OT: New UFL set to kickoff tonight

[efin98]

Florio said the attendance for last night's game was about 14,000, "not even a third" of their goal.

Florio's numbers and facts are off...they hoped for 15,000 and got an announced crowd of 14,209 and estimates for the actual attending crowd was "not even a third".

 

[TrueBeliever]

Make it an off season league and get a good TV deal where I can follow one team and I'm in. Until then: yawn.

That brings up an interesting point: I heard an interview with the UFL commissioner on the radio a few weeks ago, and he said the NFL screwed up by having NFL Europe play in the spring; i.e., you can't expect a guy to play 10 weeks of football and then go to an NFL training camp and compete against "fresh" guys. I don't know...

 

[SoonerPatriot]

The MLS has survived for almost a decade and a half while drawing similar numbers and having as much TV exposure and similar salary structure. This is because the owners funding the MLS don't expect to make money in the venture; their profit comes from their other business endeavors. For the UFL owners, sinking the $14 million salary cap while making only a small portion of it back in revenue is simply not that much of a deal. It's just a hobby for them, similar to going out and playing golf. You pay $20 for 18 holes once or twice a week, and you don't expect to make that $20 back while playing.

Nice theory, but I'm gonna bet they don't make it, largely because of the lack of corporate ad revenue and player salaries. The MLS comparison is irrelevant. They provide a unique product without competition, at least domestically. If the NFL didn't exist, then the UFL might do just fine. But unlike soccer, and the MLS, it's a market they don't have locked down.

 

[pats1]

There's another game on right now, for those interested. HDNet, New York Sentinels and Florida Tuskers.

By the way, the UFL gamebook lists the attendance for the opening game at 18,187:

http://www.ufl-football.com/pdf/[email protected]

 

[Joker]

Florida "Tuskers"...what cubicle dweeb nitwit came up with THAT?

 

[pats1]

Kenny Rice and Paul Maguire are the commentators on HDNet.

 

[pats1]

During halftime, they showed video and audio from inside Haslett's locker room, including zoomed shots of the plays that were being drawn on the board.

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

That brings up an interesting point: I heard an interview with the UFL commissioner on the radio a few weeks ago, and he said the NFL screwed up by having NFL Europe play in the spring; i.e., you can't expect a guy to play 10 weeks of football and then go to an NFL training camp and compete against "fresh" guys. I don't know...

No, the problem with NFL Europe was it was in Europe.

 

[TrueBeliever]

I've heard people say that the NFL screwed up by placing its farm league overseas... but actually it started as the World League of American Football with teams in the U.S., Canada and Europe, and it seemed like the only teams that sold tickets were the ones in Europe, so they moved the whole thing over there.

I don't know, maybe there just isn't room for a minor league in football like there is in baseball.