USFL 2022

[Kaos]

I watched some of the USFL just out of curiosity.  Useless Shitty Failure League.

What made the USFL of the 80s work? 
1. Regional drafting so that teams had players with which local fans would be familiar.
2. Competitive salaries and a willingness to draw top-level talent.
3. NFL style approach to marketing
4. NFL quality players (due to money being available)
5. NFL quality performances.  Good teams, good players, good product.

The only reason that version failed was the decision *pushed by true American hero Donald Trump* to switch to the fall and compete with the NFL in a misguided effort to follow the old AFL path and be absorbed into the League. It was a strong product, gaining traction, with an array of quality players on the rosters.  Ratings were good, people were invested.  I went to many Stallions games and the stands always had 20-30,000 fans.

Why am I confident this version of the USFL will fail quickly?
1. Teams with rosters full of players no one has ever heard of. There's zero local draw/attraction. None.
2. Terrible on-field product. The games are barely high school-level quality.  It's shitty football played by shitty football players who'd never set foot on an NFL field (and most apparently didn't even play in college). There's not a single player on any roster that I've ever heard of. Not a one. They aren't signing Heisman winners.
3. No marketing. The games are being played in Birmingham and I have seen almost nothing marketing-wise. I flipped by one of the awful games the other day and saw stands that looked completely -- as in 100% empty -- at the start of the third quarter.  I bet there weren't 50 people there.  That's not sustainable.
4. Disinterested TV.  Yes, it's being carried on two networks but is anybody -- Bueller? Bueller? -- watching the games?  The announcing teams are second-rate. No, that's an insult to second-rate teams.  They're bargain basement. It's a terrible production. 

I hate to say it, but it's not going to work.  A lot of people are going to lose money here.  It doesn't have a single ingredient to give it a chance to succeed.

[Snaggletiger]

I watched the entire first half of the New Orleans/Tampa Bay game yesterday.  I was trying to figure out where they were playing, until they panned to the press box and it said Home Of The Blazers.  So they're playing all the regular games in Birmingham?  Why would you do that?  And how do you expect to draw a crowd for any team other than Birmingham to these games?

That's the first I've watched of the league, but I was pleasantly surprised by the play.  I saw several incredibly athletic plays, and recognized a few of the players, like former Ole Miss QB, Jordan Ta'amu, and Arkansas tight end, Cheyenne O'Grady. 

I think the product on the field could be sustainable, but for several reasons listed above, this is set up to fail in every way possible.

 

[CCTAU]

I watched the entire first half of the New Orleans/Tampa Bay game yesterday.  I was trying to figure out where they were playing, until they panned to the press box and it said Home Of The Blazers.  So they're playing all the regular games in Birmingham?  Why would you do that?  And how do you expect to draw a crowd for any team other than Birmingham to these games?

That's the first I've watched of the league, but I was pleasantly surprised by the play.  I saw several incredibly athletic plays, and recognized a few of the players, like former Ole Miss QB, Jordan Ta'amu, and Arkansas tight end, Cheyenne O'Grady. 

I think the product on the field could be sustainable, but for several reasons listed above, this is set up to fail in every way possible.

 

I think they set it up to survive off of TV money.

[eagleair89]

How many yards did Herschel have?

Touchdowns?

[Buzz Killington]

How many yards did Herschel have?

Touchdowns?

He touched down in every city in Georgia.

[GH2001]

I think they set it up to survive off of TV money.

Yup ^^.....attendance numbers aren't exactly in their business model.

[Snaggletiger]

Yup ^^.....attendance numbers aren't exactly in their business model.

However, who really wants to watch two teams play that nobody else wants to go see?  If I turn on a game and there's 612 people in the stands, I might watch a little of it, just because it's football, but i lose interest really fast.

[GH2001]

However, who really wants to watch two teams play that nobody else wants to go see?  If I turn on a game and there's 612 people in the stands, I might watch a little of it, just because it's football, but i lose interest really fast.

keep in mind....we didnt say it was a good business model.

[Kaos]

Unbelievably Shitty Football League has reached its championship game.  Birmingham is in it. 

Would be nice if I cared.  I don't. 

I've seen a few clips here and there and honestly it looks like really mediocre high school teams. 

[Kaos]

Apparently the Birmingham Vulcans/Fire/Bolt/Stallions won the inaugural (and potentially final) USFL title. 

Barely made news. 

I like the concept, but unless this league gets better players it is the Titanic looking for a berg.  Shitty teams with players nobody's ever heard of?  Not compelling.

Three times as many people watched 60 Minutes (the equivalent of watching a turd mold) and twice as many people watched "Celebrity" Family Feud on Sunday as watched the USFL title game. 

To be honest?  I knew of it, but had no idea when it was on, what channel or what time.  Would I have watched?  Probably not.  But I can't tell you the last time I saw a promo for the league. 

[CCTAU]

I enjoyed watching some games. It was a more pure form of the game. Guys fighting to be noticed. Sure it was like watching minor league baseball, but that’s sometimes more fun.