League Notes
In L.A., Grahame Jones reports the MLS BOG today will meet in N.Y. and one topic "quite likely to be broached ... is the matter of names for the new expansion teams." When asked recently if the league would object to another team aside from DC United using the United name, MLS Commissioner Don Garber said, "My personal view is that a team deserves to have its own identity. ... It's hard to imagine that they can't find a name that would be more distinctive for them and their community." Garber said of team identities, "We should celebrate the past, and honor and respect the past ... but our brands should be about where we are tomorrow, not about where we were yesterday" (L.A. TIMES, 3/19).
CAPE ESCAPE: With MLB possibly withholding funding from the Cape Cod League (CCL), in Boston, Michael Silverman wrote the CCL is "one of the best feeder systems the major leagues have, and to threaten to withhold grant monies for a league that has done so much to produce the superstars of the game who have helped the sport grow to $6[B]-plus in revenues is a small-minded and short-sighted gesture." If the matter is "not resolved, it would be nice to see some MLB team ... step in and pick up the tab to help keep the league running" (BOSTON HERALD, 3/16).
FOOTBALL: The United Football League (UFL), which previously postponed its inaugural season from fall '08 to fall '09, will begin next year with six teams instead of the previously slated eight. The UFL is targeting cities such as Sacramento, Austin, Las Vegas, N.Y., L.A. and San Antonio for franchise locations. And while four of the six teams have owners lined up, only Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban has been identified as owner (SAN FRANCISCO BUSINESS TIMES, 3/14 issue)....The AFL through the first three weeks of this season is averaging 13,254 fans per game, up 11% from 11,895 for the same period in '07. It marks the highest three-week cumulative average in the league's history, surpassing the previous '05 record of 12,919 (AFL).
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