The UFL will move ahead with only four teams

So, via an official league press release we learn that the United Football League has contracted another team. The official term they are using is the Hartford Colonials are ceasing operations, but in the end it all means the same. That means Jerry Glanville will not be a part of this league in 2011, and that the Colonials players will be reallocated to the other teams in the league. That really means nothing as we are already so far in the process of the third UFL season that many of these players, especially the QB’s, will not get much of a chance to play elsewhere.

This is yet another huge blow for a league that is moments away from taking a standing eight count. They want to attract new investors, but the current investors are already nervous and looking to get out. I see no way, right now, that this league can survive this. The new plan is to launch a four team season on September 15th, with another game to follow on September 17th.

Of course absent an announcement of a new TV deal, most of us will not be able to see those contests. On top of that this is now a four team league with three teams located west of the Mississippi river. Only the upstart Virginia Destroyers will play games in the Eastern Time zone, and as far as I can recollect that is the first time we have seen a professional league operated that way. It might be a good strategy with population shifts, but having next to no east coast representation means a large piece of the American populace will continue to ignore this league.