Could the USFL Resurrect as the NFL’s Minor League System in 2013?
Middle-aged football fans will be the ones to remember the colorful, controversial, and short-lived United States Football League (USFL) which emerged in the early 1980s with a stated goal of competing with the NFL for football fans across the country.
For a short time, it looked like the USFL may succeed in doing just that, until financial issues and the constant relocation and migration of teams around the country prevented the league from ever establishing enough of a foothold to be taken seriously.
A 52 year-old entrepreneur from San Diego, Jaime Cuadra, wants to resurrect the USFL as a springtime minor league system for the NFL, with teams to be potentially be placed in strong sports cities, but non-NFL markets, like Akron, Portland, San Jose, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, Austin, Memphis, Raleigh-Durham, Birmingham, Omaha, and Baton Rouge.
Rumors are that the league could kick off as soon as Spring of 2013.
Each of these cities have built in NFL fan bases with their regional teams and it would seem– at least on the surface– that some natural partnerships and pipelines could be established with ease.
Jaime Cuadra understands that many have failed in trying to take on the NFL head-to-head, and his intentions are instead to allow the 1,200 plus players annually who have the ability to play in the league, but are just a little short of reaching their dreams:
The USFL and UFL did the same thing — they weren’t fiscally responsible. The XFL went totally gimmicky. It’s not going to work with purists. NFL Europe was a great idea, but costly. We can see the mistakes that have been made and try to avoid them.
We’re going to play in the spring when fans are dying for football. We’re going to take players who didn’t quite make it to the NFL and develop them — we’re talking anywhere from 1,000 to 1,800 kids and giving them a living wage, $3,000-to-$3,500 per game, and give them unfettered access to the NFL. They will be paid by the league, to keep things under control.
In my opinion, a return of the USFL as an NFL minor league affiliate makes absolute sense for a few reasons:
1. By playing games in the spring, the USFL could fill the “football void” which pains so many fans after the Super Bowl wraps up and the college football season passes by in the rear-view. With the departure of arena football as a potential competitor, the USFL could fill the void for football fans who could care less about baseball, basketball or the other sports that occupy the lion share of attention in the spring months.
2. The NFL is the only major sport in America that does not have a definable minor league system. Even the NBA now has a dependable minor league system of their own creation in the D-League. That extra 1,200 or so players I mentioned earlier would welcome the chance to showcase their skills in a league where they know a chance of playing for an NFL team as early as the following fall could be just a season’s worth of strong performances away.
3. If Cuadra has the financial backing I believe he must to consider resurrecting a once-fallen league, the USFL could build a unique fan base of NFL fans curious to see prospects which could eventually wear their favorite team’s jersey. You think football fans in Austin wouldn’t show up to see future Cowboys in the making when April rolls around and the sports scene in the city is at its slowest?
Jaime Cuadra has a nice idea, and if the NFL buys-in, the potential of the USFL could very soon become a reality.
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Kris Hughes is a Network Manager for Rant Sports. If you enjoy his takes, you can follow Kris on Twitter, check out his personal Facebook page, or stop by his personal Tumblr page.
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More articles about the possibility of a USFL resurrection:
New USFL is back, this time as “triple-A spring football league for NFL”: http://cbsprt.co/HcIrzs
New USFL wants to return as NFL minor league: http://bit.ly/HNRbj2
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