Basketball
Add news
News

The UFL’s implosion is another opportunity for NFL minor leagues

0 10
Jeff Le-Imagn Images

The UFL is in deep trouble and there’s one way out.

Establishing a second professional football league in the United States really shouldn’t be this difficult, but here we are. The UFL, the latest, most-enthusiastic attempt to launch a second league in the USA is in turmoil this week after four teams, the entire USFL conference was shut down on Friday, with rumors about their future ranging from wholesale relocation, to complete cessation of operation.

For all intents and purposes the Birmingham Stallions, Houston Roughnecks, Memphis Showboats, and Michigan Panthers are now dead. This comes after Birmingham boasted a 7-3 record this season, and the Panthers made it to the championship game — but that didn’t stop either team from barely averaging 10,000 attendance to each home game.

Realistically there’s only been one team that can be deemed as a “success” in the UFL, and that’s the St. Louis Battlehawks. In a league where teams averaged 8,100 in attendance per game, St. Louis is showing up in a major way for their team, boasting an average of 29,259 fans per game — showing that there is an appetite for football when the conditions are right. In this case it’s providing the city with football to fill the void left by the Rams’ relocation, with a stadium that can support it.

At this point it’s fair to question whether any ancillary football league can exist. Between college football and NFL it’s near-impossible to make inroads, and trying to service markets that lack a substantial team in either has been middling, at best.

The problem with these leagues is that there are no stakes

The fundamental issue secondary football leagues run into is twofold: Firstly, needing to accept that you’re going to watch bad football. That can be fun in its own right, but only as a novelty — not as the main course. Attending a secondary league fundamentally means seeing players who couldn’t make an NFL roster, and that’s before you get to the other big issue: Nobody cares.

Onboarding fans and making them invested in a brand new team is an almost impossible pursuit, You’re essentially trying to get football-addicted fans to watch the sport during the offseason, and even then you’re competing against the NFL Draft, NFL Free Agency, the NFL Schedule Release, and interest in the Fantasy Football season. The shield has made it a point of creating a 12 months new cycle around its product so it’s almost impossible for another league to steal attention away.

We’re left with a product that only appeals to people so football deprived that they can’t go six months without watching a game live. There was a time where that was fine, but the era is gone. The NFL’s all-encompassing grip on football means that fatigue is real, and by the time we hit the point in spring where a second league is ready to kick off, we’re all tired of football for a little bit — even the sickos.

What we need is farm system football

The only way another football league is going to succeed is if it’s able to tie itself to the NFL. Period. There has to be an effective link that makes fans invested in the product, and it’s a rare chance for the NFL teams to actually do something right by its loyal fans and put minor league teams in areas that are football deprived.

Every fanbase can think of a place where this would work. Obviously there’s an appetite for football in St. Louis that’s unserviced, so what if the city housed a minor league team for the Chiefs? The Panthers are very North Carolina-centric, so put its minor league team in South Carolina. Mississippi could house the Saints’ minor league team, Portland would be perfect for the Seahawks, Toronto could house a minor league team for the Bills — the list goes on.

There’s a reason Minor League Baseball works (and to a lesser extend the NBA G League). By tying fandom and interest in the back-end of prospective NFL rosters it gives a way for fans to invest in their team. It also allows for families to onboard kids to sports in a cheap, effective way that fosters a sense of community around the team.

Don’t say there’s no enough talent in the NFL to make it work, because getting reps for those back-end players on a roster is critical. It would also be a chance for players on IR or the PUP list to come back slowly into football action, without the pressure of being put immediately into an NFL game. Imagine getting word that you could see a player the caliber of a Myles Garrett or Aidan Hutchinson if you’re a football fan in a mid-sized city as the player rehabs.

There is a market for this, regardless of what the NFL thinks

The NFL has long resisted the idea of minor league football because it views college as its minor league, the proving ground of tomorrow. However, football has evolved. With the NFL trying to make more international in-roads, and scout from beyond its borders it has increase the potential for new talent to be found outside of the NCAA structure.

Furthermore, I don’t believe teams have thought about how beneficial two-way contracts could be at the back-end of their rosters. Essentially each round of cuts during training camp could be assigned to a minor league team, and in the final round players could either sign a two-way contract to be used in the NFL or Minor League, or sign an NFL contract with another team.

This would allow more players to be on the payroll who understand an NFL team’s system, work with NFL coaches, and give us more opportunities as viewers to experience some of the best stories in the sport, when a player comes out of seemingly nowhere and becomes a star.

The NFL is desperate to expand. It wants to dominate every major market and move into Europe. Instead of questing for international domination it would be the ultimate move to look inwards, be introspective, and service the die-hard fans who don’t have a chance to see their favorite team live, either financially or geographically.

This is what the UFL should pivot into, and it would work.

Comments

Комментарии для сайта Cackle
Загрузка...

More news:

Duke Basketball Report
Silver Screen and Roll

Read on Sportsweek.org:

Other sports

Sponsored