Welcome To The UNFL?

Last week Darren wrote about the AAFL, which is temporarily on hiatus and will soon be embroiled in a class action lawsuit on behalf of the players against League founder/chairman Marcus Katz.

Now more news from yet another budding league in last Friday’s SportsBusiness Daily (subscription required): “Upstart United National Football League (UNFL) Founder & CEO Marvin Tomlin said that a U.S. football league that is ‘intended solely to be a farm club for the NFL has never been tried before,'” and that he believes that “fans will embrace a league whose goal is to develop players for the NFL.” Rosters will consist of 60 players per team, each of whom will be paid $1,000 a week. No more than 40 players on each team will come from Division I-A schools, with the rest of the roster comprised of Division I-AA or lower. Tomlin said that he is currently talking with the NFL Network, ESPN and Fox Sports about a possible broadcasting deal.

Three UNFL franchises, two in Texas and one in Kansas, have already been sold, according to Tomlin, who says that he “expects more to be sold in the coming months.” A New York franchise will play its games at Hofstra University, for example, and Tomlin noted that Birmingham is the “most likely destination” for an Alabama team, though he “didn’t rule out locating a franchise in Mobile or Huntsville.” Tomlin, however, has ruled out playing at the 60,000-seat Legion Field in Birmingham, citing the league’s desire to ideally average between 15,000-30,000 fans a game. Said Tomlin: “I’d rather have people not able to get in the game than have to play in a half-full stadium.”

The UNFL estimates that a minimum of eight franchises will be in operation by next January, and that in the next 30 days the League will announce these eight charter franchises, and then “begin negotiating leases with stadiums.” Other league details, including team ownership, also will be revealed later this month.

If nothing else, Tomlin seems to have reasonable expectations, at least initially, for the League. “We want to build a brand regionally first and then take it nationally,” he said. But will his farm club idea catch on?