Comments on: The United Football League: Beta

By: Nation Hahn

Nation Hahn — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:33:51 +0000

Not true Regina. 16w handles their marketing. Their is also a difference between marketing and advertising.

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By: regina_laroo

regina_laroo — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:09:33 +0000

The problem is the UFL is made up of all football guys and no marketing guys...period.

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By: scottyd

scottyd — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:33:16 +0000

The United Football League needs to MARKET their league..period!
How can you test market a league and a product when no one has heard about it?
If they want to get ANY market share they need to reach out to the masses.
Bottom line, they need to spend $$$$.
I am a professional marketer and could have put a minimum 10,000 fans in the seats if I had been given an opportunity.
This could have been done through grass roots efforts reaching out to local businesses.
On the plus side, it does appear they have secured some quality national sponsors.
However, having a fantastic product without spectators and buyers… means nothing.
I pray the UFL starts putting their money where their product is…. for all concerned.
This mentality of a soft launch is flawed when sports fans don’t even know you exist.
I have talked up the league for months and the reaction is “What is the UFL”?
The way to cultivate fans is to simply “let them know you are there”.
No matter what rational is used the UFL has not met those basic requirements.
To think otherwise is to be a shill for the league and an apologist.
Guess what…. I’m going to test market a new skin care product but put no marketing dollars behind it so no one knows what it is.
This is not smart marketing principles.

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By: Fez

Fez — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:26:43 +0000

The Versus numbers will be better when (if) they work out the conflict with DirecTV so that those viewers can also watch the games.

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By: Nation Hahn

Nation Hahn — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:30:27 +0000

Before the season I was told they had guaranteed at least a .1 in the VERSUS universe to everyone, while hoping for better. When I asked a few folks last week for their reaction to the numbers thus far they said that the ratings had met the expectations they promised to stakeholders. I can only report what I hear/see.

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By: Gatorbait05

Gatorbait05 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:27:38 +0000

I have received indicated that through last week 144,000 viewers had tuned in to the broadcasts on VERSUS, hitting the internal projections drawn up before the season. I'm not saying I don't believe you, but I was told that the UFL was hoping for numbers similar those put up by the Arena League on ESPN and FSN. Now the DirecTV/Vs. argument hurt. But numbers have been under 100,000 the last two games one Vs. I have a really really hard time believing those were the numbers the UFL projected because it puts them on par with replays of MMA on the network.

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By: Nation Hahn

Nation Hahn — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:08:17 +0000

I believe you will see a number of new marketing initiatives for year two.

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By: TheKid965

TheKid965 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:04:31 +0000

The main thing I'd love to see for the "non-beta" UFL is some sort of high-profile, concentrated ad campaign. That, to me, has been the major reason the UFL's been so far under the radar in this first season, though I do understand why that had to be; a four-team, six-game "season" is rather difficult to market in this day and age. However, when the league goes to six teams and ten games starting in 2010, that's when the training wheels have to come off and the UFL must start pushing itself like crazy. Sadly, the day is long over when leagues like the AFL and ABA, perhaps the two most successful "alternative" leagues to date, could get by on word-of-mouth publicity alone. You can have the best football product in the world, but it's all for naught if no one knows its out there. And there is support out there for the UFL and fans who want this upstart league to succeed and prosper; that the attendance figures do not reflect this is a reflection not on the UFL itself or the quality of its football product, but rather that the UFL has done a poor job of getting the word out about itself. I'm not saying the UFL needs to blitz the universe with TV spots and heavy-duty marketing, since we've all seen how that fared for the XFL and WLAF. It got the curiosity draw for a week or two, but those fans quickly left when what they saw on the field did not even come close to the hype. The UFL has been playing it smart thus far by intentionally starting small and with modest expectations, but they can't keep this up indefinitely and hope to survive. What I'd suggest is a viral Internet marketing campaign, since in my experience that's where you're going to find the most support for the UFL and its vision. It's a relatively low-cost, high-return form of advertising that has proven its worth time and again for things ranging from movies to political campaigns; there's no reason it can't also work for an upstart sports league looking to spread the word about itself. I would also - seriously - look into scraping together enough money for a single 60- or 30-second TV spot during the Super Bowl. Assuming the NFL would allow a rival league to advertise on their biggest day of the year (and let's be honest - they haven't had a legitimate rival for so long they've probably forgotten what it's like), such a commercial, even if it's only seen the one time, could potentially work wonders.

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