10 Responses

1. Dan Tahoti Says:
   August 3rd, 2007 at 7:44 am

   I think this proposed UFL league has a chance. Getting owners with deep pockets, playing games on Friday nights, and putting franchises in cities that don’t have NFL teams is the way to go.

2. john Says:
   October 8th, 2007 at 12:44 am

   nfl did not lose that much money per year on nfle…i think it was more like $30 million

3. Cliffe Says:
   November 12th, 2007 at 2:58 am

   The WLAF/NFLE would probably have succeeded if the NFL had taken a slightly different approach. What the League Lacked most of all was continuity i.e the same players year in year out for fans to identify with.Place the teams in the right cities not just the Glamorous ones. For instance the London Monarchs would have been better placed in Birmingham than London as the Midlands is the Football heartland in the uk. As the Founder member and 1st Commissioner of American Football in th UK I figure I know how to run any football league in th UK.A London Franchise might work but it needs to be played in a smaller more accessible stadium than Wembley
   There needs to be a few good Local players on the Team who actually play on merit (apart from kickers/punters). The team needs to be promoted as a British team playng in an American/international league. A Terestrial TV partnership if possible to give the league maximum exposure but pay-to-view if not. A genuine injection of football skills to be filtered back into the community with a genuine career path to the team for talented players/athletes. The britsh/European Fans are astute and knowledgable and should not be treated as “curios”
   If this formula is adhered to the chances of success in England are very high.The NFL recently got 86,000 paying fans in to 90,000 seater Wembley (4,00 seats were closed off behind the benches)for the Fins/Giants Games..make of that what you will..

4. Roger Evans Says:
   November 14th, 2007 at 9:44 pm

   Dude,remember the England Monarchs in WLAF?It folded.If you want American Football to be successful in Europe like it is here it’s very simple.Start playing Junior High School,High School and College American football just like we do here.And you can develope Euro players like that.

5. Cliffe Says:
   November 27th, 2007 at 11:02 am

   Roger Old chap!..I agree with you wholeheartedly but I just don’t see it happening anytime soon. I was the First career Commissioner for Football outside of North America, and that was a big part of my time in office and it worked for a time but the novelty soon wore off and that was the end of that

   The powers that be are still struggling with traditional sports like Soccer,Rugby, Cricket etc and its much the same in the rest of europe. Having said that the French do have an American Football Academy in Amiens.

   I suppose the only way to kick start the plan would be to have a successful Britsh based American team in the UFL that kids can relate too and build it that way. So its a case of which came first the chicken or the egg?

6. Coachobi Says:
   December 15th, 2007 at 9:01 pm

   I do not know where you came up with NFLE was losing $400M to $500M a year but, I can tell you are nuts!!!!
   I was on staff with the Frankfurt Galaxy and the NFL was not losing anywhere near that number.
   You need to take a class in accounting!!!!!!
   Coach obi

7. Coachobi Says:
   December 15th, 2007 at 9:08 pm

   I was also on the Miami Tribe staff of the Spring Football League - It folded before we played our first game - and we had a ton of NFL coaches and players!
   I was the GM of the Houston Outlaws of the Regional Football League - We played one season and folded!!!
   Maybe I’m just bad luck….
   However, I wish you luck.
   I must say you have an interesting concept.
   Hope you put one in Louisville.
   It was where I was born and I have a ton of family and friends there!

8. Ron B. Says:
   January 19th, 2008 at 7:06 pm

   He said in his blog that the NFL was spending 400 to 500 million, not losing it.

   NFLE failed because Europeans were smart enough to realize we were sending them our bench-warmers and secondary talent. The key to the success of American football in Europe is Europe producing its own talent in its own universities, and I agree that the way to spread American football in Europe is start developing that talent with High School kids and younger.

9. devares Says:
   February 25th, 2008 at 4:40 pm

   Finally, someone got it right. I love the concept of the UFL.

   1. Putting teams in cities that doesn’t have NFL francises.
   2. Putting games on Friday Night (although I assume they will put games on other nights like Tuesday or Thursday Nights) where their only competition is high school football.
   3. Getting talent that didn’t make it in the NFL. So now players don’t have to go to the CFL to play.
   4. And I hate this, players can play straight out of high school, whereas you have to wait 3 years after you graduate from high school to play in the NFL.

   This league is the underdog, but long term, this league has the potential to be successful.

10. American Football Coach Says:
    March 19th, 2008 at 8:18 am

    I would have agree with you. The UFL has filled a lit of the needs the public have been looking for with the ever growing NFL.

Leave a Comment