Exclusive Interview: Commissioner Michael Huyghue

UFL

Following my last article on the UFL from the end of October, public news on the league was scarce. An occasional article would pop up on the league but that was about it. I heard lots of rumors and some substantive news from time to time, but nothing I’d feel good about publishing. Finally I had the opportunity to speak with Commissioner Michael Huyghue again on Friday, January 18th.

.

Initially I pushed the commissioner on why the announcement had been delayed and when it would occur. Huyghue revealed that the initial announcement had been delayed because unlike past attempts they did not wish to announce a league and their host cities without solid agreements in place. Past efforts would often announce without owners or stadium deals lined up, which is usually a harbinger of the failure to come. The same will not be said about the United Football League.

. 

. 

The announcement will come the first week of February, with the only thing left to determine is whether they will have six or eight teams in year one. They have six teams locked down with ownership groups and stadium deals in place and are working feverishly to line up the other two so they can go with eight teams from word go. “I will confirm that the league will be geographically balanced – half east, half west,” commented Commissioner Huyghue wryly when I asked if he were willing to confirm the team locations I had been hearing from the rumor mill.

. 

“I had to go into each of the cities and meet with the Mayors and convince them that we are for real. We had to overcome the initial skepticism that comes from failed leagues in the past and we were able to do that,” said Huyghue.

. 

He also revealed that many sponsors had signed on recently as the league itself is very attractive. The sponsors are being offered deals on a national, league wide basis which is very attractive to companies all over the United States. Perhaps the biggest news that came out of the interview was that the UFL has locked down a national television deal, which makes the league’s job easier when it comes to securing sponsors. Each of them knows that their logo will be broadcast nationally to football fans all over the country on Friday nights next fall.

. 

Huyghue would not reveal the broadcast partner but UFL fans can rest assured that it will be a credible network that is widely available. The league has impressed time and time again with just how professional they are, which is in direct contrast to some of the upstart efforts in recent years – many of which failed to even hold a practice, let alone play a game.

. 

Some rumors had spread that the league would delay the launch for a year due to the adverse economic conditions that we have seen thus far this year, which the Commissioner adamantly denied. Huyghue said that, “If we were to kickoff in 2009 rather than 2008 it would be due to the fact that we decided we could not get everything done that needs to be done to kickoff – not due to the economy. We have to put down new fields in some of our stadiums, et cetera.”

. 

When asked about the biggest difficulty that they had faced thus far he revealed that it was simply throwing together something on the scale of the UFL in such a short time period, but that they were further ahead than they expected to be at this juncture. “The television networks we reached out to were great. They were excited by the possibilities of the league, and this includes partners of the NFL,” said Huyghue as a point of reference to how far they had come in such a short period.

. 

The UFL’s recent progress is two fold – many senior members of the league have been poached from the upper ranks of the National Football League, and coaches and GM’s for the teams have been identified, with formal offers to come shortly for each of them as the day for the announcement grows closer.

. 

So owners, stadiums, coaches, management, and a television deal are in place – but what of the players? The UFL has reached out to every agency from the big guns in the football world down to the mom and pop agencies that have a handful of players and a coffee pot. They will have a presence at all of the showcases for senior football players and they will pull stats for players from the combine in Indianapolis. The league will also make an appearance before the NFL Players Association shortly.

. 

“We have been giving out Starbucks gift cards to agents telling them to have a cup of coffee on us so we can sit down with them and discuss the league,” commented the commissioner. Such measures further showcase how the management in the league is continuing to toss out creative measures to gain notice; the first, and largest effort thus far, being the partnership with TicketReserve to help the league choose the initial markets for the league.

. 

The scouts for the league will also be holding workouts and trying out players throughout February and March leading to the draft in April. Beginning March 1st the teams will be able to sign all players who are not currently under contract with NFL teams, and it is assumed that many of the teams will have a nucleus in place leading into the college draft in April. Fourth round picks and below will be highly targeted as the UFL will be able to pay them more than the NFL will because of the Collective Bargaining Agreement that the NFL has with their players union.

. 

Most of this has been going on behind the scenes with very few leaks to the media. The league has made an attempt to do everything in a very professional manner as they attempt to show that they are not a minor league or one of the leagues that seems to pop up every few years with little more then a logo and a dream.

. 

I asked Michael what lessons the UFL had learned from the ill-fated XFL attempt from several years back and he responded, “We learned that gimmicks do not last.”

. 

Those gimmicks apparently include spring football. Much discussion has been made of the UFL playing in the fall. Many feel that the league would be better served with playing in the spring when the NFL isn’t active, and that is the path other efforts are taking. Pressed on this issue, Commissioner Huyghue said that the league had studied the feasibility of playing in the spring and that their study had shown that while people had interest in spring football it wasn’t sustainable over the long run, which isn’t something the UFL is interested in because they intend to stick around for a long time to come.

. 

So, UFL fans, it is almost time for the rubber to hit the road and for the league to announce. Following my interview with Michael I am confident that things are rapidly coming together for the United Football League, although they have a lot of ground left to make up before August 8th, 2008 – the inaugural kickoff.

Nation Hahn @ January 29, 2008