Some friends and I were discussing how all major sports have a farm, minor or development league system that they utilize to groom and refine talent. Major League Baseball has their farm league of A, AA, and AAA teams that they utilize to hone the skills of some of the more raw talent players. The National Baskeball Association has recently began their D-League or Development Leage to instill work ethic and retain a strong group of backup players should one of their roster players get injured. The NFL however has no real development league they pool from; sure I know there’s NFL Europe, the Canadian Football League and even Arena Football but lets get serious most players would much rather stay state side and Arena Football is not really a stepping stone to the NFL.

With the mindset that most middle teir players in the NFL would like to earn more and get paid more, but can’t due to salary cap and star studded rosters; a pay increase and the promise of playing team would be very enticing. Proper management of the UFL and not only could the players be a farm system for the NFL, but there is a very strong possibility that the NFL will have a ligitimate rival.

Honestly, I can’t wait for the ‘07 Football season to get here currently the only professional sport I follow regularly that’s still running is baseball and my teams not doing so hot this year. Come on August and pre-season.

The NFL has rules that specifically do not allow football players from turning professional until they have been out of high school a minimum of 3 years, that’s a clause that could put the United Football League at a big advantage. Instead of going after players that have several years of college experience, they can go after younger players with a great deal of upside at a lower cost. As well, they can begin molding the players to their processes and systems much sooner than if they were introduced after 3 or 4 years of college. Undoubtedly, there will be many duds through the system this way, but it’s similar to what baseball does in their farm organizations. I’m not saying this is the only way to deliver a 1-2 punch to the NFL, but it’s a good start.

With the flurry of news surrounding Mark Cuban at the announcement that he has verbally committed to purchasing a UFL team, he felt like he should offer some insight as to exactly why he made that decision. Clearly the failure of previous leagues is fresh on everyone’s mind with the one-and-done season of the XFL in 2001, but Mark is not Vince McMahon and where Vince played on the XFL’s “Entertainment” factor the United Football League will be a better structured business. Simply based upon my early findings it’s clear that these guys don’t intend to lose money. Let’s face it when Cuban bought the Mavs he was ridiculed and told that was a horrible investment; who’s laughing now?

Unlike the XFL, the UFL players will earn a substancial income; initially it will be the middle tier players, not the NFL stars but not the NFL scrubs either. The beauty of their plan is to go after those good players that will most likely be cut because as the NFL star players earn more, more low cost players must be left on the roster to accomodate the salary cap. Other decisions like the choice to go after cities that currently do not have an NFL team, but have the facilities and capacity to accomodate a team makes perfect sense - no sharing the market. Finally, the choice to play on Friday night is the perfect move; sure high school football is big but I and millions of other football fans out there don’t have kids in high school and could not care less. Give me a great product on a Friday night and I’ll be glued to the set.