United Football League (UFL) is a professional American Football league, which plans to begin its inaugural season in October 2009.[6] The league was founded by William Hambrecht, a Wall Street investor and former minority partner in the Oakland Invaders of the defunct United States Football League; and Tim Armstrong, a former senior executive at Google, now chairman and CEO of AOL.[1][7]While the league has no official connection with the National Football League and claims to be a major league, some have speculated that it could become a minor or "developmental" league for the NFL.[8][9] Another article called it a "competitor" to the NFL.[10]
The UFL initially had plans to start with eight teams playing in targeted sites in the fall of 2008. The league had identified approximately 21 cities with strong economic bases, passionate football tradition, and a high number of average TV viewing households as potential team locations. Target markets included: Austin, Birmingham, Columbus, Hartford, Honolulu, Las Vegas, London (England), Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Mexico City (Mexico), Milwaukee, Monterrey (Mexico), New York City, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Portland, Raleigh-Durham, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio and San Jose.[11]
Mark Cuban was involved with the league early in its development and was mentioned as a potential owner; though he has no involvement with the 2009 season, he is expected to join the league in 2010 or 2011.[12]
The league is planning to begin its premiere season in fall 2009, playing games on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings, with the first regular season game set to be held in October and the championship game on Thanksgiving weekend.[2] In some locations, the Friday night games would put the league in direct competition with high school football. The National Football League (NFL), on the other hand, is prohibited under the federal anti-trust exemption law (15 U.S.C. § 1291) from broadcasting any professional game within seventy-five miles of any inter-collegiate or high school game on any Friday or Saturday, beginning with the second Friday in September, and ending the second Saturday in December (15 U.S.C. § 1293).[13]
[edit] Teams
On February 9, 2009, it was announced that Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and collegiate roommate of former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, had stepped forward heading a group of investors who invested $30 million to purchase four franchises to play in the league's 2009 initial season.[14]
The league has left the door open for more teams to play in the initial season, but has acknowledged that many potential owners (such as the aforementioned Cuban) are taking a wait and see position. The four teams are scheduled to play a six game schedule starting in October and ending around Thanksgiving. The truncated 2009 season has been described by the league's commissioner as "a soft launch," similar to the one used by the Arena Football League in its inaugural season back in 1987. Each team's home schedule will be split between multiple home cities to develop fans in most of their eight target cities and to attract additional owners as the league transitions from an exciting concept to a functioning ongoing concern.[14]
The four teams will be playing in six or seven cities in the inaugural season, which will consist of six games for each team; three away, two at "first home," and a third at the "second home" or (in the case of Orlando and possibly San Francisco) a neutral site. Following the six-week regular season will be a championship game, held on Thanksgiving weekend. Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas had agreed to host the game, which, as of March 2009, is simply titled "Championship Game."[15]
The league intends to place its teams in markets where the NFL has no presence, with an early team being placed in Las Vegas and playing a game in Los Angeles.[16] Despite a June 2007 report from The New York Times indicating that teams were already being set up in Mexico City, this will not occur in the league's first two seasons.[17][18][19] Markets being considered for 2010, in addition to Los Angeles and Hartford, are Salt Lake City, Utah; Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico;[17] and Chester, Pennsylvania.[20]
It has been speculated in the press that the UFL's long-term business plan is to be present if or when the NFL and its players' union reach the end of their contract in 2011, giving players that would be locked-out or striking an opportunity to play somewhere else.[12]
During a live chat on the league's official website, Commissioner Huyghue confirmed that the Los Angeles metro area will receive a United Football League franchise for the 2010 season [21]
| UFL Las Vegas | Las Vegas, NV | Sam Boyd Stadium2 | 2009 | Jim Fassel | [4][22][23] |
| UFL New York | New York City, NY | Citi Field3 | 2009 | Ted Cottrell | [4][24][25][26] |
| UFL Orlando | Orlando, FL | Citrus Bowl | 2009 | Jim Haslett | [4][14][25][27][8] |
| UFL San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | AT&T Park | 2009 | Dennis Green | [4][25][28][29][30] |
| UFL Hartford | Hartford, CT | Rentschler Field | 2010[31] | TBA | |
| UFL Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | Home Depot Center | 2010[32] | TBA |
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