United Football League Launches Campaign Giving Fans a Voice in Selection of Team Markets
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The United Football League (UFL), a new professional outdoor fall football league scheduled to debut in August 2008, is inviting fans to help determine which markets will host teams for the league’s inaugural season through an innovative program with TicketRESERVE.
The UFL and TicketRESERVE campaign enables fans the opportunity to purchase reservations for season tickets in an interactive web based marketplace prior to the league’s official launch. The eight cities that generate the most ticket reservations will be designated as the leading markets to host a franchise. The online market will open at 8:00 am EDT on October 9, 2007 at www.ticketreserve.com.
The campaign will focus on 12 potential host cities, including: Austin, Birmingham, Columbus, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Raleigh, Sacramento and San Antonio.
“The UFL’s mission is to deliver high quality and accessible pro football to fans in underserved markets around the country, and we felt it was important to give these fans a voice,” stated Michael Huyghue, UFL Commissioner. “This program will give us a good gauge on market interest and gives fans the power to help impact where our teams land.”
Fans can simply visit www.ticketreserve.com and pay an upfront cost of as low as $5 per ticket to reserve their seats. Should their city get selected, the investment acts as a deposit directly towards their ticket purchase. If their city does not get awarded a UFL franchise, the money will be fully reimbursed.
“Forming a new league based on the actual consumer demand ensures fans have a vote in selecting which markets will host a franchise,” said Rick Harmon, Chief Executive Officer of TicketRESERVE. “We are excited to be a part of the first professional league that offers sports fanatics the opportunity to bring a team to their city.”
In addition to the TicketRESERVE reservation data, the UFL will consider market research and other factors in determining the final team markets.
About the UFL
The UFL was developed to meet the unmet needs of football fans in major markets currently underserved by professional football. Featuring real, outdoor professional football played in the fall, the UFL will include eight teams comprised of world class football players. Scheduled to debut in August 2008, the UFL is headquartered in New York City and led by Commissioner Michael Huyghue.
About TicketRESERVE
TicketRESERVE (www.ticketreserve.com), founded in 2001, is dedicated to providing consumers with access to the biggest and most prestigious live events. Through the purchase of FanFORWARDS, loyal fans can guarantee themselves a seat at their coveted live event and, if necessary or desired, trade the contract 24/7 real-time on the TicketRESERVE website marketplace. TicketRESERVE pioneered the Pre-Primary or Forward market to give live event fans the opportunity to experience the excitement of watching their favorite events, in-person. TicketRESERVE is a proven and economical alternative to current primary and secondary ticketing operations. The company is based in Chicago.
Contacts
Edelman for UFL
Steve Maliszewski, 312-297-7411
Steve.maliszewski@edelman.com
or
Clutch Media & Marketing for TicketRESERVE
Michael Hopkins, 914-899-3191 ext. 102
mhopkins@clutchmedia.net
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October 10th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
I purchased season tickets for Raleigh.
October 15th, 2007 at 7:36 am
I ‘m personally thankful you all are even considering Memphis, TN and we look forward to doing business with ya’ll in the future hopefully and we were already discussing the construction of a new state of the art stadium within our city, we recently built a nice ball park for our minor league baseball team the Memphis Red Birds “AutoZone Park”
October 15th, 2007 at 8:30 am
Yeah, Memphis is a “sports” city Memphis State Tigers going all the way this season (GO TIGERS!!!) We strongly support all of our teams/athletic facilities we are also in the process assisting U of M boosters building a new on campus stadium for the Memphis State Tigers Football team on campus…Not to mention the building boom going on within downtown Memphis, Our city is on the verge of major growth!
UFL MEMPHIS READY!!!
November 14th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
By the way,is this the official United Football League website?
November 16th, 2007 at 8:44 am
Birmingham, if you want this team we need to buy the tickets up. it is only $5 to show your support and get a professional football team here at home.
November 19th, 2007 at 11:18 pm
even if only eight cities are chosen, here you have a great list of future “expansion” cities if/when the league finds a need to expand.
January 19th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
I wonder what the current results are of this program. I will not be participating as Washington, DC is not a consideration for a franchise.
February 26th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
One question…..WHY ISN’T SHREVEPORT CONSIDERED FOR A TEAM???? Sure we didn’t support the CFL team, The Pirates, but we do support the Battlewings (the af2 team). One thing that Shreveporters does is support our sports teams (even if they are minor league teams).