A few quick hits from the State of the League Address/Press Conference:

• As previously mentioned, the league plans a full off season schedule including a February combine – signings beginning in March – a draft in April – and mini-camps beginning in May.
• Sometime in the spring each team will open a local office, Huyghue acknowledged that the lack of local offices in year one hurt the league
• California will likely play a majority of games in San Jose or Sacramento. Hornet Stadium is getting some upgrades and Paul Pelosi seemed to like the Sacramento idea.
• Huyghue indicated that he thought more than a dozen UFL players would be signed to contracts after the season ends with more being signed to NFL “Futures Contracts”.
• Several Coaches of the caliber of the current UFL head coaches have expressed interest in any UFL openings.
• If New York doesn’t find a permanent venue that is high quality then they may have to find a new home seemed to be an unusually frank answer when asked about the struggles in the country’s largest market.
• Michael Huyghue pointed out that Michael Vick is an example of WHY the UFL should exist. He said that, “Compare Vick, this year, to Brooks Bollinger and JP Losman. Those two developed over the course of the year, Michael didn’t get snaps.”

We also had the opportunity to catch up with the COO of the UFL, Frank Vuono, for a few quick questions:

• Frank would not give a timeline for the unveiling of the year two uniforms. He did say that, “the current uniforms will be quicker and easier to evolve. We’re working on that as we speak.”
• There were certain aspects of the branding that did not come about this year due to the schedule including unique typefaces and mascots. He noted that certain portions of the Sentinels, Locos, and Redwoods branding were not included in this original batch but will appear in year two.
• Vuono spoke of the painstaking effort that the United Football League engaged in with regards to the jerseys – noting that they sought a local connection that would create an attachment within the community given time.
• All of the sponsors are two year agreements.
• “To see StubHub and Motorola, NFL sponsors, agree to come on board was a tremendously positive sign for us,” commented Vuono.
• Vuono noted that GameWear, and some of the other sponsors, were ideal sponsors to grow alongside of the league as they are growing their companies.
• He also indicated that their work with Wilson, and other larger partners, was incredibly positive. He said that, ‘They gave us original pieces, not something they had stored in the back room. This was a strong, positive point for us. It was very significant!”

Frank Vuono is clearly an experienced, talented leader for the league in the branding and sponsorship departments.