Brian Damage
02-13-2009, 07:34 PM
While most of people in the sports world are trying to figure out how to deal with the struggling economy, a group of investors have decided to fly in face of conventional wisdom and have announced a new professional football league which will kick off in October.
The United Football League (UFL) will be comprised of four teams that will play in seven different cities and plan to play their games on Thursday and Friday evenings. The cities that will be welcoming teams in the inaugural season will be New York/Hartford, San Francisco/Sacramento, Las Vegas/Los Angeles and Orlando The league will play a six game schedule, with tickets being priced from $20 to $25.
"With the confirmation of four teams and the announcement of an infusion of a $30 million investment to operate the league, the UFL is excited to bring affordable, accessible football to underserved markets this October," said UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue said in a press release.
Huyghue is a former executive for the NFL's Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars.
The league hopes to draw 20,000 to 25,000 fans per game in the first season, according CNBC. They will attempt to create interest by assigning players to teams based on where they played their college or high school football. They also are hoping to draw fans by bringing in well-known coaches like Jim Fassel, who will take the reins for the Las Vegas franchise.
"The bottom line with me is I love coaching and I’ve got a lot of energy to still coach," Fassel, who coached the New York Giants from 1997-2003, told Bloomberg News. "I like the way the league is going to be run. I’m excited. I want to coach."
Once the league is established, UFL executives plan on allowing it to be traded publicly. Each team will get its nickname through a "Name-Your-Team" campaign that will be run through the UFL Web site.
http://www.ticketnews.com/New-football-league-set-to-begin-in-October02913114
The United Football League (UFL) will be comprised of four teams that will play in seven different cities and plan to play their games on Thursday and Friday evenings. The cities that will be welcoming teams in the inaugural season will be New York/Hartford, San Francisco/Sacramento, Las Vegas/Los Angeles and Orlando The league will play a six game schedule, with tickets being priced from $20 to $25.
"With the confirmation of four teams and the announcement of an infusion of a $30 million investment to operate the league, the UFL is excited to bring affordable, accessible football to underserved markets this October," said UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue said in a press release.
Huyghue is a former executive for the NFL's Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars.
The league hopes to draw 20,000 to 25,000 fans per game in the first season, according CNBC. They will attempt to create interest by assigning players to teams based on where they played their college or high school football. They also are hoping to draw fans by bringing in well-known coaches like Jim Fassel, who will take the reins for the Las Vegas franchise.
"The bottom line with me is I love coaching and I’ve got a lot of energy to still coach," Fassel, who coached the New York Giants from 1997-2003, told Bloomberg News. "I like the way the league is going to be run. I’m excited. I want to coach."
Once the league is established, UFL executives plan on allowing it to be traded publicly. Each team will get its nickname through a "Name-Your-Team" campaign that will be run through the UFL Web site.
http://www.ticketnews.com/New-football-league-set-to-begin-in-October02913114