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.