 Betting
on the United Football League (UFL)
Soon sports bettors
will have something new to bet on in the form of the
United Football League. Though the NFL has
quashed four other attempts to compete with it, this
time things may be different.
The New York Times
Sports Magazine reports in its June 3 issue that
Wall Streeter Bill Hambrecht and Google executive
Tim Armstrong are launching the United Football
League, which has already secured Los Angeles, Las
Vegas and Mexico City (to give it that international
flair). Orlando and San Antonio are two other
cities being considered that do not currently have
an NFL team. The UFL hopes to start off with
eight teams.
Hambrecht and
Armstrong will be in good company. Mark Cuban
has been lined up as their first team owner and they
are looking for seven more.
“There are quite a
few good-sized non-N.F.L. cities that can support a
pro team," insists Cuban.
Bet on NFL futures now
According to United
Football League executives, Nocera reports, the new
league will emulate the old American Football League
– one of whose major characteristics was revenue
sharing. Each owner will put up $30 million, worth a
half-interest in a team; the league will own the
other half. Eventually, the plan envisions that fans
will become stakeholders – because each team will
sell shares to the public to raise an average of $60
million per franchise. Public ownership will reduce
the pricing pressure on the teams, resulting in
cheaper tickets all around.
Officials are convinced they can land decent players
from the get-go, and better players later on. “The
U.F.L. will be able to offer most rookies, who
aren’t top draft choices, far more money than the
N.F.L. would give them,” Nocera writes.
The league would
apparently make Friday nights its signature TV time,
as the NFL and big-time college programs generally
cede Fridays to high school football. And it might
get decent TV ratings, as far as cable TV goes, with
a Friday night package of games.
---
Sports911.com News
Wire
Originally
published May 30, 2007 6:00 pm ET
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