Mark Cuban in talks to start another pro football league

[Reds Fanatic]

Mark Cuban the owner of the Mavericks is part of a group holding preliminary talks to start a new pro football league that would play on Friday nights.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2887465

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is part of a group considering formation of a football league that would compete with the NFL for players drafted lower than the second round.

The league, still very much in the preliminary stage, would play its games on Friday nights. The NFL does not play then because of the potential conflict with high school football.

"It's a pretty simple concept," Cuban said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "We think there is more demand for pro football than supply."

The proposal was first disclosed by The New York Times on its Web site, which said it was the idea of Bill Hambrecht, a Wall Street investor who was a minority partner in the Oakland Invaders of the USFL, which played in the spring from 1983-85. Sharon Smith, a spokeswoman for Hambrecht and Company, had no comment and said Hambrecht was traveling and unavailable to talk about the idea.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said he was aware of the proposed league, but had no further comment.

There have been numerous leagues that have tried to compete with the NFL and a few that actually played games, starting with the AFL, which began in 1960 and fully merged with the NFL a decade later. It included such current franchises as New England, Oakland, Kansas City, San Diego, Buffalo, the New York Jets and Denver.

More recently came the World Football League in the early 1970s, which raided the NFL for such stars as Larry Csonka. Then came the USFL, which played in the spring before folding after receiving only $3 in an antitrust "victory" over the NFL.

The USFL featured such future Hall of Famers as Jim Kelly, Reggie White and Steve Young, but lost millions of dollars trying to compete for players. It also had internal struggles among a majority of owners who wanted to stay in the spring, and the best known among them, Donald Trump, who wanted to move to the fall and try to force a merger with the NFL.

The most recent pro football league was the XFL, founded by the World Wrestling Federation and televised by NBC. The XFL lasted just three months in the spring of 2001 and was best known for a player named Rod Smart, called "He Hate Me," who later played as a return man and backup running back in the NFL.

So far, the proposed new league is in its infancy and Cuban is the only potential owner for what the founders hope will be an eight-team league.

Cuban said in his e-mail he believes the salary cap makes it easier to compete financially with the NFL because of the salary imbalance that leaves lower-level players with lower salaries. That would allow the new league to fill its rosters with players taken lower than the second round, as well as late NFL cuts and free agents who escape the NFL draft.

Many such players, including Tom Brady, a sixth-round pick of New England, have become NFL stars.

"That's not to say it will be easy. It won't," Cuban wrote. "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."

[KronoRed]

Hey Mark...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contine...ootball_League
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...ootball_League
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XFL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Football_League
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profess...ootball_League
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Football_League
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_L...rican_Football

Been tried.

[WMR]

If anyone can pull it off, I'd put my money on Mark Cuban.

The idea of competing for players falling below the 2nd round actually makes a lot of sense. Sounds like they'd approach things from a "sustainable" business model similar to the MLS and eschew the "gimmicks" of the XFL with a united vision of what they want/expect from their league.

[westofyou]

Wow.. time to get out my Detroit Wheels pennant, Oakland Invaders jersey and San Francisco Demons wool cap.

[Highlifeman21]

As long as they get "He Hate Me" for their league, I'll watch.

[Heath]

Originally Posted by westofyou

Wow.. time to get out my Detroit Wheels pennant, Oakland Invaders jersey and San Francisco Demons wool cap.

I'm gonna go find my Akron Vulcans pennant and my Ohio Glory Hat.

(What a bad, bad, bad name for a football team)

[WVRed]

Originally Posted by WilyMoROCKS

If anyone can pull it off, I'd put my money on Mark Cuban.

The idea of competing for players falling below the 2nd round actually makes a lot of sense. Sounds like they'd approach things from a "sustainable" business model similar to the MLS and eschew the "gimmicks" of the XFL with a united vision of what they want/expect from their league.

I disagree. As if the Benefactor wasnt bad enough.

As much as I despise Donald Trump, the man was right when it came to Mark Cuban.

[Chip R]

It's going to be a disaster if they are playing on Friday nights. Everybody is out watching HS football.

[smith288]

"1000 Fastest ways to waste your money"
by Mark Cuban

Couldnt he just donate money to a good cause so the money does something of value?

[HumnHilghtFreel]

I don't get why he thinks that there's a lot more demand for football. Between the NCAA, NFL, AFL and highschool, I think there's plenty out there.

The only thing I can see is if he makes the season go through the Summer months so that he has no competition.

[11larkin11]

Why Friday nights? People are usually out on Friday nights.

[Redsfaithful]

I'm not going to complain about more football, but I have a hard time seeing this working.

And isn't Arena Football kind of the minor league/alternative to the NFL these days?

[KronoRed]

Originally Posted by Redsfaithful

And isn't Arena Football kind of the minor league/alternative to the NFL these days?

Indeed it is, it's been quietly surviving for over 20 years because it doesn't try and beat the NFL.

The days of upstart leagues popping up and getting merged or bought out are over.

[WMR]

I'm surprised everyone is so cynical about this idea working.

I think if they kept it small to start, had dedicated owners with deep pockets who could guarantee, say, a minimum 3-5 year financial investment, and a t.v. deal of some sort, it could very well end up being a profitable and successful venture. And, fwiw, none of those caveats seem outside the realm of possibility, IMO.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by WilyMoROCKS

I'm surprised everyone is so cynical about this idea working.

I think if they kept it small to start, had dedicated owners with deep pockets who could guarantee, say, a minimum 3-5 year financial investment, and a t.v. deal of some sort, it could very well end up being a profitable and successful venture. And, fwiw, none of those caveats seem outside the realm of possibility, IMO.

Lot of ''ifs'' there. This thing is going to lose a bunch of money from the start even if they get a TV deal. Arena football has been successful because it plays inside, changed the game somewhat and negotiated a deal with the NFL. Evidently Marc Cuban hasn't spent enough time in Texas to know that a pro league that plays on Friday nights which doesn't even feature the best players will not fly in Texas. Where are they going to play? College stadiums? Doubtful since they will only have a few hours to prepare for a college game. Pro stadiums? Doubtful the NFL and their teams will be cooperative. Maybe places without NFL teams like Portland or San Antonio can let them use stadiums but it isn't going to look good on TV with 2-3,000 people in a 70,000-80,000 seat stadium. Cuban would have more luck buying the Cubs.