Leave it to Mark Cuban to take on the mighty NFL. I,
for one, am all for it. I love football. I willingly give up one full
day each week to watch the pros. I even register in online chat rooms
to discuss ways to improve the NFL and to make this proposed new league
successful. Further, if I had the means, I would gladly join Mr. Cuban
in this endeavor he looks to pursue.
But, a word of caution, from
my perspective as the customer, about the direction of this league. Mr.
Cuban had stated that demand for football exceeds supply, creating this
market he envisions. But, the true demand of which he speaks is for NFL
quality football. If fans wanted lesser quality football, there is
NCAA, high school, and Pee Wee or Pop Warner. Of course, I am not even
mentioning the CFL, Arena Football, and NFL Europe. For my dollar and
time, none of the others come close to the NFL. Why? The NFL has the
best players, bar none. It's not even close. Mr. Cuban has likely
considered this reality. Does he really want to create another
laughingstock pro football league that is in direct competition with
the NFL? Well, here are a few ideas that I believe will give the UFL a
fighting chance against the big monopoly on the block.
First, as
Dirty Harry Callahan once said, "a man's got to know his limitations."
Know yours, UFL. The NFL draws the best players. They always have, and
they always will. Young kids dream of playing in the Super Bowl for
their favorite NFL team. This mindset represents a hurdle that is just
too high to overcome, even by paying new draft choices a few more
dollars. I say the UFL should accept this and market themselves not as
an alternative, but rather as a subordinate. Make it AAA football.
Looking at the other major sports, one can see success with this plan.
The NBA has the CBA, MLB has its farm system. Both are subordinate
leagues that play at the same time of year, and both have championship
games before the World Series and NBA Playoffs so as not to get smeared
in a ratings war by more important games.
Second, do not have
major rule changes. The XFL should come to mind here. Here is where I
beg the owners to not turn the UFL into some hybrid nonsense. If there
are to be rule changes, the UFL should be subtle. No Rouges, no
unlimited offensive backfield motion, no changing overtime rules so
that each team gets a possession. We fans have these options in other
leagues. Fan ownership is a good idea, albeit one stolen from the Green
Bay Packers. Good start, but major changes will offend the purists
among football fans.
Finally, if you can't beat them, join them.
I would advocate partnering with the NFL. The UFL should be marketed as
the NFL's main non-collegiate developmental league. It would be played
in the U.S. as opposed to Europe where NFL Europe currently functions
as the de facto developmental league. But, since the UFL would be
played during the football season, there would be no conflict with NFL
Europe. Plus, the UFL would be giving jobs to all the players who are
drafted by the NFL and cut. The new league could be used for
development and NFL scouting purposes, much like AAA baseball. At least
in this instance the UFL would likely find a TV network (NFL Network
comes to mind) with which the league could find the wider market it
needs. I seriously doubt that any of the major networks would devote
time to the UFL, at least not to the extent that they devote to the
NFL, and this alone will reduce the UFL to second class status. If Mr.
Cuban refuses this idea believing that the UFL can be an equal, the NFL
is likely to counter simply by expansion of four to eight additional
teams into the cities which have a UFL team. Then, they will have
achieved exactly what Mr. Cuban has set out to do, without taking on
the risk. And whereas the UFL may or may not succeed, we all have to
believe the NFL will succeed. So, since the UFL can't beat them, at
least the UFL might have a way to join them.
Success over the
long haul, like the American Football League, was done because of
television and gathering the best players. The NFL has a pretty tight
grip on each of these, based on history. The UFL has a big hill to
climb, but I wish the best of luck to Mr. Cuban and to all his partners
out there who have the means and the guts to pursue this dream.
Kevin
Francis is an author and sports fan. He has published the novel
"Autograph", and his books on sports can be found by visiting http://www.ithinkimgoingbald.com
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