Another Potential Professional Football League?

uflOn October 19, 2007, I reported that a new football league under development, the United Football League (UFL), wanted to kick-off its inaugural season in August 2008.  A year and a half later, I am sitting in Gainesville writing this post and still waiting for the UFL to show up on my HDTV.  But wait, could there be hope that I will be watching a UFL game sometime soon?  October 8, 2009?

There have been many announcements concerning the UFL over the past week.  Several coaches have signed up for its first season, including: Dennis Green (San Francisco), Jim Fassel (Las Vegas), Jim Haslett (Orlando) and Ted Cottrell (NY).  The league is also being innovative with its rules and following the wishes of many NFL fans by allowing end zone celebrations and adding technological advances like the addition of a GPS chip in the UFL’s footballs (will it include Google Lattitude?).

But can a league really get started with only four teams?  Time will tell.  The league has already beat its major hurdle: securing a TV partner.  All games, which will occur mostly on Thursday nights, will be broadcast on Versus network.  At first glance I question the move of signing on with Versus, but then I think about Spike TV before the UFC.  There is no reason that the UFL and Versus cannot work.  It just will be tougher for the UFL than signing on with an ESPN.

Even though the UFL has scored a TV deal, it will still have to overcome the terrible stigma involved with being a potential “competitor” of the NFL.  The XFL failed, NFL Europe collapsed, the AAFL and UNGL never got started, and the USFL is trying to start up once again.  The UFL has a TV deal, strong backers (financially and solid backgrounds), and only has to compete against college football games on Thursday nights (besides when the NFL schedules a Thurs. night game).

If you think that the UFL is a place that you want to offer to your clients, you can register to become an official agent right over here.  I did not find any qualifications needed to become licensed by the UFL, but I assume that there is some sort of background check involved.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.

2 replies on “Another Potential Professional Football League?”

When does their season start and end? Does it run at the same time as the NFL or in the Spring/Summer? Hopefully, they will grow more teams, possibly doubling in size after year 1. What happened to the other league (AAFL)?

Comments are closed.