UFL
- Thread starter Baddog11
- Start date
Serious question - what is fun about it? Why would anybody tune into that? And I’m looking for something other than ‘it’s more football’ because that don’t fly with the average fan. It has to matter, for folks to want to watch.
At first it will have to be pretty much because it’s football. If the league can establish itself after a couple of seasons they could get a following. Football is the highest rated sport in American TV, it’s the best risk to try and the NFL gave their blessing on it.
These leagues never establish themselves. Last successful startup football league was the AFL in 1960, when the NFL only had 12 teams.
It’s got a long way to go and I don’t know if it will make it two years but it’s still the best risk worth taking because it is football.
They’ve just never worked out, though. I stand by the idea that you need tribalism for these leagues to work. I don’t know who the investors are, but it seems like MLS might be a better shot of success. But they’ll always be trailing EPL.
I guess I’m wondering why we’d compete with NBA and MLB anyway. MLB is more wobbly, that’s why I figured MLS had a shot.
The only way I could see these leagues ever working is one of two ways:
- Work out a promotion/relegation agreement with the NFL so that the bottom ~3 NFL teams are demoted to the UFL each year, and the top 3 UFL teams are promoted to the NFL. Obviously there's way any NFL owner would ever agree to this, especially with all of the salary caps that prevent the larger market teams from taking advantage of their larger fanbases, but if it had been established 100 years ago and there had always been a 2nd division, it would probably be pretty popular, just like the Championship is over in England for second tier soccer.
- Have billionaires fund this league to the point where it can poach NFL starters and top draft picks in a way to try to force the NFL to merge the leagues. Kinda like the AFL did, and the USFL tried to do but failed. I don't think the setup of franchises is right for that, since 4 of the UFL teams are in cities that already have NFL teams (Houston, Dallas, DC, and Detroit) and the owners aren't trying to do that either, but a different UFL with 8 billionaire owners trying to force the NFL's hand might be able to make it happen.
I don’t know that ideas 1 and 2 would work, but some variation of idea 3 might. Hit some cities up who don’t have an NFL team, and likely never will. And maybe not directly tie it to colleges, but maybe tie it ‘around’ NFL, albeit not an official minor league. And I don’t know that I’d try to compete with college ball, though that may prove fruitful if we keep ruining it.
For example, put a Saints-esque team in Jackson, Tyler or Mobile. Maybe a Falcons team in Birmingham or Charleston. Titans in Memphis, Louisville or Chattanooga. I don’t know, something like that. You have to get some pride stirred up in people.
I don’t really know honestly, just spit-balling. Something that encompasses the spirit of why people pull for the local team. Maybe it’s just geography.
but…..if it works, may as well replicate?
This Showboats/Roughneck game is the first one I have watched this year and it is terrible. I think if the teams had draft territories it might attract interest. Something like Birmingham being all Mississippi and Alabama players or something. The teams are not really spread out enough to do that tho I don't guess. Oh well. The announcers are really trying to make it seem exciting tho
The problem with tying a pro team to a college is that you'll alienate a lot of fans from a city.
Imagine you had a minor league with these cities:
There are a few places it could work. A Little Rock team that has Arkansas and Arkansas State players would probably succeed, or any state dominated by just 1 school (Columbus/Ohio State, Omaha/Nebraska, Charleston/West Virginia), but it would be more of a gimmick for a couple teams than something you could build a full league on.
Promotion and relegation is the best bet theoretically. Put the NFL down to 24 teams, and then the remaining 8 join with the CFL and the UFL for a 24-team second division with the bottom 3/top 3 swapping places every year, which matches what every soccer league in the world other than MLS (and I believe Australian soccer) does. And then maybe you create a 3rd division below that. That way every fan in every city has some hope that even though they're in a lower division today, maybe one day they could be in the NFL, even winning a Super Bowl. I say "theoretically" because all 32 NFL owners would be "not just no but hell no" to this idea, and why wouldn't they be? The only reason it lasts in English soccer is because it's been in place since the 1890s and it's engrained into the cultural minds over there.
Imagine you had a minor league with these cities:
- Memphis - Ole Miss and Memphis players
- Jackson - Mississippi State and Southern Miss players
- Birmingham - Alabama and UAB players
- Mobile - Auburn and South Alabama players
- Shreveport - LSU and Louisiana Tech players
There are a few places it could work. A Little Rock team that has Arkansas and Arkansas State players would probably succeed, or any state dominated by just 1 school (Columbus/Ohio State, Omaha/Nebraska, Charleston/West Virginia), but it would be more of a gimmick for a couple teams than something you could build a full league on.
Promotion and relegation is the best bet theoretically. Put the NFL down to 24 teams, and then the remaining 8 join with the CFL and the UFL for a 24-team second division with the bottom 3/top 3 swapping places every year, which matches what every soccer league in the world other than MLS (and I believe Australian soccer) does. And then maybe you create a 3rd division below that. That way every fan in every city has some hope that even though they're in a lower division today, maybe one day they could be in the NFL, even winning a Super Bowl. I say "theoretically" because all 32 NFL owners would be "not just no but hell no" to this idea, and why wouldn't they be? The only reason it lasts in English soccer is because it's been in place since the 1890s and it's engrained into the cultural minds over there.
Double/triple the sizes of NFL team “practice squads” and use smaller urban cities where this farm team plays. Players can be called up as needed on a game by game basis for scheme or injuries.
I don't think that's a terrible idea per se, but no one is going to care about Minor League Football, just like no one cares about Minor League Baseball. Yes, it's fun to take my family to a Mississippi Braves game 1-2 times a year, but I have never once cared whether they win or lose or what their position in the standings is, and an affiliated NFL minor league would be the same way.
As far as I know, there are only 3 former Bulldogs on an UFL roster, Isaiah Zuber with Birmingham, Greg Eiland with Arlington and Tommy Champion with DC. There is also a kicker from Millsaps on the Arlington roster.
If the NFL thought there was any benefit from these leagues they would have already worked out an arrangement with them or created something on their own.
There's not enough talent for each NFL franchise to have their own team. Hell, there are only 8 UFL teams and they are pulling guys from the likes of Millsaps and Frostburg State just to fill rosters.
Also, what's the purpose for these leagues other than entertainment value? There's not much if any shot of getting to the NFL for these guys with a few exceptions.
If the NFL thought there was any benefit from these leagues they would have already worked out an arrangement with them or created something on their own.
There's not enough talent for each NFL franchise to have their own team. Hell, there are only 8 UFL teams and they are pulling guys from the likes of Millsaps and Frostburg State just to fill rosters.
Also, what's the purpose for these leagues other than entertainment value? There's not much if any shot of getting to the NFL for these guys with a few exceptions.
Personally I would watch a Jackson based UFL team that had players from MSU, USM and Ole Miss. I would tune in to see if Will Rogers could carve out a role in pro ball or if Frank Gore Jr could carry the team on his back or if Jett Johnson was as effective of a tackle at the next level. Without the local representatives I wouldn't have any interest.
They will if it is affiliated with their NFL team and has players on it that could be called up to help