UFL's On-Field Product Will Likely Determine League's Success

The UFL hopes to offer “high-quality football” when it debuts in October, and league execs and experts “agree that the UFL’s fate will be determined primarily by its on-field product,” according to Jordan Conn of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. The league “got a credibility boost” last week when J.P. Losman, a first-round pick by the Bills in '04, signed with the Las Vegas franchise. The signing “underlines the mission of the UFL: to complement the NFL as a potential feeder league, not compete with it.” UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue: "Players recognize that in (NFL) backup and low-salary roles there’s not much opportunity for a player to underscore his value. In our league they can get exposure in a way that changes NFL teams’ minds.” Conn notes the UFL “plans to add up to four franchises over the next two seasons, hoping $20 average ticket prices and a national TV deal with Versus will generate enough interest and revenue for the league to break even by the third year” (SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, 8/3 issue).

TALENT SHOW: In West Palm Beach, Carlos Frias reported the UFL “sprouted as a result of basic economics: There was a greater supply of football talent than the NFL demanded.” And the UFL is “going after those players.” The league is a place where an NFL backup “can prove he has the stuff to be a starter.” In addition to Losman, former NFL QBs Ken Dorsey, Tim Rattay and Brooks Bollinger are "expected to be on rosters." UFL Orlando franchise coach Jim Haslett said of the league, “I don’t think it’s a threat to the NFL. The more players that go back (to the NFL), it makes an easier sell for us next year.” Meanwhile, while the UFL could be a “place where a player like Michael Vick rebuilds his skills and rebrands his image,” Huyghue admitted that there “have already been players that the league rejected because of their baggage.” Huyghue: “We don’t want to be the league of vagabonds and misfits” (PALM BEACH POST, 7/29).