Cuban hopes to create football league

[RamFan_Til_I_Die]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html

Cuban hopes to create football league
Mavs boss part of group looking to compete with NFL

NEW YORK (AP) -- 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."

[AvengerRam]

Well, I guess that he who ignores history (USFL, XFL) is dumb enough to repeat it.

[LARAM]

Mark Cuban is shrewd businessman......Don't underestimate......Anyway I would watch a couple of games, After all it's Football!!!!!

[bigtiger737]

Mark Cuban is shrewd businessman......Don't underestimate......Anyway I would watch a couple of games, After all it's Football!!!!!

From a buisness aspect Mr Kennedy McMahon is also very shrewd, and XFL was still stupid and a waste of a lot of hot cheerleaders

[laram0]

Mark Cuban is shrewd businessman......Don't underestimate......Anyway I would watch a couple of games, After all it's Football!!!!!

The NFL is extremely popular. Why would anyone or any group try and compete? They ought to look at Hockey! The NHL has been losing it's popularity over the last several years.

[Rambos]

Simple supply and demand, you have the NFLN playing and talking football year round. Arena football, Europa Football and College football.

[AvengerRam]

Simple supply and demand, you have the NFLN playing and talking football year round. Arena football, Europa Football and College football.

Not so simple at all. The supply of diamonds may not meet the demand, but that does not mean that people are going to go out and buy quartz engagement rings.

[Rambos]

Why go after the left over late round players? Sign the big name players away from the NFL.


Ok here are the eight owners for the new NFL. The business plan. No cap! Just sign as many big names as we can. No age limits like the NFL so if you like a kid in JR high lock him up. Feel free to sign FA from the NFL as many as you can at any cost. Don’t let any college football player get drafted by the NFL period.




Oprah

Bill Gates

Larry Ellison

Mark Cuban

Warren Buffet

Donald Trump

Larry Page – Google founder

Jerry Yang - Yahoo founder

[ramsanddodgers]

The NFL is extremely popular. Why would anyone or any group try and compete? They ought to look at Hockey! The NHL has been losing it's popularity over the last several years.

I am no tsure what happened to Hockey.. I haven't seen a game all year.. I thought I heard they were on OL or OXY or somesuch.

You'd think they'd at least show the play-offs
:\

[rams_fan81]

Why go after the left over late round players? Sign the big name players away from the NFL.


Ok here are the eight owners for the new NFL. The business plan. No cap! Just sign as many big names as we can. No age limits like the NFL so if you like a kid in JR high lock him up. Feel free to sign FA from the NFL as many as you can at any cost. Don’t let any college football player get drafted by the NFL period.




Oprah

Bill Gates

Larry Ellison

Mark Cuban

Warren Buffet

Donald Trump

Larry Page – Google founder

Jerry Yang - Yahoo founder

Im sure that there would be a huge debate over it and if you try to build a league on drafted players it will take years for it to get up to size.

[LARAM]

If I am not mistaken......I read an article about a year ago about a summer football league that was supposed to be starting......It was basically a minor league football association, however it was supposed to only be 8 to 10 teams, with 50,000 to 100,000 dollar caps on salary, also was supposed to have cap on how many years a player could play in the league 2 to 4 years ...i think......It was supposed to be players who had already finished their college careers, and was supposed to have very strong ties to the SEC and I think one other east coast college div, and from what I remember the games were supposed to be held strictly at SEC college football stadiums. (full contact, full pads, 11 players, Sping/summer league)........Anyone know what I'm talking about......probably never worked out because I havn't heard anything about it in a while.

[Rambos]

Im sure that there would be a huge debate over it and if you try to build a league on drafted players it will take years for it to get up to size.

rams_fan81. not sure if you had ever heard of the USFL, maybe you have...

With approximately 1,536 different men appearing on a USFL roster at one time or another

1980s, the USFL provided fans across the country with professional football in the spring and summer. Three consecutive Heisman Trophy winners played in the league as well as future NFL and CFL MVPs and all-stars. For three seasons, the league played some fun and entertaining football at a time of the year previously devoid of the game.

Its all about the money here are some players they where able to sign.

This page lists all 778 USFL players who spent part of their careers in the National Football League, everyone from Vince Abbott to Jon Zogg. With approximately 1,536 different men appearing on a USFL roster at one time or another, that means that over half of them had or went on to acquire NFL experience.

Steve Young
Tony Zendejas Played for the the Rams
Doug Williams QB won a SB
Herschel Walker
Reggie White

http://oursportscentral.com/usfl/nflplayers2.php


Back in the early 1980 big money!

From James Alder,
Your Guide to Football.
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Steve Young began his professional football career by bucking the NFL system and signing with the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League. Despite being coveted by most NFL teams, he opted to accept a $40 million contract from the Express at a time when the USFL was trying to out-bid the NFL for the best collegiate players.

I’m not seriously saying this will happen. Just think about the big money some of the guys like Cuban have to throw around that they made in the .com era.

[BigDaddyPace]

Mark Cuban is shrewd businessman......Don't underestimate......Anyway I would watch a couple of games, After all it's Football!!!!!

So are Vince McMahon and the Donald. If St. Louis gets a franchise I will watch.:l