The UFL’s big mistake

Sometimes I feel bad, as I seem to constantly be down on a league
I actually like a heck of a lot, and when the news of the day forces me to keep
reporting on this story. So we know from past posts that I think the United
Football League tried to wedge itself into place, as a football alternative, to
a NFL labor stoppage. They were only partly right, and granted looking back always
carries with 20/20 vision, but it really seems that the UFL authorities really
misread what would happen in a NFL lock out.

Maybe that isn’t exactly fair, but the uncertainty of it all, the
end of a lockout and the power of the NFL marketing machine have left many
sponsors and TV stations unwilling to back the UFL and risk angering the NFL.
The UFL really thought that the sponsors and TV stations would come flocking to
them to give them football and help them market their products.

The UFL seemed a little blind to this response. Sure, everyone
always thinks that the best thing will happen, and they should be preparing for
the worst and that is really, where the UFL went wrong in this case. The put all
of their eggs in one basket, and that basket was a NFL lockout where they
remained the only source for football. In today’s media and economic market, it
was terribly short sighted.

My main point in my criticism of this league is the conditions did
not ruin (or help ruin as the case may be) this league. The Arena Football League
has carved out its own niche in the football market, as has the Canadian
Football League, but the folks at the UFL have really defeated themselves much
like the folks at the USFL and really the XFL have done in previous decades.

Coach Schottenheimer on the delay of the UFL Season

Related Links:

• The Business of the UFL
• Joshua Lobdell.com