Dave’s Football Blog

Mark Cuban has always struck me as a pretty smart guy. You would think he might have learned something from these guys:

Then again, maybe not. According to TrueHoop (of all places), Cuban is considering investing in something called United Football League, a new pro football league that will attempt to enter cities where the NFL doesn’t have a franchise and build a league that can compete with the NFL.

Because that was such a hit every other time someone tried it.

Guys, you cannot compete with the National Football League. It is the stage for gridiron superstars, period. If players come to play for your UFL, they will do so with the hope that some NFL team will see them and offer them a contract. This is why the XFL failed. Vince McMahon tried to make his league all about bone-crunching hits and extreme action, and not a single player bought into that idea, because they didn’t want to risk a serious injury in case an NFL team came calling.

As for the cities that don’t have NFL teams, they don’t want minor league football, and if it’s not the NFL, it’s minor league. Otherwise, the Baltimore Stallions might have stuck around a little longer. We already have a well-developed minor league system, and it’s called college. You can’t compete with that, either.

Maybe Mark Cuban has $60 million to burn and wants to own a football team without going through the hassle of buying an NFL club. It’s his money to lose, I guess, but he should know from experience that this is a losing game. You cannot compete with the NFL. It’s been tried before. It didn’t work then. What makes anyone think it will work now?

If Cuban really wants to invest in football in America, he’d be much better off choosing a different code than American football. Here, Mark, I’ve got one for you — futsal. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — futsal is unique to American audiences, it’s much cheaper to put on, and it can aide player development for a growing sport in America. You can grab players when they’re young, build up their skills, and sell their contracts to MLS and European leagues — just like you suggest could be done with basketball players.

Want something even more unique? How about creating an International Rules Football League? Or just investing in the USAFL and building Metro Footy into a viable sport in America? You don’t even need $60M for that. Better yet, start a Beach Football tour. People like football. People love the beach. Pick a football code that people will pay to watch, adapt it to sand, and you’ll get an audience. It worked in Brazil and Virginia Beach, didn’t it?

Trust me, Mark, any of these ideas has a better shot of succeeding than this cockamamie United Football League idea. Seriously, you might as well spend $60M on another season of The Benefactor. More people will watch that.

(Spotted on Our Book of Scrap.)

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