Maverick's owner Mark Cuban proposed that there should be competition amongst the NFL. He hopes about the possibility of having an eight-team league but he is the only potential owner as of now. Read this from http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news;_ylt=Aq7X...ov=ap&type=lgns <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Cuban said in his e-mail he believes the salary cap makes it easier to compete financially with the NFL because of the salary imbalance that leaves lower-level players with lower salaries. That would allow the new league to fill its rosters with players taken lower than the second round, as well as late NFL cuts and free agents who escape the NFL draft.</div> IMO I think it is going to be a rough road for this since previous leagues (most notably the XFL) have somewhat had a small portion in terms of audience and quality of players. Some may even compare it to the little brother of the NFL since many of those who didn't make the roster or was undrafted by the season may end up playing here. But if it survives at least 3-5 years with a decent amount of audience from the NFL (in other words, don't intervene with NFL games), produce some decent players, and actually have televised games, I might consider it. But no league has the ability to have competition with the NFL as of this day in time. Plus, there might be the possibility that players may leave the league because coaches from the NFL may sign them or whatever. It may get a bad/good rep for players like *cough* Ricky Williams *cough* to join that league just to boost ratings i.e CFL last year. What are your thoughts?
I have never been a fan of M. Cuban. I can listen to him for about 5 minutes. before he annoys me. He makes Jim Cramer of CNBC seem downright sane & morose. If he has that much free time & $, might I suggest philanthropy or for some of his personality; politics might be better. If Vince McMahon & the USFL (D Trump had a team) can't beat the NFL why does MC think he can?
I don't think another league would be able to really compete with the NFL, but I believe another league could survive, and be profitable. I mean if another league was televised and easy enough to follow I wouldn't mind being able to watch more football. Maybe they could run their season during the NFL off season? Wasn't the XFL on PPV? If they televised another league on normal cable I think it would have a decent shot at being successful.
Mark Cuban. I had soooooo much fun watching my Golden State Warriors rip his team to shreds after their seemingly "immortal" regular season. Ahhh. I loved his smack talk right before the playoff series, giving zero respect to the Warriors. As each playoff game went by, the cameras would keep panning over to him. His facial expressions were priceless!!! Anyway, I think that another football league will need some type of gimmick to compete with the greatest league the world has ever seen. The XFL was right to mic up every player, and turn up the hit noises over the loudspeakers. Without those gimmicks, they will not gather a fan base with all other things being the same. The Arena league has a ton of gimmicks in place - shorter, hockey-like arenas with nets, walls, and less players on the field. It outlives all other NFL competition because it is so much different than regular football. Mark Cuban would impress me if he could actually get an NFL team. Again, the camera would provide us with endless entertainment when it looks over to his box seat.
I think if they do the following it can work... -Stay away from major markets... Have it be the only ticket in town... Cities like Louisville, KY , Charleston, SC , Honolulu, HI and Raliegh, NC would be great locations... A perfect # of teams for the league would be 16... 2 conferences (8) and 4 divisions (4)... -Give the teams a local flavor... Make each team carry a certain amount of local players... -Know their place... They aren't going to take down the NFL... It just isn't going to happen... To attempt it would be a bad idea... Don't go after any big name players... Be a kind of developmental league for the NFL... Take in guys like Marcus Vick who are young and developing as well as guys that are looking to make a come back like Charles Rogers and Ricky Williams... There are plenty of great college players that just don't hack it in the NFL... This would give them a place to play... A league full of Woody Dantzler's would be fun to watch... -Be creative with Scheduling... Friday night games are a bad idea IMO and weekday games is even worse... Saturday is when they should play... So you don't conflict with College Football, start the season the first week in December... You would have to get creative around the new year with bowl week and everything but it can be done... 2 weeks in January during the NFL playoffs would be difficult as well... But starting in December also would give the teams long enough to have a training camp and full off season after the final cuts in the NFL have been made... Have the regular season go 10 weeks and finish up the playoffs by the first week in March... Right before March Madness and in time for the NFL FA period... This also allows guys that want to try out for the NFL a chance to go through a full offseason with their NFL team of choice... -Put the games on ESPN... They have enough channels to cover it and will promote the league better than any other channel... I am all for more football and I think this could work if they are smart...
Please God...I can only handle Mark Cuban ruining one of my favorite sports. He is good for the NBA overall, but he destroys my enjoyment of any game he attends. I have to watch his sloppy biliionaire ass act like a dunce throughout the TV coverage.
Heres the way I think it should be run. They should defintly try to go into Los Angeles, Las Vegas, a city in Texas, Mexico City(can fill a stadium of 100,000 ppl for a game), Toronto, Portland, and a Southern city. Charleston isnt a very big sports town, and Raleigh fans have 3.5 (duke barely counts) college football teams within one hour of each other, plus most either love the redskins or the panthers. They need to play May-July, because that way they can snag the players that didnt get drafted as high as they wanted. If you could be a starter on a UFL or a practice squad guy in the nfl, most would choose a starter in the UFL. Also right after the draft, football fans crave football. which the UFL could hold them over till preseason. They need to secure big stadiums, if they can get stadiums that will fill 40,000+ people, and not little rinky dink arenas, people will think they will be around for longer and start an allegance to the UFL. they need to secure a TV contract. TV is what makes the NFL so much money, and if you can get a nationwide audience, more and more people will want to attend games. The AFL is getting so big because of this. They need to steal players from NFL Europe, most players would rather play in the States, than in Europe, and they could probably get paid more in the states. They need to have a televised draft for all new players, asumming that they could give their 1st round picks 1 million a year, because if they could do that guys that get picked in the 3rd or later rounds would make more in the UFL and better playing time. Micheal Bush most likely could have been a top 5 pick in the UFL 1st round, and all those fans of him in college would pay to see him play. Same goes with Troy Smith and Chris Leak. If they do have a draft, they need to set a minimum # of years a 1st or 2nd round pick can sign for, because you dont want your stars leaving for the nfl after they have had a good year, they have to say if u enter the draft you must sign to a min. 3-4 year contract. Get a football video game contract. Some people will play the game and gain more intrest for the UFL. There needs to be revenue sharing, because if one or two teams go out of business the entire league falls.
Another idea that could potential really hurt the NFL is allowing sophmores to be drafting in the UFL. Some players are in desperate need of money, and might go to the UFL for 3 or 4 years then go to the NFL. Players could play against better talent in the UFL and get paid, instead of doing their last two years of college.
Any competition to the NFL is a bad idea IMO... The reason May-July won't work is because a lot of the guys will be trying out for NFL teams... I think players would rather take a shot at making it in the NFL than be assured of playing in a lesser league... Essentially, you increase the caliber of players by going Dec. to March... I think Charleston would be a nice venue.... It isn't a very good sports town because they don't have any teams... There is nothing really close... If you add a semi pro team that is theirs, I think it would take off... There may be 4.5 (You forgot ECU, G-vegas) college teams close to Raleigh but they don't get a whole lot of support... NC State is the biggest football school of them all... It is a basketball area... Raliegh seems to carry the Hurricanes fairly well though and I think it would be a nice area...
