Mr. Pelosi and the Break Even Point for the UFL

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Paul Pelosi

By Nation Hahn ⋅ June 15, 2009 ⋅

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Filed Under Paul Pelosi, UFL, united football league, William Hambrecht

Paul Pelosi was born in San Francisco in 1940. He was the son of a successful businessman who had invested in insurance among other ventures. Paul went out east for college where he attended Georgetown, a setting where he famously roomed with former NFL Commissioner Paul Taglibue. He met a young co-ed while he attended Georgetown who captured his heart. Her name was Nancy D’Alesando and she came from a politically connected family in Baltimore. They wed in 1962 and began building a family and a life in San Francisco.

Nancy D’Alesando Pelosi had four children and initially eschewed politics before running for Congress in the late 80s. When elected she steadily rose through the ranks, eventually making history as the first female Speaker of the House. While she captured headlines and history Paul Pelosi quietly built an impressive fortune estimated on Congressional disclosure forms at between $15 and $55,000,000. (The range tends to be towards the high end of the number and usually doesn’t capture the full essence of the fortune.)

Mr. Pelosi would become friends with William Hambrecht, who built a fortune in the financial sector. The two invested in the Oakland Invaders of the United States Football League in the early 80s, went on ski trips together, and moved among the corridors of power and wealth in the Bay Area. Pelosi seemingly was content remaining in the background as his wife captured the headlines… until early 2009 when he was announced as the lead investor in the San Francisco franchise of the nascent United Football League.

Pelosi recently told UFLAccess.com writer Fran Stuchbury that:

UFL Founder Bill Hambrecht and I have been friends for 35 years. He and I were both investors in the USFL team the Oakland Invaders. I have been following this project with him for a while and I have been involved with this for a couple of years with it. I agreed to invest in the investment group. We were originally looking at San Francisco or Sacramento as the place for it, given what is happening to the San Francisco 49ers with them unfortunately trying to leave San Francisco. We were given the opportunity to play at AT&T Park in San Francisco, so we decided to launch it there and maybe play a game in Sacramento.

Beginning in March Paul Pelosi had suddenly earned headlines as an investor in the newest football league on the block. Some speculated that like other investors in sporting ventures he would hand out tickets to friends, occasionally talk to the media, and generally remain in the background. Those individuals would be incorrect.

Pelosi has taken a lead role in the league. He was in Orlando and New York for the most recent press conferences, he has been willing to talk to the media, and most impressively he was in Las Vegas for the workouts. This is a man living the dream of many sports fans, the dream of owning their own team, and he is making the best of it. It bodes well for the future of the UFL that their owners are so invested in the venture.

Sports Business Journal Reveals UFL Financial Projections

According to a league official I spoke with, the Sports Business Journal’s article from this morning regarding the UFL financial figures were skewed. The article revealed expected losses of $24,000,000 in season one, $12,000,000 in season two provided at least two expansion teams are sold, and the break even point to be in season three. The timeline is roughly correct even provided the inaccurate numbers the SBJ ran with. (The league official declined to specify how they were skewed, except to state that they were.)

It is great to see the league estimates real losses and that they are prepared to lose significant money to achieve their dream of a second league. Such preparation and planning is necessary for the survival of new leagues. They seem to have strict financial controls in place and realistic figures expected. Twenty thousand in attendance, for example, is basically in line with other recent football leagues. Provided they continue down the path that they are heading then their projections could very well be met.