NFL/USFL partnership for player development

[Mr. WEO]

14 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

If you're going to quote history, be sure you are talking about the same thing. Because the USFL and XFL of today bears no relation to the past leagues that failed. First of all, both leagues are partnered with TV networks. XFL with ESPN/ABC and USFL with Fox and NBC. 

 

And if the NFL is willing to enter into a player development deal, that's only going to make these leagues even stronger. And before you say "college football is a farm club" you can't send players back to college for more development. You can do it with the XFL and USFL.

 

 

And yet their ratings are historically low for televised professional football.  The original USFL's rating dwarfed those of the current.  This year, it was beaten by the XFL reboot, despite the latter's less favorable broadcast exposure.

 

If you are going to quote history, the original USFL started with 13 million from ABC and 4 million form ESPN in 1982.  By 1984, ABC offered 175 million/4 years to play in the spring and ESPN 70 million/3 years.   We all know hat happened next. 

 

It doesn't matter  how many scrubs and PS players they shuttle back and forth from the NFL, no one is watching these games.  This is why they all die off.

[PromoTheRobot]

12 hours ago, Limeaid said:

 

For players who do not make roster I cannot see why not but I do not watch college football.

 

College football is, supposed to be anyway, an amateur sport. You usually only get 4 years of eligibility. Also these programs are in it to win, not serve the needs of NFL teams. They aren't going to play some #4 QB from your practice squad if they don't want to.

3 hours ago, Beast said:

LOL…OK. If you think that the investors won’t walk away from a failed product instead of keep dumping money into you’re nuts.

 

Between the NFL and major college football the viewers are satisfied. People aren’t clamoring to watch a bunch of 4th quarter pre-season type football in the spring and summer.

 

Except that XFL/USFL isn't 4th quarter preseason football. They are teams with rosters and game plans looking to win games. In fact there's more talent on any of these spring teams than most college teams. 

 

As for the networks, they made the investment because they want programming. Spring football ratings were middle of the pack, depending on what channel and time of day, comparable to the most NHL, NBA golf or soccer matches.

Edited July 14, 2023 by PromoTheRobot

[BigAl2526]

I think the USFL is going to maintain a limited salary structure for players.  That will keep its expenses at a manageable level.  I don't think the USFL will be a major channel for talent, but I think there are always a few players who might not be ready for the NFL coming out of college, but have enough talent and simply need a little more time to develop.  There is a niche that the USFL can fill, and there are probably enough football hungry fans around to support a presence on TV.  Bottom line:  I think it's here to stay in the near future.  After 15 or 20 years, who knows.

 

[Doc]

I didn't realize the XFL was already partnered with the NFL.  The USFL will have to merge with them.

[Mr. WEO]

On 7/14/2023 at 11:16 AM, PromoTheRobot said:

 

College football is, supposed to be anyway, an amateur sport. You usually only get 4 years of eligibility. Also these programs are in it to win, not serve the needs of NFL teams. They aren't going to play some #4 QB from your practice squad if they don't want to.

 

Except that XFL/USFL isn't 4th quarter preseason football. They are teams with rosters and game plans looking to win games. In fact there's more talent on any of these spring teams than most college teams. 

 

As for the networks, they made the investment because they want programming. Spring football ratings were middle of the pack, depending on what channel and time of day, comparable to the most NHL, NBA golf or soccer matches.

 

 

Not NFL talent.  There is no NFL talent on those rosters, hence these leagues exist. Conversely, the SEC alone has 369 players on rosters as of 2022. 

 

If Fox wants content that people will watch (and advertisers would pay good money for), they would run reruns of Idol and Everyone Loves Raymond....

[Gugny]

Once they figure out that it’s better for many legitimate NFL prospects to skip college altogether, then a development league would result in a lot better football … for the development league AND for the NFL. 

[GoBills808]

4 minutes ago, Gugny said:

Once they figure out that it’s better for many legitimate NFL prospects to skip college altogether, then a development league would result in a lot better football … for the development league AND for the NFL. 

And as an added benefit the postgame interviews will get even more unintelligible and thus more hilarious 

[LeGOATski]

People tend to focus on what the fans want, but this is about the players. The college system is exploitative and the players would rather have a farm system like the MLB and NBA have. If one of these leagues can set that up with the NFL, it could establish a foothold in the market and poach/produce some really good talent, especially if the NFL infuses some money into it.

1 hour ago, Gugny said:

Once they figure out that it’s better for many legitimate NFL prospects to skip college altogether, then a development league would result in a lot better football … for the development league AND for the NFL. 

Definitely

 

And the NFL surely wants a piece of the NCAA's pie if there is a viable way to do it.

[PromoTheRobot]

On 7/13/2023 at 5:16 PM, BuffaloBillyG said:

This reeks of a stateside version of NFL Europe.

 

And what exactly is wrong with that? You know who came out of NFL Europe? Fred Jackson.

[PromoTheRobot]

 

 

 

[PromoTheRobot]