This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Are you ready for some more football?
Salt Lake City has been targeted to be one of the first eight cities to be a part of the United Football League, an organization that plans to start play next summer, according to a published report.
Rachel Gary, a league consultant, said the city is one that is being "seriously looked at" but wouldn't say whether an owner or an investor for a Utah franchise has been secured.
League commissioner Michael Huyghue declined interview requests.
According to a report by Reuters, Salt Lake City as well as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco and San Antonio are potential host cities. Original plans for the league to start in 2008 were delayed until 2009 so it could line up owners, a TV deal and build league branding, according to the report.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is among the owners and initial funding has been provided by investment banker Bill Hambrecht and Google Inc. executive Tim Armstrong.
The league plans to run from August through November, primarily on Thursdays and Fridays so as not to go head to head with the NFL, Gary said.
However, there is plenty of skepticism another outdoor pro football league can succeed when the NFL commands so much attention.
"No one is going to be able to come in and take over the popularity of the NFL," said David Carter, the executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute. "They would be doomed to failure. You would have to compare the league to Major League Soccer or the WNBA and it took both of them a very long time to stabilize."
Breaking into the Salt Lake market that already includes college football, high school football and the Utah Jazz would also be very hard to do, say owners of some local pro teams.
"If they are going to be a positive contributor to our community, than that's fantastic, we're not afraid of any competition, " said John Garff, one of the primary owners of the Arena Football League's Utah Blaze. "But Sundays aren't going to work in Utah and you've already got college football, homecomings, baseball playoffs, it's a really, really crowded season."
According to the Reuters report, each owner will put up $60 million initially and should expect losses of $25 to $30 million a year for the first three seasons. The UFL is assuming a per-game attendance conservatively at 25,500. By comparison, the Utah Blaze franchise was bought for $18 million and drew a league high of 15,498 fans when it started play in 2006. It has yet to turn a profit, Garff said.
The last pro football team to start in Utah was the short-lived Utah Warriors, a franchise in the National Indoor Football League which was bought by the Ken Garff Automotive Group in 2004. Notable league startup attempts that have failed include the World Football League, the United States Football League and the XFL.
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United Football League
* New football league starting in '09
* Cities haven't been disclosed, although Salt Lake City has been mentioned as a target area
* Season will run from August through November and play primarily on Thursdays and Fridays
* Who: Rather than competing with the NFL for big names, league wants to attract players who make up the bottom half of NFL rosters