physical game and so we probably look like we got about two out of our four safeties injured, which is going to make it tough for us against Florida.  Two of our six linebackers are injured, so we’ll have to quickly get ready to play on Thursday.  We’ll fly into Florida on Wednesday and we’re going to play an excellent football team.”

Re:  On Improvement In the Passing Game

“We didn’t throw the ball very well last week at all.  I don’t make excuses for football players – everybody’s got to produce. Three of the receivers that played in that game are gone and I decided that we should change the quarterback also.  And hopefully it will work for us.”

“We ran a little bit better and I think that helped us.  Cory Ross is a very good back. Last week he was injured – he ran well in the first half and didn’t play at all in the second half.  And that made a difference because we are trying to be a balanced football team.  I thought our offensive line was solid – those guys did a good job.  With exception of a couple of penalties, they did an excellent job. Adding Doug Gabriel helped us.  Doug is a big-time player.  You guys know him from the Raiders days – he can make plays down the field with the ball, also running the pass.  I think the more he’s in our system, that will help us.”

Re:  Thoughts on the UFL

“I think it’s a good balance. Florida is a solid team – they’re a fabulous team.  They’ve got 10 players that have been in the Super Bowl and 40 players that have been in the NFL.  Tatum Bell, Michael Pittman – those guys can really run the ball. They’ve got speed at receiver, they’ve got linebackers. (Odell) Thurman is as good as any linebacker in the game.  They are a very, very good football team.  Las Vegas is an explosive team – they’ve got excellent backs and receivers, very strong defensively.   California & New York  – we’re younger and as a result of that, we’re not quite there, but I think both of us will improve enough to get there.”

Re:  On Other Differences From Last Week To This Week

“Defensively, we created some turnovers and we took advantage of it.  Last week, in the second half we didn’t move the ball very well at all. We had a 14-3 lead going into halftime and getting the ball coming out.  We did as about as many things wrong in the consistency of football as you can do.  Today we didn’t (have) quite as many mistakes and we got some key first downs when we had to control the ball.”

Re:  On How Many UFL Players Could Be Playing In the NFL Right Now

“A lot of them.  A lot of them have played in the NFL.  You take the guys like Doug Gabriel – people give up on him and think it’s over.  People think that a 3 or 4 year career is all you get most of the time.  We know that in the National Football League, there’s always a great group of players coming.  Mike McMahon can still play.  Steve Edwards can still play.”

Sentinels Head Coach Ted Cottrell:

“The difference was really time of possession.  They got their first downs.  They were able to pick up yardage with first downs.  They chewed up the clock.  On the other side, we weren’t able to stop them.  In short that’s what happened in the second half, they had the total yardage.  We didn’t stop them when we needed to.   I thought the first half we played well, but the second half they got the upper hand especially at the very end.”

Re: Quinn Gray

“I thought we needed a boost. I was hoping he would have a longer time with the ball, the switch was made but they kept the ball away from us. He just didn’t have a lot of time. I hope that Quinn finds a rhythm. We will stick with him next week, I just hope he finds a rhythm.  Looking back, he settles in pretty good.”

Re:  California Redwoods

“I think we have even talent, it’s just the execution.   We need to execute for example, we can slant and hit the receiver in stride, make a couple yards.  It’s nothing to do with time in the league, it’s just about executing the play.”

“We played pretty hard today. We need to get things straightened out and go in the right direction. But if we get a chance to make a play, we have to make the play.  They’ll come together.  We’ll keep working hard and that’s all we can do.”

On the UFL:

It’s a good brand of football. I hope more people watch and become UFL fans.  There’s hard tackles, hits, nice runs and catches.  If you’re a true football fan tune in, check us out.  The league is giving a great opportunity to the young players to showcase their skills and live out their dream.”

California Redwoods Quarterback Mike McMahon:

“Today, there were some ups and downs.  Did some good things but left some out there but what’s important is that we got the win. I think the defense played exceptionally well and got us in good position.  We had tremendous field position in the second half. The special teams did a great job. And then we started running the ball really well as well.  We just need to clean it up and get on the right page.  We can’t turn the ball over.  In crucial situations we need to call the time out and then make the play. We need to take care of the football.”

On the interception:

“I tried to force one I shouldn’t have. They had good coverage on us, I tried to fit it in there and I saw the clock ticking down and tried to take a shot. I should have called a timeout, we had one left.  Again, it was probably too risky of a situation to try and squeeze that in. It’s my fault, but main thing is we kept plugging away and we got the win”.

On California Redwoods WR Doug Gabriel:

“He did a great job, came in this past week. We were only together, what 5 days. He knew the defense pretty well.   Once he gets the ball in his hand, he definitely can make the run.”

About The UFL

The UFL was developed to fulfill the unmet needs of football fans in major markets currently underserved by professional football by providing a high quality traditional football league comprised of world class professional football players.  The UFL will serve the communities with pride, dedication and passion, and uphold a leadership role in the development of football worldwide.  The UFL will provide every fan with an affordable, accessible, exciting and entertaining game experience. Scheduled to debut in October 2009, the UFL’s headquarters is in New York, N.Y. and has satellite offices in Jacksonville, Fla. and Rutherford, N.J. The UFL is led by Commissioner Michael Huyghue, COO Frank Vuono and is being funded by a consortium of private investors.  For more information on the UFL and how to purchase tickets for the UFL’s“Premiere” season, please visit www.ufl-football.com.  For group ticket sales, please call 877.UFL.2009.

UFLA Preview: The Redwoods and Sentinels Tonight at 9 PM EST/6PM PST

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On Saturday night the California Redwoods will play host to the New York Sentinels at AT&T Park in San Francisco. The game kicks off at 9 PM Eastern/6 PM local time and will be televised on HDNet and webcast via ufl-football.com.

This content was originally seen as a secondary battle to what promised to be an epic fight between the Locos and Tuskers. After the Locos failed to show up, or more exactly after their offensive line looked like a gaggle of high schoolers, the game on Saturday night offers us the one opportunity for a hard fought battle this week.

The game will be the first professional football game in beautiful AT&T Park since the demise of the XFL.

California Redwoods

Redwoods QB (and a guest on our Inside the UFL radio show this week) Shane Boyd set a record when he was the first player to score a UFL touchdown last week in the inaugural game, other than that he had an up and down game. It seemed as if Dennis Green was content to run a very conservative offense, judging by the two WR cuts he made this past week perhaps that was due to the WR corps.

Boyd promised that the offense will be opened up a bit this week and perhaps with the additions of WR Glenn Holt and Doug Gabriel that will prove correct. Both Holt and Gabriel provide speed and talent to the inexperienced Redwoods team. Gabriel, in particular, may have a chip on his shoulder after the Florida Tuskers let him go.

Cory Ross was a bright spot for the Redwoods and after the Tuskers gashed the Sentinels last week one might expect him to slash through the Sentinels defense in a similar fashion.

Prince Kwateng, Maurice Crum, and others led what looked to be a pretty damn good Redwoods defense. They swarm tackled which was great to see and they seemed to have solid fundamentals. This week they are going against a Sentinels offense that seemed to lack a punch last week so it will be interesting to see how they perform.

New York Sentinels

Quinn Gray started off his first UFL game in a fine fashion with a touchdown drive. He guided the Sentinels to a 10-0 lead before LaBrandon Toefield developed a case of fumble-itis and then the Sentinels offense fell apart – including Gray.

At the end of the day I place much of the blame on a Sentinels offensive line that parted like the Red Sea for much of the evening and a WR corps that looked relatively lackluster.

For the Sentinels to win, their offense will have to be better in every facet of the game.

Priority #1 will be protecting the ball. Toefield is a tremendously talented runner but he had far too many costly turnovers, while the rest of the backs failed to impress. Cecil Sapp, Chris Barclay, and Shannon Woods should be given the ball a bit more this week in an effort to get things moving.

If Koren Robinson is healthy he might also offer a spark considering his talent.

On defense Tra Battle, Alfred Fincher, Nathan Williams, and Paul Pratt offered bright spots with solid play despite the Tuskers overall offensive performance. This week, that needs to continue, and the defensive line needs to step it up to stop Cory Ross and contain Boyd’s athleticism.

The defense particularly needs Simeon Rice to step up.

(Oh, and Simeon – if you’re reading, Shane Boyd said he isn’t scared of you.)

Prediction: California Redwoods 24 – New York Sentinels 17

Tickets: If you’re in California go buy tickets – affordable prices and great football – here: Tickets.com