The United Football League: A Viable Contender

It seems a lot has been happening behind the scenes with the UFL over the past couple months. In March, the league announced four head coaches with noteworthy NFL backgrounds (Dennis “He is who we thought he was” Green, Jim Fassel, Jim Haslett, and Ted Cottrell). Each of these men have experienced NFL playoff success and represent a higher caliber of head coach than fans are accustomed to seeing in an upstart professional football league. 

Sure, the USFL of the 1980s and the CFL both had Marv Levy, but that was before he made four consecutive Super Bowl appearances. It is rare to see a league, secondary to the NFL, acquire head coaches that have already achieved the respective accomplishments of the UFL’s four. The UFL’s selection of coaches coupled with the recruitment of former NFL executives Michael Huyghue (Commissioner) and Frank Vuono (COO) shows that league founder and successful Wall Street investor Bill Hambrecht means business. And, as the UFL continues to move forward and form partnerships with proven corporations (e.g., the Leffler marketing firm, which has worked with both NFL and NCAA teams) the league will further prove its credibility and potential. 

Many of the UFL’s critics question why the UFL would go “head-to-head” with the NFL in the Fall instead of kicking off during the Spring when the NFL is dormant. It is important to note that the UFL, for the most part, will not be competing with the NFL for ratings or stadium seating. Half of the UFL’s “premiere” season games will be aired regionally on Friday nights to markets “under-served” by the NFL. The New York Jets and the New York Giants both belong to New Jersey and have season ticket waiting lists that extend for years. The San Francisco 49ers are decidedly moving to Santa Clara, which will open up a void in the San Francisco market. Las Vegas and Orlando are absent of professional football altogether.

The other half of the UFL’s games will be aired nationally, Thursday nights on the Versus network. The NFL is slated to move Thursday night football to the NFL network, which is a cable channel that gets far less viewership subscriptions than Versus. Versus is a growing network and has ratings expectations that would be realistic for an upstart professional football league. It is a cable channel that averages less than a million viewers, and saw a ratings peak of 1.7 million viewers during a World Extreme Cage-fighting title bout between Jens Pulver and Urijah Faber. The defunct XFL lost its partnership with NBC in 2001 because XFL broadcasts fell well short of the ratings expectations for network television (the XFL experienced an all-time low for a sports program in network prime time of 1.6 million viewers, while the prime time network average exceeds 6 million viewers). The relationship between the UFL and the Versus network is one that could see mutual growth.

It is also important to consider the fact that all past attempts at Spring Professional football have failed. The USFL, XFL, WLAF, Arena Football League, AAFL, and a host of other lame attempts that never even made it to kick off have all bit the dust. The UFL has stated that its market research indicates serious sports fans are more focused on professional football in the Fall, and more focused on other professional sports in the Spring. The fanatics who crave professional football in the Spring are too few to support an ambitious football venture that would have to contend with other popular Spring sports. The only professional football leagues that have been successful have operated during the Fall season (e.g, the NFL, the AAFC, the CFL, and the AFL of the 1960s).

Ultimately, it is the fans that will determine the success of the UFL. The NFL is a hugely successful business, but it needs to be reminded from time to time that it serves the consumers, and likewise it is the fans that determine the success of the NFL. The UFL will acquire recognizable professional football players and charge an average $20 per game ticket against the NFL’s average of about $60 per game ticket. This league has made apparent strides to provide football fans with the best possible supplement to a dominant NFL that falls short in some U.S. markets.