Posted on 05/15/2012 7:43:05 AM PDT by ConservativeStatement
The first time the United States Football League was established in 1983, it gave a quick scare to the NFL. The USFL owners signed players like Reggie White, Steve Young, Jim Kelly and Herschel Walker, players the NFL actually wanted, by giving them big-time contracts.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbssports.com ...
The Houston Gamblers had the best logo in the history of pro sports, IMHO.
>>Who’s going to watch? NFL Scouts and Football Junkies like me.<<
Me too. If they do it right this time, it can be a minor league feeder to the NFL (Arena and CFL are too strange to be good feeders).
And the NFL needs something College and Pro — some tempering would have helped many a player: both physically and emotionally.
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Unnngh.
Agreed. They had a good product and several of their teams were in NFL cities from the beginning. You have to have some teams in media centers to get attention or wind up like the Arena League.
A team has to exist somewhere in NY/NJ, LA and probably Chicago. If they don't, it will be largely ignored.
They'd be far better off in smaller venues, where there is nothing to compete for the fans. You'll have full stadiums...and colleges with be thrilled to have the rental income.
Ultimately, this will evolve into a developmental league of sorts for the NFL, and the major revenue will come from selling TV rights to ESPN and or FOX Sports Nets...or other venues like YES or NESN..who need LIVE programming..
Will the new USFL allow college players to leave early, or even allow HS players who don't want to go to college, to sign. Or what about kids who get suspended, kicked off their college teams>
Right now, the NFL CBA will not allow players to come out until after their junior year..unlike the NBA one and done rule...
How many kids playing college ball now, who really don't want to be in college, would jump at the chance to start earning money now...
You are going to hear college coaches and ADs start to SCREAM aboit this very soon
If they’re aiming at being a D-league they won’t mind being ignored by the media. How often does the NBA D-league get attention? Minor league baseball? The AHL? If you’re keeping costs down by actually TRYING to be filled with second tier players you don’t need national media.
Way back in my Drum Corps days (Spirit of Atlanta),we did a halftime show at a Birmingham Stallions game. The players were back on the sideline as we were leaving the field. They got out of our way, and they were all saying, ‘Jeez, that’s the loudest thing I’ve ever heard!’. Kinda cool.
Great point about eligibility.
When we were living in Hawaii, there was a WFL team called “The Hawaiians”, actually went to a game against the Philadelphia Bell.
But they are also looking for a tv contract to finance themselves and, if they’re a true D-league, then the only ones who would be interested in televising it would be the NFL Network. And for that, they might as well be developed under the NFL umbrella like NFL Europe was.
And if they are going to be a D league, they would be smarter to not be national but regional - someplace in the midwest or south where there are several middle-sized cities and travel costs can be minimized.
32 NFL reams split feeding into eight franchises based in, say, Birmingham, Memphis, Louisville, Columbus, Omaha, Des Moines, Oklahoma City and Little Rock. They can then have NFL practice squad, UDFAs and other guys the NFL wants to develop combined with area talent. That could work but no major broadcaster is going to want to carry it other than the championship game, just like NFL-E.
Have you looked at the sports channel section of your cable dial lately? There’s a lot of channels out there, there’s even minor league stuff on some of them.
You can be a national minor league with low travel. That’s what divisions are for.
no kidding
no kidding
The NASL team was the Memphis Rogues. Just saying. :-)
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These are some horrible team names.
Shouldn't they wait until the concussion issue is resolved?
Football may not be around much longer, to hear some people tell.
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