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In both cases the NFL team had to change their logo which rendered their merchandise outdated.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.