New Football League

[SFL Cat]

Okay, you get the Vince McMahon itch and start your own football league.

1) How many teams would you have to launch? Where would they be? What would your league structure be?

2) When would you play? (i.e. spring/summer league or fall league). How many games would you play?

3) What would be your ultimate goal for the league (a head to head rival with the NFL; force a merger with the NFL; become a developmental league for the NFL, etc.)?

4) Would you do anything to differentiate your league from the NFL and other competitors (i.e., new rules, etc.)?

5) How would you compete with the NFL for players (or would you?), not to mention other football leagues like CFL, Arena Leagues, NFL Europe?

Discuss. Note: I have already patented the TFLA -- Trout Football League of America.

[BrianD]

Okay, you get the Vince McMahon itch and start your own football league.

1) How many teams would you have to launch? Where would they be? What would your league structure be?

I would probably start with 8 teams split up into 2 divisions with a 4-team playoff. Teams would start in the largest markets I could find without current pro football teams...LA, Milwaukee(?), San Antonio(?), Detroit :)


2) When would you play? (i.e. spring/summer league or fall league). How many games would you play?

Spring/Summer schedule, 10 games - division opponents twice, other division once.


3) What would be your ultimate goal for the league (a head to head rival with the NFL; force a merger with the NFL; become a developmental league for the NFL, etc.)?

Developmental league for the NFL. I don't think a startup could compete directly.


4) Would you do anything to differentiate your league from the NFL and other competitors (i.e., new rules, etc.)?

I wouldn't do anything different with the plans to give fans decent quality Spring football. This would break up the off-season and give people a chance to see future NFL stars.

[quote]
5) How would you compete with the NFL for players (or would you?), not to mention other football leagues like CFL, Arena Leagues, NFL Europe?
[\quote]

I would go after players that didn't get drafted, or those that could no longer find a home in the NFL. It would take a long time to bring in enough revenue to offer competitive NFL salaries, so I believe a developmental league would be the way to go. I would probably also try to work some kind of deal with the NFL to become an "official" developmental league...see if I could use the NFL brand to my advantage realizing that I would be sacrificing profits.

[Passacaglia]

Two words.

BEER TENT!!!!

[SFL Cat]

Two words.

BEER TENT!!!!

Yes!!! The game itself is secondary! :)


I'd probably go for a 12 team circuit. Probably split it into east and west conferences.

Obviously, I'd put teams in the big markets: New York/New Jersey, Los Angeles, Chicago. Then I'd go for cities that have given good support to alternative football in the past or have untapped potential.

So my league would look something like this:

EAST
New York/New Jersey
Columbus, Ohio
Birmingham, Alabama
Orlando, Florida
Chicago
Pontiac, Michigan (Silverdome is sitting empty)

WEST
Los Angeles
San Antonio, Texas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Oklahoma City
Sacramento, California
Portland, Oregon

The league would play a 14 game winter/spring schedule.

I'd want to stress wide-open football, so I would encourage owners to hire up-and-coming offensive minded football coaches. I'd probably introduce some rules to help juice up the offense (maybe multiple receivers in motion, motion toward the line, etc.). If the league couldn't secure a TV contract, I'd probably immediately initiate a lawsuit against the NFL. So, long-term, I'm seeing my league as an autonomous head-to-head rival with the NFL or, if necessary, merging with the established league.

I'd encourage teams to sign players from local colleges to give teams a "regional" feel. I'd also like to see my league "steal" a few major college/free agent players from the NFL each year.

[cartman]

I think the USFL was set up perfectly. I have no clue why they decided to move to a fall schedule and compete head-to-head with the NFL.

[SFL Cat]

Because Donald Trump had delusions of grandeur. Besides after he got his hands on QB Jim Kelly and the Houston Gamblers' wideouts to go along with Herschel Walker, he was primarily interested in getting his all-star New Jersey Generals squad into the NFL.

[cthomer5000]

I think you start small in strong markets. 8 teams in areas that are big on football. I would start my season a few weeks after the Super Bowl.

Since my goal would be to not compete with the NFL, I'd want to position myself perfectly so guys that were in my league could finish our season in time to be picked up for an NFL training camp. My setup here has my season ending right at the end of may/beginning of june. We'd really be targeting guys who had gone undrafted and unsigned the prior year, as well as guys who had been released in final cuts, etc the year before. I think eventually I could convince the NFL to drop NFL Europe and send their guys to us. We would quite clearly be a 2nd tier league. I think trying to compete with the NFL is suicide.

We'd play 14 games (1 division, 8 teams, 7 x 2). The regular season leader would receieve a bye week and advance directly to the title game. Teams 2 and 3 would play a semifinal to advance to the championship game.

I would start with NFL rules, and just change a few things I can't stand.

1. No babying the QBs
2. No fair catches on punts. Either catch or let it roll.
3. Some more stuff I can't think of at the time.

We'd focus on moving the game along quickly, finishing each game in under 3 hours, guaranteed. Since we'd probably be starting without a TV contract, we'd really have to focus on the fan experience.

I'd consider sorts of "local" roster exemptions to encourage teams to bring in players from specified local colleges, etc.

[scooper]

I think you start small in strong markets. 8 teams in areas that are big on football. I would start my season a few weeks after the Super Bowl.

Since my goal would be to not compete with the NFL, I'd want to position myself perfectly so guys that were in my league could finish our season in time to be picked up for an NFL training camp. My setup here has my season ending right at the end of may/beginning of june. We'd really be targeting guys who had gone undrafted and unsigned the prior year, as well as guys who had been released in final cuts, etc the year before. I think eventually I could convince the NFL to drop NFL Europe and send their guys to us. We would quite clearly be a 2nd tier league. I think trying to compete with the NFL is suicide.

We'd play 14 games (1 division, 8 teams, 7 x 2). The regular season leader would receieve a bye week and advance directly to the title game. Teams 2 and 3 would play a semifinal to advance to the championship game.

My league would start pretty much exactly like this. I would stop at the suggested rule changes, however. If I want to develop players for the NFL, they should be playing by their rules.

I was pumped about the XFL, but I thought it went too far trying to be different from the NFL and thought they were nuts to try to position themselves as competitors. They were not only going to lose that fight, they weren't going to survive it.

If done right, I think an alternative football league could very well survive. Granted, the overhead is lower, but the arena league has a national TV contract along with local fox sports type contracts. I'd look for something similar. Maybe one or two games on nationally each week with the teams inking regional deals on their own. Some might think TV would kill attendence, but I think it would help build brand loyalty.

The key is not getting too greedy. Working along with the NFL should be the ultimate goal.

[Raiders Army]

Two words: strippers.

[SFL Cat]

Two words: strippers.

Ummm...I thought that was what the XFL WAS about.

[Young Drachma]

Okay, you get the Vince McMahon itch and start your own football league.

1) How many teams would you have to launch? Where would they be? What would your league structure be?

Hmm...16 teams to start, two 8-team divisions playing each other once. Probably geographically separated or you could even do it, where the teams only play in their division until the playoffs. But not long-term would that be a solution

2) When would you play? (i.e. spring/summer league or fall league). How many games would you play?

So, you play as soon as the NFL season is over, sorta like what Arena does.
Short season, maybe 12 regular season games and then a playoff tournament with the Top 4 teams in a Final Four format.

3) What would be your ultimate goal for the league (a head to head rival with the NFL; force a merger with the NFL; become a developmental league for the NFL, etc.)?

Try to use it as a way to get players from smaller colleges or semi-pro leagues who want a shot to impress scouts close to the draft (or as free agents) a chance to play and show their skills.

You'd need to recruit good coaches, though or people with connections. That's where all those "disgraced" coaches with minor gaffes can come help us out, as well as mid-major college coordinators and perhaps a few guest stars and former players (or even current ones?) to make cameos. The goal is to get the NFL to view you as a resource, rather than a nuisance.


4) Would you do anything to differentiate your league from the NFL and other competitors (i.e., new rules, etc.)?

I think the rules need to allow players to showcase their talent, without turning into an injury fest. If it's too offensive, defensive players won't want to play. So, find a way to leverage that. Experiment with scoring and other innovations like the XFL did, speed the gameplay up immensely and perhaps, lower the time of the game so fans don't have to sit for 3+ hours.

5) How would you compete with the NFL for players (or would you?), not to mention other football leagues like CFL, Arena Leagues, NFL Europe?

A way for players to get kids into the draft and turn into a developmental league, but ends well before minicamps and such. Basically, a pre-draft league. Maybe even entice a kid, like say, a Marcus Vick or someone who wants to showcase their talent or Arena players who want to get outdoors and show off their skills prior to the draft to get a team to take a chance on them, then turn on the hype machine to get your best players into the eyes of the NFL Scouts and GMs. So, stick largely to talented college players who are graduating or declaring early or who got kicked out of school, avoid semi-pro players, for the most part.

[SFL Cat]

Big question is what's the best way to go as far as team ownership? League owned teams like the XFL and Arena Leagues or individual owners. Maybe start out with league owned clubs, and as the league gets established sell the clubs to owners.

[Young Drachma]

Single-entity like MLS until the league gets financial stability, but use local owner-operators as the faces of the organization.

[IwasHere]

1) How many teams would you have to launch? Where would they be? What would your league structure be?16 and in all the major markets.

2) When would you play? (i.e. spring/summer league or fall league). How many games would you play?Summer. Probably starting in June with the season kicking off in July, as soon as we signed all our High School Players. This would also allow teams to sign current College Players they see playing for the 2nd half of the season.

3) What would be your ultimate goal for the league (a head to head rival with the NFL; force a merger with the NFL; become a developmental league for the NFL, etc.)?To put NCAA out of Business. I would target High Schoolers and College Players. Sign them to Long term contracts with big bonus money. Example: A 10 year contract for 1 million dollars, with a $250,000 signing bonus. I would offer these 10 year deals to graduating seniors in High School and elite Freshmen and Sophmores in college. Finally, to help support the league we would then sell these contracts to the NFL for Millions upon Milions of Dollars.

4) Would you do anything to differentiate your league from the NFL and other competitors (i.e., new rules, etc.)? Power Play baby!! When a penalty occurs you can either take the distance, 10 yards, or force the team to go down a man for that many "realtime" minutes. These are real minutes and not game minutes, this should force teams into their 2-minute drill when they have the man advantage. I like hockey's powerplay beacuse it lets me know when it is time to pay attention.

5) How would you compete with the NFL for players (or would you?), not to mention other football leagues like CFL, Arena Leagues, NFL Europe? With my aggressive signing of Young Players to Long term contracts my league would be in total controll in a few years. In a couple of years it would be the NFL that would come crawling to me for Players.

Also, no Players union and no player agents period. Think Rollerball; the players would be completly owned by their teams. All marketing, advertising, and any other 3rd party deals would be done by the Team's Front Office.

[EagleFan]

1) How many teams would you have to launch? Where would they be? What would your league structure be?
8 on initial launch with plans to expand once the leaugue started to take hold. Two divisions of 4 teams with the goal to be getting the teams in large enough markets but.


2) When would you play? (i.e. spring/summer league or fall league). How many games would you play?
Spring schedule with an initial 10 game schedule (home and home within your division and one against each team from the other division).


3) What would be your ultimate goal for the league (a head to head rival with the NFL; force a merger with the NFL; become a developmental league for the NFL, etc.)?
Wait and see attitude, with the hope of getting enough backing to maybe go heads up with the NFL at least in terms of competing for talent.


4) Would you do anything to differentiate your league from the NFL and other competitors (i.e., new rules, etc.)?
Get rid of some of those "No Fun League" rules that the NFL has imposed. Build in an incentive to win with a "bonus" pool for the players of the winning teams for each game.


5) How would you compete with the NFL for players (or would you?), not to mention other football leagues like CFL, Arena Leagues, NFL Europe?
I wouldn't want to initially. Get what we can until we build enough of a base to start to pick away at players from the AFL and CFL.

[stevew]

1. I'd start out with 16 teams, an East and a west conference of 2 divisions.

2. Spring schedule, initially 10 games. No interconference play at first.

3. I'd look to build up, first to start as a new start for lesser talent and old out of work veterans. Eventually I'd want to challenge the NFL.

4 and 5. I wouldn't have age constraints, kids could choose to join our league instead of going to college. Probably would put some sort of buyout language in their contracts, to make all but the top talent stay in the league for 4 years after their HS graduation. Guys who are likely to not be drafted could play a full season after their college season, as to hopefully enhance their position. Weight limit on linemen of 300 pounds(maybe give a team an allowance of 25 extra pounds, total). Also would adopt the soccer yellow card/red card system. The roster size would be around 35 players, I'd like to see a lot of players going on both sides of the ball. Trying to get the NFL to pay transfer fees might be an option at some point.

[The Destroyer]

Actually, I have already started making a player database in FOF, using players who couldn't make it, or were drafted late in the NFL, so never got/will get their chance. Is there anyone that would be interested in joining this, so I know whether or not I should even continue doing this?

[SFL Cat]

I'd be interested Destroyer.

One question, though. Are these just college graduates who never made it to a NFL squad or have you also included players from some of the lesser pro leagues, i.e. CFL, Arena League, NFL Europe, etc?

[The Destroyer]

I'd be interested Destroyer.

One question, though. Are these just college graduates who never made it to a NFL squad or have you also included players from some of the lesser pro leagues, i.e. CFL, Arena League, NFL Europe, etc?


I am including the players from CFL, Arena League, NFL Europe, just about anywhere...I even have some 3rd stringers on there from the NFL, but was thinking about taking them out...

[cthomer5000]

Single-entity like MLS until the league gets financial stability, but use local owner-operators as the faces of the organization.

Agreed. Any second league would need a collective launch and stability to survive for years, just like MLS has done.

You'd probably need some investors who are in it for the fun as much as making a profit, because they'd need to have long-term vision.

[stevew]

Actually, I have already started making a player database in FOF, using players who couldn't make it, or were drafted late in the NFL, so never got/will get their chance. Is there anyone that would be interested in joining this, so I know whether or not I should even continue doing this?


That would be fun, the problem with low talent roster sets is that the draft players are then substantially better than the current league players. You'd have to create some sort of lower talent level draft classes as well(where the top player might be (20/50) or something.

[General Mike]

8-12 teams, during the winter/spring (March to June). Not trying to compete with the NFL, but I would go after kids coming out of HS who don't want to go to college, but want the money.

[The Destroyer]

stevew not all the players will suck i was thinking of making them better by giving them ratings based on how good they would be compared to the other players in the league. not sure how much time i should use between games.

do u guys know if it is possible to add players to the free agent pool?