Could the UFL mark the end of imports to the CFL?

CFL Talk
1

So I was thinking....given that the UFL's championship game is this weekend and that they have also confirmed that they are financially secure for a second season with 6 teams and a 10 game season. (with new uniforms and colors! Thank god.) They've already stated that they are hoping to expand to 8 to 10 teams for the third season as well and they have a 7th team lined up already.

What if the UFL survives and grows into what the league has said it wants to be: a feeder league for the NFL. Now getting on topic for this forum, what if it grows to such a point that the talent needed to play in the CFL wouldn't be crossing the border anymore?

Would this be good or bad for the CFL? How would you feel about such a situation occurring?

2

With the thousands of good football players not on any teams, there is plenty of room for a UFL type league. USFL, XFL, NFL Europe, Arena football, etc. didn’t kill the drive for guys to go to the CFL and neither will this league. Keep in mind that other than a small number of instances, the two leagues look for different types of players.

3

The UFL could be 20 teams in 10 to 15 years pretty easily. They’re looking at putting teams in towns like Rochester, NY. If they can fit teams into cities that big – they can go just about ANYWHERE in the USA. The potential for growth is staggering.

If the NFL does any expanding in that time, we could see roughly 50-60 pro teams in the USA over the next decade.

That would cover the vast majority of good players in D-1. I’m not saying there won’t be guys trying to head to the CFL but the level of talent they possess will be less thus making it much easier to find Canadian players that are superior to them.

It looks like a win-win situation but I’m wondering, are there any drawbacks that we might not have considered?

4

Unless attendance picks up next year there won't be a year 3 for the UFL because averaging under 10,000 fans per game isn't going to guarantee long term success ([url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_UFL_season#Attendance[/url]). The only thing keeping them afloat for next season apparently is the TV deal they have with Versus and HDnet worth $70 million over 2 years.

5

that's crazy talk!, you're crazy! crazy I tell ya!.. :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue:

6

Funny I had to hear about the UFL championship game on a board from another country where it doesn’t even exist, and I LIVE in an area where there’s a team.

The UFL gets nearly zero coverage around here, and certainly little or no buzz. I could ask people at random on the street and I’m betting 8 out of 10 have never heard of it. It has a long, long way to go before it can call itself a success.

7

This league is so far off the football radar, to suggest they will return next year or that they have a long term plan is even more ludicrous.

8

what the heck is a UFL????????

9

Its almost as ludicrous as putting forth an ignorant statement, like yours, as if its fact when you have no idea what you’re talking about.

They already said they’re fully funded for season 2. They have a 70 million dollar TV contract and they don’t pay anyone anywhere near the NFL so that’ll go a long ways. You all are under the wrong impression. You’re so used to seeing new leagues saying “We’re going to take on the NFL!” that’s not what this league is here to do. They openly admit they want to be a lesser league that scoops up players that fall through the NFL’s cracks. This is cool because they don’t need a MASSIVE market like the NFL to place a team. They’ll go to Rochester, NY. They’ll go to Las Vegas. They’ll go to Portland.

BTW, they intentionally didn’t market this season to save money because they realize they only have 4 teams. This year was purely a test run to see what they have and how it will work in motion.

Hell, the teams didn’t even wear their actual jerseys or even their actual colors this season. They have NFL talent. They have NFL coaches. They were unfortunate to have to go head to head with the Yankees in the World Series. That cost them attendance in NY and they left San Francisco(which is already an NFL occupied city) for San Jose(which is not). They’re adding Hartford and either Salt Lake City, Portland Ore., or Milwaukee.

10

Yea sure if you believe that, I have some property in the Everglades for you.

11

What will you be saying next year?

Oh and could you give me your source for your doubt? Cause I have a pretty good source for my confidence…

12

OK how about the XFL, USFL, WLAF.
The football cemetary is littered with failed leagues and this contraption will be joining shortly.
I hate to admit one day while flipping channels I came across this fiasco. While watching the horrible quality, I don't think there were more than 100 people in the stands which no kidden the cameras would try to avoid.

13

70 million is nothing to sneeze at.... thats what the cfl gets in 4 years from TV.

14

With the UFL in place, it seems a bad time for the CFL to consider dropping Canadian content from their rosters.

15

I doubt that this league is going to really be competition for the CFL or imports coming to Canada, but maybe they will be able to survive and carve out a niche, although I wouldn't hold my breath.

16

MattXG, seriously are you a paid employee of the UFL, because I cannot conceive of anyone else making such a fact-blind assertion on the impact of the UFL and its implications for the CFL.

The CFL survived having the XFL, NFL Europe and the Arena Football League all operating simultaneously, and the XFL had 100% more public profile than the UFL has now. The CFL had no real difficulty in attracting quality import players during that period either - and by and large, many of the players that play in the UFL could never play in the CFL anyways due to size (too big for the Canadian game at their positions) or position (playing a position generally reserved for non-imports).

If the UFL achieves the level of popularity enjoyed by the Arena Football League before its demise, I will be impressed. At present, nobody is attending and no one is watching.

17

Survived? Survived…?

Are you insinuating that the CFL would collapse without import players? I wasn’t making that assertion but you seem to be.

Nope, the UFL is run by ex-NFLers and they have a good strategy. Do you know the reason why the XFL failed? Its because they spent all their money creating that “100% more public profile” and their on-field product couldn’t deliver the goods on that marketing. Do you know why the USFL failed? They blew all their money trying to buy players away from the NFL. So don’t come at me with the label “fact-blind” because you clearly don’t have a clue. Do all Canadians talk out their asses?

The tortoise won the race. Rome wasn’t built in a day. You can’t recreate the NFL overnight as the XFL and USFL learned. Clearly, the UFL is the first league to understand this.

Lastly, I was merely posing a hypothetical situation, I’d like to point out.

18

I think that the pool of american players is really really really big. There are a lot of players that were cut by CFL teams that were playing in the UFL premiere season. I realize that it was a short season, there were only four teams and there were probably a lot of agents/players that were taking a "wait and see" approach when it came to the league. So, I think it could have an effect, but it will take a long time and it still is an uphill battle for the league. It's premiere season attendance numbers are less than any other of the other previous failed leagues. I know, I know these guys are about longevity and a slow build....a slow, slow build.

Having said that, I don't know why the CFL can't get a tv deal like the UFL got. $35million a year for that season. I watched a whole bunch of their games on the internet. The quality of the CFL is much better and all they can get is some local sports cable channels and ESPN360...it's pathetic.

19

Well, if the UFL was trying to avoid public exposure....they succeeded in spades.

I happened to come across a game one Saturday night. The California something or others were taking on the New York other guys, in Frisco's baseball park where a friends and family gathering of several hundred watched what can only be described as horrible ball. It was laughable. One starting QB was Mike McMahon (yes, the same guy who was a 4th stringer in Toronto). One starting WR was Craphonso Thorpe (yes, the guy who almost dressed for the Bombers this year), and I couldn't tell if they were on the same or opposite teams because both uniforms were identical, except the colors were reversed. The striping, accents, even the snot green trim that haunts me to this day, was exactly the same. I could have been watching a prison intersquad game, but the logo on the screen (it was 7-3 in the 3rd quarter, by the way....a real humdinger) said UFL, so I knew this was the promised land.

Anyway, after the teams combined for 6 straight 3-and-outs, I got to wondering why every play looked the same (and not just equally poorly executed, but visually identical)....when it was explained by the broadcasters that teams on defense MUST run a 4-3 and cannot blitz - they can only rush 5 guys. I am not making this up. So basically, you end up with a defence that cannot pressure playing against an offense that cannot do anything.

Oh yeah, and the refs all wore golf shirts.

It was grotesque. Everyone in the stands looked embarrassed to be there. It was so quiet you could actually hear idividual voices from the crowd through the sideline parabola mics. And while one sideline looked virtually empty, the other one was completely empty, as the sideline was about 40 yards from the seats, because the place was not configured to accomodate a football field. So either the something or others or the other guys (I can't remember which) had like an acre of room behind their bench - they could have played a little 7-7 game with their backups.

Based on what I saw, the 2 year TV deal will NOT be renewed, because no one watches it, so no one will buy ad space. Without TV revenue, the thing is dead because no one watches the games im the stadium. Americans love hype. They have no interest being part of something that is not popular.

And, even if the thing limps along for awhile, its impact on the CFL will be marginal - at best, the UFL will employ the same number of players that were otherwise playing in NFL Europe - so the player demand, if anything, would be just returning to its normal level vis a vis the CFL. And in fact, less than that with the AFL out of operation.

I'm all for more football, and it may make theoretical sense that a secondary market exists in the US for a second pro loop. But at some point you need the product, and that the UFL does not yet have. It was bad, bad ball.

20

Sigh I can’t believe all Canadians are so quick to display their ignorance…

1. This season was merely a test run to see how things will work. Those are not even their real uniforms or their real colors.

when it was explained by the broadcasters that teams on defense MUST run a 4-3 and cannot blitz - they can only rush 5 guys. I am not making this up. So basically, you end up with a defence that cannot pressure playing against an offense that cannot do anything.
[b]2. This is only for the first season. Given that its only a test-run season, they didn't want anyone getting hurt -- especially QBs. This is why they have this rule [u]for this year only[/u].[/b]
And, even if the thing limps along for awhile, its impact on the CFL will be marginal - at best, the UFL will employ the same number of players that were otherwise playing in NFL Europe - so the player demand, if anything, would be just returning to its normal level vis a vis the CFL. And in fact, less than that with the AFL out of operation.
Another Canadian that feels the CFL is threatened should their league be cut-off from imports....interesting....

But maybe the UFL will fail, I mean Canadians should know a thing or two about failed leagues. Do you think that evil, evil NFL will come and rescue this league like a certain other failed league?