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*'''Overtime''' - Both teams will be guaranteed at least one possession. When a team scores, the other team will get a last chance to score on the next drive. Similar to the [[Overtime (college football)|College football]] rule.
*'''Overtime''' - Both teams will be guaranteed at least one possession. When a team scores, the other team will get a last chance to score on the next drive. Similar to the [[Overtime (college football)|College football]] rule.
*'''Officials''' - instead of the traditional black-and-white uniforms, UFL referees wear a red polo shirt with black pants.
*'''Officials''' - instead of the traditional black-and-white uniforms, UFL referees wear a red polo shirt with black pants.
*'''Play Clock''' - While the NFL has a 40 second play clock, the UFL has a 25 second play clock, which results in more plays and maintains a fast pace quality of play.
*'''Play Clock''' - While the NFL has a 40 second play clock, the UFL has a 25 second play clock, which results in more plays and maintains a faster pace.


==Teams==
==Teams==

Revision as of 15:01, 9 October 2009

For the league that operated between 1961 and 1964, see United Football League (1961).
United Football League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2009 UFL season
File:United Football League (2009) logo.png
SportAmerican football
Founded2007
First season2009
CEOMichael L. Huyghue (since 2007)[1]
Motto"It's All About U"[2]
No. of teams4[3]
Country United States
Most recent
champion(s)		N/A
TV partner(s)HDNet, Versus[4][5]
Official websitewww.ufl-football.com

The United Football League (UFL) is a professional American Football league that debuted its inaugural season on October 8, 2009 with the Las Vegas Locomotives playing against the California Redwoods.[6]

History

The UFL initially had plans to start with eight teams playing in targeted sites in the fall of 2008.

The league had identified approximately 21 cities with strong economic bases, passionate football tradition, and a high number of average TV viewing households as potential team locations. Target markets included: Austin, Birmingham, Columbus, Hartford, Las Vegas, London (England), Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Mexico City (Mexico), Milwaukee, Monterrey (Mexico), New York City, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Portland, Raleigh-Durham, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, and San Jose.[7]

Original UFL logo (2007-2008)

The league began its premiere season on October 8, 2009, playing games on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings, with the first regular season game held on October 8 and the championship game on Thanksgiving weekend.[2] Both the inaugural game and the championship will be held in Las Vegas. In some locations, the Friday night games would put the league in direct competition with high school football. The National Football League (NFL), on the other hand, is prohibited under the federal anti-trust exemption law (15 U.S.C. § 1291) from broadcasting any professional game within seventy-five miles of any inter-collegiate or high school game on any Friday or Saturday, beginning with the second Friday in September, and ending the second Saturday in December (15 U.S.C. § 1293).[8]

Rule changes

Like previous football leagues, the UFL has instituted several mostly minor rules changes that will differ from the NFL's rules. Though the league has indicated it would mostly adhere to standard rules, there are a few differences, as follows:

  • No Tuck Rule - The Tuck rule is one of the most controversial rules in the NFL. In the NFL, if a passer brings his arm forward in a passing motion and then loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body, it's considered a forward pass (and thus an incomplete pass if the ball hits the ground). In the UFL, it would be called a fumble either way.
  • Touchdown celebrations - Celebrations, individual or group, will only take place in the endzones and on the bench area.
  • Fumbling out of the endzones - If the ball is fumbled out of the endzone, it will be placed back at the spot of the fumble, pending which team last had possession.
  • Intentional grounding - A quarterback is allowed to intentionally ground the ball anywhere behind the line of scrimmage if he is under pressure.
  • Instant replay - All reviews will be viewed upstairs by the replay official and he will only have 90 seconds for review.
  • Overtime - Both teams will be guaranteed at least one possession. When a team scores, the other team will get a last chance to score on the next drive. Similar to the College football rule.
  • Officials - instead of the traditional black-and-white uniforms, UFL referees wear a red polo shirt with black pants.
  • Play Clock - While the NFL has a 40 second play clock, the UFL has a 25 second play clock, which results in more plays and maintains a faster pace.

Teams

On February 9, 2009, it was announced that Paul Pelosi, husband of United States House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had stepped forward heading a group of investors who invested $30 million to purchase four franchises to play in the league's 2009 inaugural season.[9] The four teams are scheduled to play a six game schedule starting in October and ending around Thanksgiving. The truncated 2009 season has been described by the league's commissioner as "a soft launch," similar to the one used by the Arena Football League in its inaugural season back in 1987. Each team's home schedule will be split between multiple home cities to develop fans in most of their eight target cities and to attract additional owners as the league transitions from an exciting concept to a functioning ongoing concern.[9]

The four teams will be playing in eight cities in the inaugural season, which will consist of six games for each team. Following the six-week regular season will be a championship game, held on Thanksgiving weekend; Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas will host the game.[10]

The league intends to place most of its teams in markets where the NFL has no presence, with an early team being placed in Las Vegas and playing a game in Los Angeles.[11] Despite a June 2007 report from The New York Times indicating that teams were already being set up in Mexico City, this will not occur in the league's first two seasons.[12][13][14] Markets being considered for 2010, in addition to Los Angeles and Hartford, are Salt Lake City; Monterrey, Mexico;[12] Philadelphia (at the area's new soccer stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania);[15] Milwaukee;[16] Detroit; Chicago; Omaha; Portland, Oregon; San Antonio; and up to seven major markets in Europe, including London and several in Germany,[17] among several potential other domestic locations.

During a live chat on the league's official website, Commissioner Huyghue confirmed that the Los Angeles metro area will receive a United Football League franchise for the 2010 season. [18]

Team names were announced during the second week of August. Uniforms were also annouced at the same time and are subject to change in year two. Logos were revealed a week before the season opener.

Team sites

Team Metro StadiumsGames First season Head coach Team Owner References
California Redwoods San Francisco, CA AT&T Park³ 2009 Dennis Green Paul Pelosi [4][19][20][21][22]
Florida Tuskers Central Florida Citrus Bowl²
Tropicana Field¹ 		2009 Jim Haslett Tampa Bay Rays
(Stuart Sternberg et al.) 		[4][23][9][19][24]
Las Vegas Locomotives Las Vegas, NV Sam Boyd Stadium²
Home Depot Center¹ 		2009 Jim Fassel Bill Hambrecht [4][25][26]
New York Sentinels New York Metropolitan Area Citi Field¹
Rentschler Field¹
Giants Stadium¹ 		2009 Ted Cottrell William Mayer [4][19][27][28][29]

Structure and television

The UFL has a proposed structure by which each team will operate. It includes a player salary cap range of $12–20 million per team with a staff salary cap of $3 million per team. They hope to be paying at least 10 players on each roster in excess of $1 million.[30] In the initial truncated 6 week season, the 4 teams will have a total of $16 million in labor costs, reflecting the shorter season.[9]

Each team will unofficially tie itself to a pair of divisions in the National Football League. The Florida Tuskers, for instance, will be allowed first rights to players who last played in the NFL for a team in the NFC South or AFC South.[31] In addition to this feature, the league held a draft on June 18, 2009.

Owners will pay $30 million to buy a half interest in a team. The league itself will own the other half. This is done to help control the unregulated spending on player salaries that doomed the previous leagues. The UFL plans for each team to eventually sell shares to the public that they hope will raise another $60 million.[30]

The UFL will be aired on the Versus cable television network[4] as well as HDNet (a network owned by Mark Cuban, who has prominently supported the league since its founding);[32] Versus will carry eight games (including the championship), mostly on Thursday nights, while HDNet will carry the remaining five. All games will be available in high definition. Versus' play-by-play team will consist of Dave Sims on play-by-play, Doug Flutie as color analyst, Kordell Stewart on the sidelines and Anita Marks hosting features.[33] Commissioner Huyghue has stated that all of the games will be webcasted for those fans who don't have either of the stations.

Training facilities

The UFL constructed a $20 million training facility in Casa Grande, Arizona. The Las Vegas Locomotives and the California Redwoods have their training camps there as well as their regular season practices.[34] The league was exploring the use of the former Dodgertown facility in Vero Beach, Florida as a training and practice facility for the Florida Tuskers and the New York Sentinels,[31] however they could not come to an agreement with the facility.[35] Instead they use the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. Training camps for the 2009 season began on September 1.

Relationship with the NFL

The league primarily consists of players that have at one time or another played for a National Football League team. While the league has no connection with the NFL, and does not intend to have such a relationship in the future,[36] some have speculated that it could become a minor or "developmental" league for the NFL,[23][37] Other reports said the league described it as a "competitor" to the NFL,[38] though they have backed off this characterization in recent months, instead describing as a "complement" to NFL football. It has been speculated in the press that the UFL's long-term business plan is to be present if or when the NFL and its players' union reach the end of their contract in 2011, giving players that would be locked-out or striking an opportunity to play somewhere else.[32] The NFLPA has advised any NFL player cut in training camp to consider the UFL as an employment opportunity.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Executive team". United Football League. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-16. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  2. ^ a b "About us". United Football League. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-16. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  3. ^ http://www.ufl-football.com/teams
  4. ^ a b c d e f O'Halloran, Ryan (2009-03-12). "Green, Fassel land jobs". Washington, D.C.: The Washington Times. Retrieved 2009-03-12. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  5. ^ "UFL announces games to be televised live on Versus" (Press release). United Football League. 2009-03-09. Retrieved 2009-03-09. {{cite press release}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  6. ^ "UFL Premiere Season Timeline". United Football League. 2009-03-13. Retrieved 2009-03-15. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  7. ^ "About the United Football League (UFL)". ufl2008.com. (2007-09). {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Barnett, Megan (2007-05-31). "First and very long for Bill Hambrecht". News Blog. New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Portfolio Magazine. Retrieved 2009-02-16. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  9. ^ a b c d Kaplan, Daniel (2009-02-09). "Spouse of Pelosi buys UFL clubs". Charlotte, N.C.: Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal. Retrieved 2009-02-16. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  10. ^ "UFL Premiere Season Timeline". United Football League. 2009-03-09. Retrieved 2009-03-12. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  11. ^ Klayman, Ben (2008-05-15). "NFL rival to reveal West Coast football teams soon". New York City: Reuters. Retrieved 2009-02-16. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  12. ^ a b "Potential markets". United Football League. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-16. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  13. ^ Nocera, Joe (2007-06-03). "First and long - very long". Play Magazine. New York, N.Y.: The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-16. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  14. ^ "Betting on the United Football League". Sports 911. 2007-05-30. Retrieved 2009-02-16. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  15. ^ ,Grotz, Bob (2008-04-12). "Chester stadium could be on UFL radar". Primos, Penn.: The Delaware County Daily Times. Retrieved 2009-04-20. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  16. ^ Walker, Don (2009-09-04). More pro football in Milwaukee?. The Journal-Standard. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  17. ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUSTRE56042B20090701
  18. ^ http://www.ufl-football.com/blog/2009/02/16/february_live_chat_with_commissioner_michael_huyghue
  19. ^ a b c Balzer, Howard (2009-03-09). "New UFL might make play for Vick". San Francisco, Calif.: The SportsXchange/CBS Sports. Retrieved 2009-03-09. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  20. ^ "San Francisco metropolitan area". Potential markets. United Football League. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-16. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  21. ^ Barrows, Matt (2009-02-10). "UFL sees opening in San Francisco". 49ers Blog and Q&A. Sacramento, Calif.: The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved 2009-02-16. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  22. ^ "United Football League announces former NFL coaches Jim Fassel, Dennis Green, Jim Haslett & Ted Cottrell as Head Coaches for UFL premiere season. San Francisco franchise to play at AT&T Park" (Press release). United Football League. 2009-03-11. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  23. ^ a b "Live chat with commissioner Michael Huyghue". United Football League. 2009-03-13. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
  24. ^ "Orlando metropolitan area". Potential markets. United Football League. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-16. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  25. ^ "Las Vegas metropolitan area". Potential markets. United Football League. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-16. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  26. ^ Matuszewski, Erik (2009-02-09). "Jim Fassel ready to make head coaching return with UFL, not NFL". New York, N.Y.: Bloomberg. Retrieved 2009-03-01. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  27. ^ Bob Glauber (2009-03-10). "New football league to have a team in NY ... mostly". What about Bob?. Melville, N.Y.: Newsday. Retrieved 2009-03-10. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  28. ^ "New York City metropolitan area". Potential markets. United Football League. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-16. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  29. ^ "UFL 2009 Schedule". NY Home Stadiums. United Football League. 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-26. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  30. ^ a b Gregory, Sean (2007-10-09). "Battling the NFL: Two Hail-Mary passes". Business & Tech. New York, N.Y.: TIME Magazine. Retrieved 2009-02-16. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  31. ^ a b Fleming, Ted. 4 X 6 = United Football League’s Premier Season. Tampa Bay Examiner. 21 April 2009.
  32. ^ a b Clayton, John (2009-03-12). "NFL labor strife would help UFL's cause". NFL. Bristol, Conn.: ESPN.com. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  33. ^ United Football League Announces TV Announcers for Versus UFL Telecast. UFL press release. Retrieved 2009-09-22.
  34. ^ Huggler, Randy (2008-11-26). "Casa Grande to be UFL incubator: New pro football league to build 3-team summer training camp near Francisco Grande". Casa Grande, Ariz.: Casa Grande Dispatch. Retrieved 2009-03-12. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  35. ^ http://uflfansite.com/2009/08/14/ufl-loses-florida-training-facility/
  36. ^ Oliveri, Anthony (2009-10-03). Ex-NY Giants Coach Fassel: UFL Has Staying Power. FanHouse. Retrieved 2009-10-05.
  37. ^ Prisco, Pete (2009-03-30). "NFL could find new UFL to be a nice development". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2009-04-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  38. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/business/global/30spot.html?_r=3&ref=global
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