UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE HIRES TOP LEVEL TELEVISION DIRECTOR & PRODUCER FOR UFL TELECASTS ON VERSUS
John Gonzalez & Peter Lasser Join UFL Team
RUTHERFORD, NJ (May 7, 2009) – The United Football League has hired two top television executives to oversee the UFL’s production of its live game telecasts that will air in high-definition on VERSUS, a national sports network in more than 75 million homes. John Gonzalez will serve as director and Peter Lasser as producer for the League’s broadcasts of its “Premiere” season.
“The quality of our production team reflects the professional attitude the UFL will bring to all of our nationally televised games,” said Frank Vuono, COO of the UFL. “The integrity of the game is paramount and the experience and professionalism of our television executives further indicates our desire to partner with the ‘best in the business’ to produce a quality product both on and off the field.”
VERSUS will air live weekly games beginning on Thursday, October 8, and continuing through the Championship Game scheduled to air Thanksgiving weekend. All games will air live and will be produced and shown in HD where available. The complete schedule will be announced this summer.
Gonzalez is considered to be one of the top sports directors in the country and has directed broadcasts for 22 seasons with the NFL on NBC, four seasons of Arena Football, 13 seasons of Notre Dame Football and 15 Orange Bowls. Gonzalez was the lead director of four Super Bowls (nine in total), has directed three Super Bowl halftime shows and has been involved with nine Olympic Games.
Lasser, a ten-time National Sports Emmy Award winner, brings a wealth of experience to the UFL having produced sports and entertainment programming for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Fox Sports Net and ESPN. He has been involved in 10 Olympic Games, served as senior coordinating producer for Turner Sports for NFL on TNT and NBA on TNT and has produced the Jaguars pre-season games and the NFL Quarterback Challenge.
Frank Vuono, along with Mike Trager, the League’s television and broadcast consultant, will executive produce the nationally televised games on VERSUS.
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 investors including UFL Founder Bill Hambrecht, Tim Armstrong and Paul Pelosi. For more information on the UFL and how to purchase tickets for the “UFL Premiere” season, please visit www.ufl-football.com.
About VERSUS
VERSUS celebrates real competition across all platforms (VERSUS.com, VERSUS on Demand and VERSUS HD). Now in more than 75 million homes, the network is the national cable home of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the IndyCar® Series as well as best-in-class events such as The Tour de France, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Professional Boxing. The network also offers collegiate sports featuring nationally-ranked teams from top conferences such as the Pac-10, Big 12, Mountain West and Ivy League. VERSUS features the best field sports programming on television and is a destination for sports fans, athletes and sportsmen to find exclusive, competitive events and original programs, such as Sports Soup and The Contender, that audiences can’t find elsewhere. VERSUS, a wholly owned company of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.













Gonzales is a legend, good move by the league bringing him in