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Mark Cuban Plans Football League


RedScare

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http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2887465

Mark Cuban of Dallas Mavericks fame, plans to form a competing football league to the NFL. Initial plans call for 8 teams. He wants to play on Friday nights. Much as I cannot stand Cuban, I am tired of the NFL monopoly more. Could Cuban take them down a notch? Would Houston have a team? Would they be better than the Texans? Most importantly, would Dallas finally have its very own football team?

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Cuban has lost his mind. How many leagues have there been now that have competed with the NFL? How many are still around? Only reason Arena Football works is because it's different. This thing is the XFL all over again. It would be better if it were setup in the NFL's offseason, but still this is ridiculous, the talent pool can barely hold well across the current 32 teams, much less an entire new league.

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Oh Boy! 4 new downtown stadiums! But seriously, I doubt this will be any different than the other pro football leagues that have come and gone over the last 30 years or so. But maybe this guy thinks that the other leagues just never found the right formula to co-exist with the NFL. But this seems like a real long shot.

The one thing I think that could help this league succeed however, is starting the season around the end of July or early August. Right before the NFL season. That is when people start getting hungry for football. In the past few seasons, I couldn't get enough of all the live and taped preseason games they showed on the NFL Network in August. By the time the real season started the 'new season buzz' started wearing off because I had watched so many preseason games.

If this new proposed league started its season right before the NFL season, I would probably watch. It would be like the appetizer before the main dinner. People might be lured into watching, and might even stick around in the following months just to see what happens.

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If they do, I hope they don't have a team anywhere in Texas. It is a bad idea to mess with high school football...

This was my first thought when Friday night was mentioned. That's high school football night across America. Whose going to be left to go these games? Whose going to be left at home to watch these games on tv?

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This was my first thought when Friday night was mentioned. That's high school football night across America. Whose going to be left to go these games? Whose going to be left at home to watch these games on tv?

While I am not a fan of Football, I DID like the XFL, it was a blast! My friend loved the cheerleaders because it reminded him of a few of the dancers we knew.....anyway.

I didn't think about the friday night fooball conflict, I figure it would be better if they played on a Saturday night. There is also the matter of WHERE to play and if they would keep the same basic rules as the NFL when it comes to playing or regs.

Maybe during the halftime shows, instead of shooting t-shirts into the crowd, they would shoot out cups that could be redeemed for cheap beer!

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No, they plan to place the 8 teams in non NFL cities. Cuban plans to have one in Las Vegas.

Here are some cities I think could work, but they'd have to play in small venues. I don't see all of these cities selling out a 70k seat stadium for 8-10 games a year.

Las Vegas

San Antonio

Portland, OR

Sacramento, CA

Orlando, FL

San Jose, CA

Colombus, OH

Louisville, KY

Oklahoma City, OH

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Their "formula" to compete seems interesting enough: going after players that would be drafted below the second round and offer them more money than they'd get from their NFL contracts.

A couple of issues:

Will they generate enough money to cover those salaries?

Will the extra money be enough to entice players to play in a league that will be perceived as inferior and almost certainly will not have the NFL's exposure?

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Here are some cities I think could work, but they'd have to play in small venues. I don't see all of these cities selling out a 70k seat stadium for 8-10 games a year.

Las Vegas

San Antonio

Portland, OR

Sacramento, CA

Orlando, FL

San Jose, CA

Colombus, OH

Louisville, KY

Oklahoma City, OH

Good selections, what about Austin?

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If Houston gets a team, perhaps "Mr. Semipro" will come out of retirement ? Good Luck Cuban, obviously you learned NOTHING from Vince McMahon, maybe Cuban won't be such a pompous @$$ anymore if he loses about $30 million or so.

How about San Antone, so Mark could actually have a team in Texas and run out on the field when there is a bad call or a fight breaks out and he feels the need to interject himself ?

Edited by TJones
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Here are some cities I think could work, but they'd have to play in small venues. I don't see all of these cities selling out a 70k seat stadium for 8-10 games a year.

Las Vegas

San Antonio

Portland, OR

Sacramento, CA

Orlando, FL

San Jose, CA

Colombus, OH

Louisville, KY

Oklahoma City, OH

I would scratch San Jose. It's too close to the bay. Besides, what would you call them, the San Jose Silicon Chips? lol! I don't know about Columbus or Louisville either.

Here's my eight city line-up:

1. Las Vegas

2. Orlando

3. San Antonio

4. Portland

5. Oklahoma City

6. Salt Lake City

7. New Mexico (Albuquerque & Santa Fe Metro)

8. Louisville

Alternate Choices:

1. San Jose

2. Milwaukee

It will be interesting to say the least. I think if they go to Saturday afternoon's in the fall they would have a decent shot of catching residual college football couch-potatoes. They will also need some sort of legitimizing X-factor that makes the game enjoyable. And I'm not talking about the show-boating that the XFL had. I mean something more along the lines of changing a few of the more unfavorable rules of the NFL that most fans hate, which would make the game more enjoyable to watch. I would personally love to see a return to the classic mascots, logos, & designs of "yesteryear".

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What about Richmond, VA, or Dallas?

If Cuban and the gang was smart, they would start their season in April and have their championship game on Labor Day. It is not smart to compete head to head with the NFL. I am for more football and think that having it in spring in summer would be great. The problem with competing with the NFL is where would it be broadcast The Outdoor life channel? The NFL has contracts with Fox, CBS, ABC,and ESPN during the NFL season. However during April-Labor Day there is no NFL so theoretically this new league could be broadcast at that point.

Oh, and the reason the XFL failed was because of Vince McMahon. People didn't know if it would be fake like wrestling or a real event. Also the talent in the XFL wasn't too good. I mean HE HATE ME says it all.

Edited by Trae
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I would scratch San Jose. It's too close to the bay. Besides, what would you call them, the San Jose Silicon Chips? lol! I don't know about Columbus or Louisville either.

Here's my eight city line-up:

1. Las Vegas

2. Orlando

3. San Antonio

4. Portland

5. Oklahoma City

6. Salt Lake City

7. New Mexico (Albuquerque & Santa Fe Metro)

8. Louisville

Here's my eight city line-up since it seems like a little trend here:)

1. Los Angeles

2. San Antonio

3. Mexico City

4. Orlando

5. Portland

6. Las Vegas (could play in the new MLS stadium if that deal went through)

7. Montreal

8. Oklahoma City

Wild Card: NYC (Red Bulls' stadium)

I don't see it lasting, but the only reason why I might change my mind is because Mark Cuban's involved. But hard hitting football doesn't always spell marketing success. Exibit A...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLwiLgMrYSk

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If he can make money at it, then best of luck to him. A little competition does wonder for leagues. If history is any guide, if a new league were successful it would end up incorporated in the NFL anyway (Cf AFL and American League). The threat of the Continental League in baseball is what finally led to MLB expanding in the early 1960s.

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Believe it or not, but there's already a Wikipedia page for it. According to the page (believe at your own risk) the league is called the United Football League. Supposedly, teams are already in the works for Las Vegas, Mexico City, and Los Angeles, with San Antonio and Orlando suggested as possible franchise locations. Cuban supposedly has purchased one of the franchises for $30 million, reportedly for the Las Vegas team.

Something worth noting: I suspect one of the reasons the XFL failed was because of one very major oversight - no team in Texas. They MIGHT have stood a chance if they had placed a team in Texas, but we'll never know. Hopefully this new league will learn from the mistakes of the XFL and place a team in Texas, even if they have to compete over a market with the NFL.

Edited by timedrifter
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Something worth noting: I suspect one of the reasons the XFL failed was because of one very major oversight - no team in Texas. They MIGHT have stood a chance if they had placed a team in Texas, but we'll never know. Hopefully this new league will learn from the mistakes of the XFL and place a team in Texas, even if they have to compete over a market with the NFL.

That's a huge pill to swallow. Care to expand on that theory?

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