News Article: The USFL is back

imauafan

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The USFL was great for the first couple of seasons. I really enjoyed following the Stallions and I always thought they were one of the few USFL teams that did it the right way. They didn't try to sign too many superstars, they just stuck with former NFL guys and as many local guys as they could.
 

selmaborntidefan

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The USFL was great for the first couple of seasons. I really enjoyed following the Stallions and I always thought they were one of the few USFL teams that did it the right way. They didn't try to sign too many superstars, they just stuck with former NFL guys and as many local guys as they could.
The USFL - back in 1984 - could have STAYED as a viable entity in the spring. ESPN - back then - was desperate to break into the big-time, and the NFL didn't really have much to do with them. They were looking for programming, so the USFL filled some of the old Australian Rules Football time (and back then they had six straight hours of Sports Center to start the day).

But the circumstances that would have allowed the USFL to thrive for awhile no longer exist. The NFL doesn't have major labor issues, there's not some show out there needing football programming for the spring, and if you land a superstar that the NFL missed (a hidden gem if you will) that player will sign with the NFL at the drop of a hat.

I don't see a viable market for this TODAY.

There's another problem...can you name me a specific market other than maybe Birmingham, possibly San Antonio where there aren't NFL teams? And even then - well, the Falcons are what, 150 miles away from Bham? That's not as far today as it was in 1983 because of road improvements.

Go look at the cities where the USFL played. The NFL has put teams in Jacksonville, and there's a team in Nashville that wasn't there in 1983. Baltimore also has a team. One of the whole things with the USFL - what was the driving force behind it in the first place - was New Orleans didn't have a football team when David Dixon conceived the idea in 1961.

I'm not reflexively against the idea of "spring football," I'm just saying this is a vastly different world than the one that greeted the USFL in 1983. Several of the things that set the stage are ancient history now.
 
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TideEngineer08

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Add to it that if the NFL is going keep expanding the schedules, they are likely going to grow the rosters as well. I could see them expanding the rosters to 60 players. Ok so that's what, 6 more players per team, or 192 total players which will no longer be out there for an alternative league to draft.
 

selmaborntidefan

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i would argue i-20 from bham to the atl is as bad as it ever was. there has been non stop construction on that stretch of road going back at least 30 years (that's how long i have been driving that route).
Always contrary with me aren't ya?

On a more serious note...my greater point (since it's admittedly debatable whether or not the Atlanta Falcons technically qualify as a pro football team) is this:
a) take the upper half of Alabama as Bham fans
b) there's a team in Atlanta as there was in 1983
c) there's now a team in Nashville, which was not there in 1983

Now MAYBE Bham is one market that could sustain a team.

But how many other viable opponents? That's sorta the larger point I'm making.
 

TideEngineer08

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I do not think Birmingham would be able to sustain a team. Hell there have been reports that city leadership want this new USFL to put the team in Legion Field. What an utterly ridiculous idea.

Legion Field needs to be bulldozed to the ground.
 
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81usaf92

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I do not think Birmingham would be able to sustain a team. Hell there have been reports that city leadership want this new USFL to put the team in Legion Field. What an utterly ridiculous idea.

Legion Field needs to be bulldozed to the ground.
With UAB moving out of it that maybe something that eventually happens. Heck I wouldn’t be surprised since USA built a stadium that Ladd tears down. UAB is probably the only reason that Legion Field hasn’t been torn down already.
 

BamaInCummingGA

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Here is where I disagree with some on here in regards to survival:
The USFL died primarily because it tried to set itself up as a competitor with the NFL. They absolutely cannot survive by doing that.
What they have to do is set themselves up as a farm league/league for lesser players who really love to play the game and pay them enough to keep them around but don't try to compete with NFL salaries.
Case in point in regards to viewership: on this board alone we are always discussing the pros and cons of still having bowl games and some of the crappy matchups but invariably people on here will watch because it's football.
No NFL in the spring to compete with, NBA plays primarily at night and baseball......eh.
If they "work in conjunction" with the NFL it may actually work. Especially if players get to move from the USFL to the NFL.
 
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TideEngineer08

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With UAB moving out of it that maybe something that eventually happens. Heck I wouldn’t be surprised since USA built a stadium that Ladd tears down. UAB is probably the only reason that Legion Field hasn’t been torn down already.
The article I read stated that since they are losing UAB as a tenant, and with no other tenants, they want a client in order to continue making money with Legion Field.

Seems asinine to me. Tear the poor lady down and put her to rest already.
 

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