Mark Cuban is at it again and this time it is not in the world of professional basketball. He is stepping onto the gridiron and hoping to do what many people have tried and failed at miserably. And that’s rival the NFL.
Cuban is part of a group that is looking to form a football league to give some competition in the world of professional football. The league would look to compete with the NFL for players drafted lower then the second round.
Still in it’s preliminary stages, the league would consist of eight teams to start with and would play their games on Friday nights. In most circles across the country, the schedule goes as follows: high school football on Friday, college on Saturday, and the NFL mostly on Sunday. Sure there are some variations but the NFL does not play on Fridays due to interfering with high school ball. Arena Football also plays a lot of it’s games on Friday nights, but Cuban says this league is looking to be above that of the AFL.
Cuban wrote “The NFL wants and needs competition. They have grown so big and powerful that every move they make is scrutinized by local or federal officials. A competitor allows them to point to us and explain that their moves are for competitive reasons rather than the move of a monopoly.“
Past failures of leagues trying to compete with the NFL were the AFL which ended up merging with the NFL a decade after it was born. The USFL tried and failed. And then most recently was WWE CEO Vince McMahon’s XFL which lasted only one season.
Cuban is the only confirmed owner so far, but believes the league (being called the UFL) really is possible. He says the funding won’t be as hard because as the lower rounds come about in the draft, the salaries also get smaller. Free agents not picked up and players waived late from NFL teams could fill out the remaining roster spots.
Cuban continued “That’s not to say it will be easy. It won’t. We still have to cover quite a bit of ground and have a lot of milestones to hit. That said, if we can get the right owners I obviously think we can make this work.â€
Credit: ESPN
