Take a look at my proposed USFL 2013 league (since they won't start until 2014). It is in the spring. Pluses, minuses, everything inbetween - let's talk!
EASTERN DIVISION - Hartford Knights, New York Empire, Orlando Waves and Raleigh-Durham Pilots.
WESTERN DIVISION - Chicago Blitz, Los Angeles Express, Portland Breakers and Sacramento Rivermen.
This combines the top 3 TV markets in the US with the top 5 TV markets currently without an NFL team.
Selecting markets is a key question for any new league. I have no doubt that the UFL would have been in better shape had they elected to go into Hartford and San Jose in year one, as many inside of the league advocated, rather than New York and San Francisco.
So, friends, what markets should a new league consider?
It looks as if USFL 2014 will have Akron, Ohio, as the Rubber Bowl has been sold to the group looking to bring a team there.
I like New York and LA for a Spring league. I agree San Fran and New York were terrible markets for the UFL in the Fall.
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
The UFL was an atrocity that poisoned alternative football. Spending so much money you do not have, and giving so many people the shaft, is unforgivable. I am highly skeptical of the USFL, and I think the only spring league I would trust is one owned by the NFL.
What is the story with that Spring Professional Football League that supposedly had a deal with CBSSports?
Haven't heard anything lately, Dan. Would imagine we will hear more early as the new year unfolds.
Dan, I imagine that we will hear more of the SPFL in the new year if they move forward. I can confirm that they did have a deal with CBS Sports.
Ron — the UFL did hurt alternative football in some markets, such as Hartford and Orlando, but I believe it exposed people to the idea in Omaha, Virginia Beach, and elsewhere that could benefit a new venture.
Thanks for your feedback! Team Branch
