Mavs' owner Cuban says pro football demand is greater than supply (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2887465&campaign=rss&source=NBAHeadlines)
Updated: May 30, 2007, 5:42 PM ET

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."

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

Yeah coming from the same dude who created The Benefactor.

Buy or Sell: Worse than XFL? (if of course it takes off)

The XFL was all gimmicks. If they try to make this a legit league, it won't be as bad. May not be good, but not tha tbad.

You know, it's really interesting because there is still NFL Europe, right? There's Arena League and Canadian League, so there is other competition, but dollars and format are different.
Do I think he can ever rival the NFL? No.
But I do think he could create a league better than any other competition.
Even if his league simply took all of the UDFA's and players cut during NFL training camp, he would already have a successful league. Add guys like Ricky Williams, Chris Henry, Pacman Jones, etc and the quality goes up. With Goodell getting more strict, I'm sure Cuban would welcome banned players with open arms. There are plenty of Heisman winners and guys like Maurice Clarett that could draw attention as well. Eventually he could compete for some players, but he may not ever pull any first round guys away because I don't think he could sustain the revenue long enough if he's giving guys multimillion dollar contracts. If his highest paid players were making about $3 million per year, I think he would still have a strong talent base and good product, but it would likely take 5 or 6 years of growth at that level before the league could take the next step and sustain itself.

The problem is that they will run the league in the fall along with NFL. Make it a summer league and it will have similar success to the AFL if not better.

I still think they will have success even if the fall since it will be a Friday night league. Football junkies can't get enough. I'm not sure how well they'll sell out stadiums, or which stadiums they'll use (MLS?), especially in places that are hotbeds for HS football, but if the talent is right they could eventually get a really good TV package.

Another question - would they try to steal talent from the NFL by allowing players to enter the league after only 2 years of college? (a year sooner than the NFL)

While I think this league could be successful, I'm worried about what it would do to the quality of play at the college and NFL levels.

Business model:

1) Pay not so great players a little more than they get now for ridding the bench all year in the NFL or playing in Europe.
2) Play those players knowing that football fans watch teams not players.
3) Play on a night when the NFL doesn't play so your games are the only attraction of the night.
4) Hold on till the cash rich NFL buys you out.

Sounds intriguing.

With Cuban involved, I would have went with the RNLRFL instead.

The problem is that they will run the league in the fall along with NFL. Make it a summer league and it will have similar success to the AFL if not better.

I don't buy summer football AT ALL. This league won't stand a chance, and probably won't even get off the ground. Believe it or not, the NFL and College Football are all that most of us need, especially with the off seasons of those two being almost as big as the season, and probably bigger than baseball, basketball, and hockey. Still, those sports occupy enough attention that another sports league (even if it's football) will flop.
I just don't think there is enough interest, other than some initial intrigue, to support more mediocre bullshit.
The NFL supports NFL-Europe, it's their minor league. It probably would die without the NFL behind it.
We already have a football season that goes from August to February, and with three big timers playing simultaneiously (NFL, College, and High School).
The NFL would probably throw its weight against this league anyway, as it would take away some players, maybe many, that are needed once the NFL season is in full grind and injuries start to pile up.
I'll take a pass, and so will the rest of the country.

I think his assumption is wrong, that people really do NEED more football, but that doesn't mean people won't watch.
The fact that it's Cuban instead of McMahon and real football instead of gimmick ball are two things that could make it work.

Seriously, think about this for a while.
From something I read it sounds like his main target, initially, would be players selected after the first two rounds of the NFL draft. That means if the league had been in place this year, he could have had Quentin Moses as Defensive ROY and Michael Bush as Offensive ROY. Both guys made some mocks in the beginning of the year as first rounders. Without the guaranteed money in the NFL, would the take the money and PT in Cuban's League? Troy Smith and Chris Leak would likely both be in that league. In fact, of all the players that left the two championship game teams, only Ginn and Gonzales and Jarvis Moss and Reggie Nelson were picked in the first two rounds. Then think of guys like Charles Rogers and Tim Couch - top players from recent drafts that are out of the league. Right now THOSE guys have few if any options for exposure to try to get back into the league. However, with another league there are more players needed. For many of them it could be a second chance and it could pay off a lot. I think he could put a great, competitive product out there that could work. If he could keep it alive for 5 years, it would probably stay around for 20 (assuming it wasn't bought out - as previously mentioned). Eventually they would grab some of the top players out there.

Well, they aren't ever going to get "top" players.
And for those who like to watch also rans playing for the Birmingham Butterknives, more power to ya.
As for being competitive, how could they ever deal with guys who want millions to play for them? They'll be in small markets, second tier population cities, playing in front of tens of fans, and probably on a worse network than the NHL has right now.
The first thing they'd have to do would be to cap players salaries so they could get off the ground. Secondly, find a place to play, and it won;t be in any NFL stadium. Thirdly, good luck with a TV contract, especially if you play on Friday night. Most football fans have bought into Monday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday ALL day football.
Now I might be one of the guys that thought home computers would never catch on, but we've tried two other leagues (WFL, USFL) besides the XFL and whatever else shit football there has been. It hasn't worked.
Then there is the players appeal. No names and has beens and never weres just don't interest people. I couldn;t give two fucks about the Chris Leaks or Troy Smiths of the world, and I don;t think I'm alone on that one.
Give me the big names, in big cities, in big stadiums. The easiest thing this league will be able to do is find hot young broads to dance half naked for the 2300 fans who will be at the stadium. From there, it's all downhill.

I wouldn't just assume they'll target smaller cities. I think an LA team would be a guarantee. I wouldn't be surprised (if they ever do attempt this league) if they target Detroit for a team. Why not? It's a city that hasn't seen winning pro football, the Silverdome is available, and the fans support the team that sucks. So why wouldn't Cuban think they would support this team if it was good? Perhaps the teams take an approach of targeting local talent. So all the Wolverines and Spartans that just missed being drafted might end up there.

Again, let me remind everyone that I think this league is a terrible idea - it may not deal a tremendous blow to the existing system, but it could really hurt the depth of talent in the NFL, and depending on their entry rules it could hurt college football.

But as for the players, if you were drafted in the third round by the Browns and likely to make a few hundred thousand per year on a non-guaranteed contract vs playing for an LA team for $3 million per year, I think you may have a relatively easy choice, especially if you think you can leave for the NFL after a few years if you prove yourself. This potential league may always be a little brother, but there's plenty of talent in later rounds. Tom Brady could have ended up in that league, along with Marques Colston to name a couple.

I wouldn't just assume they'll target smaller cities. I think an LA team would be a guarantee. I wouldn't be surprised (if they ever do attempt this league) if they target Detroit for a team. Why not? It's a city that hasn't seen winning pro football, the Silverdome is available, and the fans support the team that sucks. So why wouldn't Cuban think they would support this team if it was good? Perhaps the teams take an approach of targeting local talent. So all the Wolverines and Spartans that just missed being drafted might end up there.
LaLa doesn't give a shit about the NFL. I can't believe Cuban would put a team there to play in front of 197 people in a stadium that holds 100,000. Do you remember the Detroit Wheels and the Michigan Panthers? The fucking Red Wings don't sell out for the playoffs in "Hockeytown".


Again, let me remind everyone that I think this league is a terrible idea - it may not deal a tremendous blow to the existing system, but it could really hurt the depth of talent in the NFL, and depending on their entry rules it could hurt college football.
If this league had different entry rules than the NFL, they'd be banned by every college football team in the country, and Michigan State


But as for the players, if you were drafted in the third round by the Browns and likely to make a few hundred thousand per year on a non-guaranteed contract vs playing for an LA team for $3 million per year, I think you may have a relatively easy choice, especially if you think you can leave for the NFL after a few years if you prove yourself. This potential league may always be a little brother, but there's plenty of talent in later rounds. Tom Brady could have ended up in that league, along with Marques Colston to name a couple.
Let's slow down a bit there: LA won't have a team, and they won;t be paying anyone 3 million a year. The only way this league could even hit the runway is if they get a deal to limit player salaries to something like 100K. Tom Brady and many others will go NFL Europa before some new bush league. Let's not get all Sparty here: This league would be for guys with NO HOPE for the first few years, and they'd never make it past that. The NFL has what, 32 teams?
You make some good points Jethro, but this is nothing to even waste one more millisecond thinking about. It's a joke, and the NFL would squash it after laughing at them for a couple years. A buyout? We're talking about the NFL: They don;t buy you out, they riddle you with bullets and stick you in a dumpster behind a grocery store.

We're talking about the NFL: They don;t buy you out, they riddle you with bullets and stick you in a dumpster behind a grocery store.

You'd have a new neighbor at least.

Actually I think this would be a terrible idea. I agree that the demand for football is high, but that's exactly as the NFL wants it. They have created a market where not many football games happen, so they are highly valued. Add more leagues, add more teams, add more games, and you start to devalue the product. Just look at the NHL.

The XFL was all gimmicks. If they try to make this a legit league, it won't be as bad. May not be good, but not tha tbad.

Agreed. There is no way it'll ever give the NFL serious competition, but I bet it gives the Arena League a run for its money (and players). I know Arena has a long-established following, but I bet the intrigue of a new "standard" rules league will prove to be a challenge for the Arena game.

Of course, if Cubes goes the XFL route, it'll doomed to a quick extinction...