Thanks for the link. I'd heard about a new league starting play next year called the UFL but I didn't even know the U stood for United.
Opposing leagues have failed many times when trying to compete with the NFL. Although, in the early days teams often shifted among the various leagues and cities and some ended up in the NFL, for example the Cleveland Browns.
The obvious exception is the AFL - American Football League of the 1960's. They became prominent because of two reasons. Lamar Hunt was a billionaire with billionaire pals including fellow oilman, Bud Adams. Hunt and Adams had both tried to get NFL franchises for Dallas and Houston, but they were denied, and basically treated as trailer trash by the owners of the established NFL.
Other cities had been whining about wanting teams in their area as well. So, the two filthy rich oilmen and their puppet owners wrote checks and started the AFL, placing teams in markets that were underserved by the NFL.
The second reason for their success was their securing of a television contract with NBC that put them on the tube in direct completion with the NFL on CBS. The NFL was becoming popular at the time and NBC was desperately trying to find programming that could be competitive with CBS.
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The United Football League has none of those things, no vindictive billionaire oilmen itching to write checks, no desperate television network, and no underserved market cities. Yes, five of the proposed cites don't have teams in the NFL, but if they've been crying out for a team I've missed it. With Monterrey a possible exception, it's hard to argue their markets are underserved by the NFL.
The UFL has a chance to be successful if they:
1) Get a television deal. I don't mean just one game a week on cable television. They need to expose their teams to the masses with local and area coverage of all their games.
2) Move the season to the spring and early summer. Don't try to compete directly with the NFL, college football, and high school teams for newspaper space or website attention or local sports news. Compete with *yawn* baseball and *yawn* tennis and *yawn* golf for TV time.
3) Market the league as a pro football developmental league and not pretend they are as good as the NFL from the start. If possible, secure an agreement with the NFL for that purpose.
All that said, I predict the UFL will fold after one season, if they last that long.
As far as a rival pro basketball league goes, I guess it would help get the NBA out of their doldrums and perhaps do things to boost their entertainment value. The regular season isn't much more than a usually boring 82 game process to decide playoff seedings.
I admit I've become only a casual fan until the playoffs begin. I'll check the standings during the season, and maybe sit down with some friends to watch a game here and there. I do enjoy the drama and high quality of the game once the playoffs start.
A rival basketball league would cost a lot less to do and have a better chance of success. The talent pool is easily there to stock 6-10 teams. Again, a viable TV contract would be important. There is already an NBA development league.. of sorts.. the CBA, Continental Basketball Association, but there are only 5 or 6 teams and they aren't covered nationally by the sports media.