Andy defined good potential markets as those passed over by MLS and clamoring for pro sports of their own. Which markets fit that criteria?
Markets clamoring for pro sports
I don't think you can go back to any of the 2010-2011 UFL markets with a new league in the next 5-6 years and gain any traction whatsoever. No matter how much early promise the UFL might have had there. No Hartford, no Omaha. Sorry, but Hambrecht, Huyghue et al. have salted the Earth in those cities.
City leaders and sponsors in thos places are going to say "Show Me, Don't Tell Me". New USFL - or whoever tries spring football next - needs to find places that have been passed over by Major League Soccer's current round of expansion and where the civic leaders are clamoring to bring any sort of spring pro sport to town to burnish their own credentials.
Need places that WANT them. Not just pins in the places they like on a map
I don't think Omaha is burned out. One effort by the UFL is not enough to kill the desire for Omaha to have their own pro team. If a new league came along with well-respected, well-known names attached, I think most Omahans would think of it as a step up from the UFL, and they would give it a try. I'm guessing the same is true for Hartford. We haven't had that many failed attempts to be cynical yet...
Omaha, Hartford, Sacramento, Virginia, et al., wouldn't be burned out as much as, say, Birmingham, although it has been close to 12 years since Birmingham has had its XFL team. Those markets still are strong, given the right circumstances. Any league has to be on sound footing to be viable anyway, and that's what fans want to see.
Nation Hahn added Landon Howell.
Having lived in Birmingham I can attest that due to the unbelievable support of college athletics (college football in particular) it would be incredibly difficult to have interest in a true pro team in Birmingham.
The metro area is 1.3M people, but sprawl is an issue. Also an issue: building a sufficient arena. Birmingham has the BJCC (which has served as home to minor league hockey, arena football, and NCAA basketball tournaments) though the BJCC would simply be viewed as a stopgap.
If Birmingham was to happen, the NBA would be the best option due to its popularity in the South. The NFL would have an impossible time filling a stadium the day after college football game, especially with a population much smaller than Nashville's.
Birmingham's issues seem to be a crumbling stadium and the economic viability as much as anything. The value of Birmingham, and other NCAA markets, is that if you play in the spring then you can tap into football fever without overlapping with their passions. The UFL's growth was inhibited by the fall due to the loyalty of people to their college teams.
Omaha, Sacramento, and Hartford all showed a lot of potential, but I wonder to what extent the UFL might have poisoned those markets. If another league tries Virginia again, I think they should try Richmond. It is more centrally located in the state and easier to get to for people coming from more densely populated areas in the North or South. Someone should definitely try Los Angeles.
I would still argue that stability and investing for the long haul can overcome most shortcomings. What killed us post 2010 was the instability in the months that followed.
