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According to fan website UFLAccess, the league's opening games have now been pushed back a year to August 2009 to allow for more time to attract owner-investors, negotiate a TV broadcast deal and build league branding.<ref>[http://uflaccess.com/ufl/uflaccess-exclusive-ufl-to-begin-play-in-2009/ UFLAccess Exclusive]. UFL Access. 23 February 2008.</ref>
According to fan website UFLAccess, the league's opening games have now been pushed back a year to August 2009 to allow for more time to attract owner-investors, negotiate a TV broadcast deal and build league branding.<ref>[http://uflaccess.com/ufl/uflaccess-exclusive-ufl-to-begin-play-in-2009/ UFLAccess Exclusive]. UFL Access. 23 February 2008.</ref>

==League office==
===Commissioner===

*[[Michael Huyghue]] - 2008-present

===Executive team===
Members of the league's executive team are:<ref>[http://www.ufl-football.com/about/team_bio Executive Team], UFL. Accessed February 7, 2009.</ref>
*Brian Allen - Sports Franchise Liaison & Investment Banking Analyst
*Matt Couloute - Vice President of Football Administration & Legal Affairs
*Rachel Gary - PR Consultant
*Tomás Llibre - Vice President of Information Technology
*Ed Reynolds - Security and Administration
*Peter Reynolds - Financial Consultant
*Larry Upson - Vice President of Officiating/Operations
*Frank Vuono - Chief Operating Officer
*Ralph Vuono - Sr Director, Marketing


==Teams==
==Teams==

Revision as of 02:03, 8 February 2009

Template:Future sport

United Football League
File:UFL logo.png
SportAmerican Football
Founded2008
CEOMichael Huyghue
No. of teamsTBA
Country United States
TV partner(s)TBA
Official websitehttp://www.ufl-football.com/
For the league that operated in the 1960s, see United Football League (1960s).

The United Football League (UFL) is a professional American Football league, which is currently in the late-planning stages. The league is being organized by Michael Huyghue, UFL commissioner and former Vice-President for personnel for the Jacksonville Jaguars; William Hambrecht, a Wall Street investor and former minority partner in the USFL's Oakland Invaders; and Tim Armstrong, a senior executive at Google.

The league, which is still in its infancy, plans to play games on Thursday and Friday evenings in the fall, with the first regular season game kicking off in September and the Championship Game being played in late November[1]. The Friday night games would put the league in direct competition with high school football. The 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 inter-scholastic (high school) game on any Friday (after 6:00 PM) or Saturday, beginning with the 2nd Friday in September, and ending the 2nd Saturday in December (15 U.S.C. § 1293).[2]

Between six and eight teams will compete in the inaugural season, which was originally scheduled for August 2008. [3] The league initially intended to place these teams in markets (including a few outside the United States) where the NFL had no presence.

Despite a June 2007 report in The New York Times indicating that teams were already being set up in Las Vegas, Mexico City and Los Angeles[4], Mexico City is now seen as unlikely to land a team in the league's inaugural season. [5]

According to fan website UFLAccess, the league's opening games have now been pushed back a year to August 2009 to allow for more time to attract owner-investors, negotiate a TV broadcast deal and build league branding.[6]

Teams

Michael Huyghue, Commissioner of the United Football League, advised Peter King that the UFL plans to open with teams in the markets listed below[7]. It was also announced that the league considers Monterrey, Mexico and Salt Lake City, Utah as financially viable targeted potential franchise locations. On the "potential markets" page of the league's website it states, "In the inaugural year, the UFL will play in six cities with plans for expansion in 3-5 years." The league's website is currently accepting suggestions for future teams in the cities below as well as teams in Monterrey and Salt Lake City.[8]

In January 2009, United Football League news site UFLAccess.com[9] reported that Jim Fassel was to be named Coach of the Las Vegas entrant into the United Football League.[10]

Team City Stadium Capacity Owner
Hartford UFL East Hartford, CT Rentschler Field 40,000 TBA
Las Vegas UFL Las Vegas, NV Sam Boyd Stadium 36,800 TBA
Los Angeles UFL Los Angeles, CA TBA TBA TBA
New York UFL New York City, New York TBA TBA TBA
Orlando UFL Orlando, FL TBA TBA TBA
San Francisco UFL San Francisco, CA TBA TBA TBA

Originally considered markets

Other markets originally considered before being narrowed down included[11]:

Innovations

As with most NFL competitors, the UFL has a number of proposed innovations.[12]

  • Per Team Players Salary Cap = $20 Million
  • Per Team Coaching Staff Salary Cap = $3 Million

Per King, The league anticipates QB's annual salaries in the $1-$4 million dollar range and head coaches's having salaries in the $1.5 million range.

  • Using TicketRESERVE to allow fans to advocate expansion to their city of choice

Fans can put down a $5 refundable deposit on season tickets to a UFL team in their local city. If there is enough fan support, the implication is that it might sway UFL management and potential ownership groups to consider that city as a UFL site. Fans literally get to vote with their money.

  • Revenue sharing and partial ownership of teams

In the UFL, owners will pay $30 Million to buy a half interest in a team. The league itself will own the other half. (This could help control the unregulated spending on player salaries that doomed the USFL.) The league plans for each team to sell shares to the public down the road that they hope will garner another $60 Million.

References

  1. ^ http://www.ufl-football.com/about
  2. ^ Barnett, Megan. "First and Very Long for Bill Hambrecht", Condé Nast Portfolio, May 31, 2007. Accessed February 7, 2009.
  3. ^ "UFL to begin play in 2009". UFLAccess. 2008-02-23. Retrieved 2008-02-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "First and long - Very Long". The New York times. 2007-06-03. Retrieved 2007-05-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Betting on the United Football League (UFL)". Sports911.com. 2007-05-30. Retrieved 2007-05-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ UFLAccess Exclusive. UFL Access. 23 February 2008.
  7. ^ Vick could play pro football in 2009 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/peter_king/08/10/ufl/?eref=sircrc
  8. ^ [1]
  9. ^ [2]
  10. ^ [3]
  11. ^ About the UFL http://web.archive.org/web/20080118055803/www.ufl2008.com/about_the_ufl.html
  12. ^ Gregory, Sean. "Battling the NFL: Two Hail-Mary Passes", Time (magazine), October 9, 2007. Accessed February 7, 2009.
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