New Football League, Cuban to own a team...

[Triumph36]

what people don't realize is that football, by and large, is boring. don't get me wrong, i love the nfl - but the xfl was absolutely brutal, and it got pretty big tv hype.

arena football is gimmicky because it has to be - usfl-type football just won't take off.

other leagues have been tried in pro sports numerous times, even back to the federal league in baseball - it's never worked. they lure a few stars away from the big league and then go with subpar facilities in second-rate cities. without the exciting stars, the NFL is nothing.

[irunnotgood]

Could possibly work since the NFL is so popular. Best case scenario is that it somehow becomes a relegation league for the NFL like European soccer.

[TheRover]

I'm pretty excited for this. We've needed a secondary NFL style league for a long time now.

[FUJItheFISH]

if i wanted more football id watch those teams in europe during the off-season.

[MicroBob]

[ QUOTE ]
Wasn't USFL's downfall trying to go up against the NFL while the NFL was in season? This was back when the NFL's popularity was nothing compared to what it is today.

[/ QUOTE ]


No.

the USFL was a spring-league. They played from Mar-Jun I believe because they didn't want to directly compete with the NFL like that.
They were going to switch to fall games at one point (New Jersey Generals owner Donald Trump very much wanted this) but the league folded before they could put it in motion.

I remember watching a lot of the USFL games on ESPN with Hershel Walker and other 'stars' like Steve Young, Brian Sipe, Doug Flutie, etc.
This was before ESPN had the NFL so the USFL with Jim Simpson and Paul McGuire was a big thing for them.

Doubleheader of New Jersey Generals vs. Birmingham Stallions followed by Memphis Showboats vs. LA Express!!
Woo-hoo!!!!


As for this new league: Mark Cuban trying to put a team in Las vegas could definitely give it a chance of getting off the ground and perhaps help it do a tad better than the disastrous XFL did.

It says they are having trouble getting other league owners.
Their only chance is if Cuban sticks with it and is able to convince other guys to dive into to it too.

They list LA, LV and Mexico City as their starting cities.
So obviously they're trying to NOT compete with the NFL directly in their markets.

Makes me think they will consider also trying to place teams in other non-NFL markets with perhaps decent enough stadiums.
Some of these might include San Antonio, Oregon, Salt Lake, maybe even Memphis, Hawaii, Birmingham, Albuquerque, Fresno. That might be stretching it a bit though. I'm trying to think creatively.

But they've got to put teams somewhere. And the NFL markets aren't very likely to let some other pro-league use their city's best stadium during the season.

[Butcho22]

Would be interesting to see what happens if Cuban offers whoever is going to be the #1 or #2 pick in the NFL draft something like twice or even three times as much as they can make in the NFL.

Sign them to a 2-3 year deal so they can still go back to the NFL if this league goes south.

[WhoIam]

As others have mentioned, I don't see how this league could succeed playing in the fall. I have NFL games all day Sunday and one every week on Monday, with occasional Thursday and Saturday games. If my craving for football still isn't satisfied, I have college games all day Saturday and can even go to HS games on Friday.

Given that every secondary league other than the AFL (the '60s AFL) has been a complete failure, I imagine Cuban is doing this for fun rather than as an investment.

I think the league would do better if:
*There were a number of teams outside the US, probably in Canada, Mexico, Japan, and maybe one in Brazil. Australia would be a good market, but this would be impossible as a result of the massive time difference.

*There was no salary cap. If the Tokyo Samurai (or whatever) want to spend millions on top-tier players, this will only increase interest in the league.

*The field is regulation size. I assume it will be, but the tiny field in arena football pisses me off.

[Sluss]

I always thought the XFL got a raw deal. The first game they had on TV was just a bad game, which happens. So many people though never came back after that. The next day there was one of the better games I saw in any football league, a back and forth war with Tommy Maddox at QB for LA. If that game had been the first prime time game I think it would have been a different story. Also, there were some marketing mistakes (cheerleader hype, ball scramble). But I watched the whole season. Granted I had a job where I worked on Friday and Saturday nights and had a TV right in front of me, but I watched the whole season and the football was pretty good.

I also enjoy the arena league and I always thought I would hate that. It may just be because when you break it all down it is still football.

The problem with all of these leagues is that they cannot get the best players. So they are forced to put in some gimmicks to make the game more entertaining, thus turning off the real nitty fans who want "real football" The problem is if they played "real football" the games would be boring as hell and nobody would watch (NFL Europe).

[Jack of Arcades]

This league's strategy is supposedly to pay a premium for 2nd rounders on. If they can fill out the league with guys who are nfl-caliber or just below it, it would be a nice gap-filler between college and the NFL. Plus, we might get to see actual careers for college stars who can't make it in the NFL.

I fully support this, and I'm looking forward to Friday Nights now.

[polkaface]

[ QUOTE ]


They list LA, LV and Mexico City as their starting cities.
So obviously they're trying to NOT compete with the NFL directly in their markets.

Makes me think they will consider also trying to place teams in other non-NFL markets with perhaps decent enough stadiums.
Some of these might include San Antonio, Oregon, Salt Lake, maybe even Memphis, Hawaii, Birmingham, Albuquerque, Fresno. That might be stretching it a bit though. I'm trying to think creatively.

But they've got to put teams somewhere. And the NFL markets aren't very likely to let some other pro-league use their city's best stadium during the season.

[/ QUOTE ]

You are right, they are going after non-NFL markets. In terms of TV markets (which is mentioned in the NYT article) the NFL is missing from these markets:
#2 LA
#19 Sacramento
#20 Orlando
#24 Portland
#27 Hartford
#29 Raleigh Durham
#34 Columbus
#35 Greenville/Spartanburg
#36 Salt Lake City
#37 San Antonio

Birmingham is 40 and OKC is 45. Only problem with those is that HS football is HUGE there.

Also if you had the choice between living in an NFL city or living in Birmingham or Mexico City.... where would you want to live and work?

I wouldn't be surprised if a Canadian city like Toronto or Vancouver was looked at as well as Orlando, San Antonio.

That would get them to 6 or 7 locations with the 3 already mentioned.