United Football League looks to sink or swim

July 13, 2009 by Sean Jaramillo 

League hopes to make Thursday night UFL night in America

The AAFC, the AFL, the USFL and the XFL. What these names have in common is that they were all attempts to challenge the NFL since 1960—and they all no longer exist. While the 49ers and Browns of the AAFC still exist and the AFL’s merger with the NFL keeps all their teams around, it remains that all real challengers to the NFL’s title as top league get thrashed in the end.

That, however, is not stopping the United Football League from taking a shot at making it big.

The new league is set to debut this October with four teams. New York, Orlando, San Francisco and Las Vegas will each get a team in order to appeal to the four corners of the country.

The league is also debating on allowing other cities to share teams with some of the current cities. Hartford looks to get one of New York’s home games, Sacramento may share with San Francisco and Los Angeles with Las Vegas.

Surprisingly, the UFL is in a position where they could compete alongside the NFL season without having to go against them in head-to-head ratings. Versus plans to air most of the games this season on Thursdays and Fridays, so the only competition will be the Thursday night college game and high school football.

But this league is going to run into some low odds for success from the history books. Only two 11-on-11 leagues have ever made it past two years of competition with the NFL (AAFC, four years, and the 1960s AFL, 10 seasons).

This league, however, has many advantages that the other competitors either never had or barely used.

One huge asset to the UFL will be name recognition. The league’s teams have all signed big-name, former NFL coaches to run their squads: Jim Fassel (Las Vegas), Dennis Green (San Francisco), Ted Cotrell (New York) and Jim Haslett (Orlando).

In addition, the UFL has some former NFL starters already headlining their league and others potentially coming over. Former Buffalo Bills starter J.P. Losman will start for Las Vegas and troubled NFL stars like Michael Vick, Plaxico Burress and Dante Stallworth could potentially switch leagues if the NFL doesn’t allow them back.

Another advantage will be the NFL’s questionable rules and “No Fun League” policies that constantly come under fire by fans.

The UFL plans to sell tickets at roughly $20. A family of four could go to a game, at places that are potentially easier to drive to, for the close to the price of a single NFL ticket (and half the price of an average ticket at the new Giants Stadium).

The UFL also plans to eliminate the tuck rule, allow celebrations, let both teams have a mandatory possession in overtimes and give fans watching on television access to conversations between coaches and quarterbacks by wiring them for sound.

The schedule and team names have yet to be finalized, but the league does plan to start training camps in September and begin play Oct. 8. The championship will be held on Thanksgiving weekend.

Whether this league’s boat floats or not, it certainly seems to have the necessary tools to build one.