History and Downfall of the United Football League (2009-2012)
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- Опубліковано 23 вер 2024
- My account of the history of the United Football League (UFL), an alternate league that you may or may not remember, with photos and game videos from the league's archive. This comes from my time as a fan and brief intern in the league, and a football fan in general, following its rise and fall.
Feel free to put on your own background music under it, this one's just 20-some minutes of talking straight through, I didn't want to put anything repetitive under the voice that you'd get sick of. (And I apologize for the poor audio quality/static, was going to re-do the video but seems like it's taking off, so too late now)
(An assist to Wikipedia for some of the attendance numbers!)
This is pretty right on, I played in the UFL from 2010- 2012, the pay wasn't that bad at first.
if the league would have started in the spring of 2011, it would have had a better chance of surviving. the NFL wasn't going to risk losing a full season of football. it was a big gamble for the UFL to play in the fall
Yup, paychecks were on time in '09, the 2nd and 3rd seasons tho...
Are any of their games on UA-cam?
What was the pay if you don’t mind me asking
@@tonyarceneaux286 - There are several UFL games at the channel www.youtube.com/@danlee3203/videos.
Obscure tv channels, lack of marketing buzz, very few teams, changing team brands from one season to the next, and a season played in the fall ensured this was going to fail.
Yes your absolutely right.
Dorian Lopez my sentiments exactly. But I was just watching something on the XFL and those guys are acting like the SAFE doesn't exist. They plan on playing at the exact same time as SAFE starting in 2020. I see the two coming together for 16 teams...I hope at least.
AAF NOT SAFE
@@nealchampagne7297
Not Safe??
Omaha Nighthawks should be revived within the AAF in the future.
I agree 100%
Agree, make it happen NFL, it brings more opportunities for major cities without a sports team, BTW, the AAF is affiliated with the NFL. Oh, and give St. Louis a team in case the XFL fails again
Hartford Colonials too
@@Flamingbro69 they are not affiliated
I would head south to watch a few games.
"It faded from sports memory almost as soon as the final whistle blew."
As far as I'm concerned, it faded from sports memory sooner. Why? Because there are no downloadable Madden rosters for the UFL, and as far as I'm concerned, if there's no Madden roster for a football league, it doesn't exist. I have seen rosters for the old-time AFL, indoor AFL, WFL, USFL, WLAF/NFLE, CFL, and even NCAA. Never seen one for the UFL, and I've looked.
I had literally no idea that this league was still going on as late as 2012.
I think the owners of the NFL are seriously underrated. From what i've seen, most of the downfall of these leagues were upper mismanagement.
Yeah, but at this point the NFL is almost too big to fail. They're so big and established, it would take a USSR sized collapse to take down the NFL.
@@negativeimpact2381, or ramming politics down throats..SUNDAY TICKET LOST 500K subscribers, minimum last year, and the year before. SB ratings including laptops, I-PHONES, were at 20 year lows.
The NFL is not impregnable. Businesses that think that are the first to sink..
@@negativeimpact2381 There are many teams in NFL that loose money. So yes the NFL owners are super rich and fund the league, as well as the Cities that provide the teams with billion dollars stadiums.
These stadiums are also created because the OWNERS force the cities to pay. So yes the NFL owners keep their teams around
The UFL was one of those leagues that just boggled my mind. I can name quite a few things that the UFL got wrong from the start;
-They were never aggressive enough in marketing their brand of football.
-On the calendar they competed with the NFL. Even if they were just a developmental league, this was a foolish mistake to make.
-They had the wrong leadership in place. (I mean, come on, Cuban, Pelosi, and Men's Warehouse Guy? Again, foolish.)
-They never established a unique identity for themselves when it came to rules of play, etc.
I attended a chunk of the games in Sacramento, they would be packed, would see Denzel W there, Sac has always been hungry for pro football, several popular, successful minor teams have made a home here in past. Only the leagues would fold. Hope would be that AAF would expand here.
Highlight of my UFL playing career was meeting Denzel after we (NY Sentinels) played them (Sacramento) in AT&T Park in SF. I also had a forced fumble and recovery on his son during the game that the officials missed
RIP Omaha Nighthawks
My hope is that the Nighthawks will return in the 2021 CFL expansion
@@joeldrewwaldengrounds6931 As a Canadian and huge CFL fan i'd love this i'm sick of seeing them same 9 teams over and over again
@@scottlow6342 I just want football in June and July Sunday nights .
Alternative football league should be play in the spring.
Watching this a few days before the debut of the AAF makes me nervous for it. I would love to see the AAF survive. In part for the entertainment of football, but mostly for the players. For some of them it will be a second chance to play, it may be their chance to get back to the NFL. For others, it will be their last chance to play professional football.
lopaka76 the aaf seems like it will be a lot better than this
The AAF I feel has done much better with their marketing, and most games will be nationally televised on CBS and NFL network, also with the fact that the games will be played on weekends in the spring is huge plus unlike the UFL.
@@ianreichow6543 yeah, I'm in Phoenix and will attend as many Hotshots games as possible. Another bonus for them is social media. I looked at the app it is definitely a unique feature.
Watched the highlights from the Atlanta vs. Orlando & San Diego vs. San Antonio games. It looked really good. It's a faster action packed game. And the crowds were YUGE & loud. I'm psyched for AAF!! 👍👍🏈💪💪😎
@Shorty I was at the Hotshots game. It was a small crowed, I saw an article that said the crowd was 15,000. I'm not sure what the actual total was though. But they were loud.
the main problem about the UFL is that it's hard for a professional football team to ever compete in the same season as the NFL. compared to the XFL, the UFL had better on field football, but didn't have a major TV deal.
I'm here before the kickoff for the AAF game. Hope it goes well. I want more football leagues!
welp
@@claytonmcdougall916 I know lol
Now I see why the AAF and the XFL own all of their teams instead of having individual owners.
Even that does not always work..I worked in the TX.-LOUISIANA LEAGUE in indy minor pro baseball for two clubs, one folded(LAREDO in midseason in '95) and one moved(LAFAYETTE. LA. in '99 moved in 2001 to EDINBURG, TX.)..all but one team in the TLL in '99, my last year doing play-by-play, being media/communications director/salesman, was owned by the league=GREENVILLE BLUESMEN. In 1995 all teams were centrally owned by the loop, and two folded in midyr.(PUEBLO, COLO. JOINED LAREDO).
So, central ownership does not guarantee anything unless you have good central owners, not the real-life POLITICIANS who owned the T-LL..and George Will who as commish in '95 did diddly squat.
How about you go fuck yourself, Speaker Pelosi has done more for this country and those impoverished than you EVER will.
She is the key force is our country not falling to the nazi leadership currently In power.
I played in the United football league for Jim Fassel Loco's
I remember the name!
Nice, were you on the 09' Championship team ??
2010 Championship Team, I started at Fullback. Had big game that game 4 catches for 44 yard's. All big check Downs that went for 1St Downs. I had DeDe Dorsey and Marcel Shipp in the backfield with me and we Lead the UFL in Rushing .
@@bobbyromeii3418 was drew Willy qb'ing at that time...
Drew did Start a few games that season.
This popped in my recommendations right as the AAF is starting. Pretty good video to explain a league I occasionally caught a game of, but was pretty unaware of what it really was like.
Playing during NFL and NCAA was the mistake. Pre game shows probably did better.
Well done video
AAF Zone love these guys
Is UFL football equipment still available?
Loved the inaugural year of the Nighthawks here. Hope Omaha picks up an Aaf team someday. Was always fun having a team with national exposure, calling them my own. Going to practices and the like....hope to have that again.
UFL should have had more teams. Four is just not enough to retain fan interest. Should have started with at least seven teams and probably eight. I think AAF will survive because they started with eight teams.
Always wanted to make a video like this glad the story is out there great job!
Ok hold on. So the claim is pretty bullshit about there being better players available in the fall. The XFL in 2020 drafted all their players after the end of NFL training camps and then had another supplemental draft right before the start of mini camps at thanksgiving. So actually, playing in the fall means you don’t have enough time to sign all these guys and prep them in camp ahead of your season, whereas in the spring you have the time to make that happen
I was at the first and last Omaha Nighthawks games. Both games were packed, as I recall, and had a good atmosphere. When we get the chance, Omaha is pretty good about supporting sporting events, although I'm not sure what happened with the Knights hockey team.
The Knights who played in that Arabian palace, loved by Shriners= AK- SAR- BEN(NEBRASKA SPELLED BACKWARD), lol..You did have an NBA team, sort of..years ago. KC-OMAHA KINGS=SACRAMENTO NOW..
Gordie Howe was an Omaha Knight in 1940's, too.
According to wiki, the UFL lost between $120-150 million, playing a grand total of 52 games over four years. That's...nearly three million dollars lost *per game*. Yikes!
The USFL was an excellent league, the NFL sponsored World League of American Football had decent football, I hated to see them fail. XFL was garbage.
The AAF seems the most legit out of all of these leagues.
Josh Jacquez true
Rip AAF
And the XFL in 2020 promptly whooped that notion’s ass
Marty finally got his championship. Never forget the Virginia Destroyers!
Poor Marty cannot remember that title..at least cannot on some days, A SHAME=Alzheimers. He needs to be put in the HALL, two losing seasons in 25 years of NFL head coaching? Over 200 wins..yeah, he never had all the horses, and my horses beat his, he never had our ELWAY..
But, he is a great head coach, and so is DANNY REEVES..Hall of Fame would be well deserved for both. Forget the playoffs, just getting there with no stud defenses is pretty good for Marty and Danny. And, DAN did coach in four Super Bowls with two different teams, neither of them were complete clubs(3D.B., 1ATL.). He also played in two(won one), and assistant coached in four(won two), two as a player-coach(won one). He also won close to, if not over, 200 games, and took the NYGIANTS to the playoffs as Head Coach. As for Marty, he got the most out of what he had to work with, the very most!
Put them in.
I wish the Virginia Destroyers could be revived in the AAF, but the San Diego Fleet have a similar logo that the Destroyers had.
And the logo for the Virginia destroyers went on to become the logo for the san diego fleet of the AAF
The UFL had potential for sure. They made way too many mistakes. Playing in the fall on weekdays was certainly near the top of the list. The XFL Las Vegas team drew 20 plus thousand per game and sold out their opener at 32k. The Vegas team in the UFL wasn't going to attract crowds on Fridays nights during the fall. Too much money going in and not enough money going out. No TV deal, poor attendance and more importantly poor branding/marketing. The presentation of the league was bland. There was nothing innovative or interesting about the league.
Actually the Locos attendance was in the bottom half of the league.. your figures are incorrect.. the Nighthawks drew 25k, the Mountain Lions 20k, Colonials 15k, Destroyers 15k, and the Tuskers/Locos had under 15k
@MrErnieHanks The figures are correct. They talked about the XFL attendance in Vegas which was above 20,000
The UFL attendance was a joke in Vegas. You could get a free ticket for betting $5 or more at a Stations casino sports book back then. Would get all types of free tickets and people still wouldn’t go
You misread and are incorrect
MrErnieHanks read thoroughly before opening the trap
@@MrJiwilson my bad
Arena Football..... fast and high scoring... expand that.
Two new teams this season, Atlantic City NJ and Columbus OH
The Arena League DID expand and had a LOT of teams at one time. The league grew too fast and actually suspended operations for a year. It pared down to a smaller league and has gotten back to being at least semi-successful again. I can't seem them ever having more than about eight teams at a time anymore.
@@larrywt656 the Indoor Football League has 10 teams in some decent markets, like Phoenix, San Diego, Des Moines and Green Bay. They stream all their games on UA-cam, and the season starts this Friday night. Definately looking better than the AFL.
B. J. Thanks for that. I didn't realize it was starting this Friday.
farpointgamingdirect exactly and there’s going to be more next year
I never heard of this league until this video
Wait..... Does this one video have more views than all your other videos combined?
I love alternate football leagues, but this one really never made sense to me. I watched three games, just wasn't worth it when you have emotional investments in your pro, college, and even high school teams at the same time. Why would I want to watch the Locos and Tuskers play? Plus every owner has to have money to burn if there's no TV contract to fund the league. All in all I just never understood what the goal was. The AAF failure proved again...no money to burn, no league.
“Aka the men’s warehouse guy”
Lmao
I remember the UFL and only seeing like the opening game expecting it to be big, of course I was wrong, also I remember the Omaha Nighthawks, they were the most popular team.
Watching this on the day that the new Alliance of American Football launches (2/9/2019)... Hoping the AAF doesn't suffer the same fate as the UFL..... I wouldn't mind just a little more football. I really hope the AAF catches on, and with the XFL supposedly coming back next year (2020), there might be some hope for something other than the NFL, even though i'm still an NFL supporter. Who knows, maybe the AAF teams become NFL Franchises and the NFL could EXPAND to 40! I know, it's a pipe dream, but imagine the possibilties!!!
I doubt Arizona nor Atlanta would be able to support two NFL teams if the AAF becomes NFL franchises
what is your thoughts on the AAF?
Countdown to kick off.
I'm curious and hope they make it.
@@nickhill8612 my legends are gonna suck tho
@@ChaosFilmsSports
Why are you saying that?
@@nickhill8612 mike vick left as OC yesterday,aaron murray is benched,AND out HC left this past week
@@ChaosFilmsSports
Wow that's a lot of people.
What happened?
Lol, Graham Gano is still around! I remember thinking about how he has rebounded in Carolina after what happened in Washington. Also, I remember sportscenter showing highlights for this league and seeing Dennis green again. Hard to believe that he’s gone now!
Wow, played at many different stadiums huh? Guess they were trying to see where the teams sucked most at.
Thanks for this. I remember watching the inaugural season, then slowly lost interest. I stopped following the league once the Tuskers folded and a few years later I noticed the whole league folded.
It’s not back. The new version is unrelated.
I do remember the UFL and they had some great games in their short time. I wished they would have lasted longer.
Yes your right.
I like the UFL, more so than the NFL. The NFL is geared toward making Tom Brady the face of the league, even though he cheats or at least benefitted from the cheating scandals. The UFL seemed poised to compete with the NFL, it was poorly marketed and managed. I am thinking about bringing the league back
@@mikesimon3181
I agree with you 100%.
How would you bring the league back?
I miss the USFL.
At one time there was talk about bringing it back, I wonder what happened.
@@nickhill8612 Well Nick. I would start with meeting some competent business owners, inform the of what I am offering them. Let them decide whether they are a piece of the action. If so, ask them witch team they would like to own. Then market the league to colleges in the nation, I'm not opposed to HBCUs or Division 3 schools nor regular guys seeking to play football. If I am able to get the league started, the on going efforts in marketing and in other aspects of management will continue, meanwhile the players must maintain their physical and mental health. I would also change the league's logo and team colors. The ultimate goal is to compete against the NFL and the other sports leagues.
@@mikesimon3181
You have some great ideas.
UFL is Back Thanks to The Rock
Wait shouldn’t the aaf be sued by the ufl the fleet and Virginia team is very similar
The AAF team in San Diego has a very similar logo to the Destroyers.
Yes they do. When I first heard the San Diego Fleet name I was like, No, that's a terrible name... they should be the San Diego Destroyers & have a similar badass logo like Virginia had!!
Doesn’t matter anymore it’s gone and plus their ass would be sued
One of my favorite parts of an history of sports leagues they always mention the teams.
I haven’t heard of this until I saw this video.
Mason P Few years late but welcome fam
Sounds like Omaha will be an AAF or XFL expansion team
Logan Nowicki I believe so.
Will you do more nascar custom diecast videos
XFL part 2 will make it . Vince is doing it right this time
kevin roulette he should get Vince young to play it
i just hope they have HE HATE ME as a team exec..
That's a funny thing to say.
kevin roulette
when? when is Vince going to do it?
And now it's back!
It does suck because the football wasn't bad, and they were full of coaches and players people have heard of. It was basically the TNA Wrestling of professional football based on how he talks about the mismanagement by the businessmen.
Robert Ridley My coach was in the UFL
@@nisehimawari4184 did he play or coach?
And now it's back. Hope it's successful. Football should be on all throughout every year.
I can only dream that the new UFL will come to chattanooga
I watched the championship game play in virginia beach it was fun to watch and a pretty big crowd I also saw the offices in town center with signs all over the windows and doors locked.
At least the AAF is about to start. So we can see how this one goes
How do you start a football league with only four teams..
First year, 1987, of the ARENA LEAGUE HAD four teams=Denver Dynamite, Washington Commandos. Pittsburgh Gladiators, and Chicago Bruisers. Denver won it..
Omaha and Garcia are all I remember.
Playing in the fall, massive fail. Think the biggest issue though, was lack of marketing. I don't remember ANY marketing for this league.
Great job! And I never knew Joey T was involved in this league. Hail to the Redskins
Nice video!
it's back?
Well, the UFL is back🏈🏈
There’s a hiss on the audio. It sounds like one of those wave radios.
Yeah. I did a piss poor job of recording the audio, but it's too late now to fix it.
I was a Colonials season ticket holder and thought that they played a decent brand of football.
It's been a year!
LOL. Seriously I remembered NOTHING. Not even a vague recollection. Had no idea.
Could have been the AAF before the AAF.
Well it kinda was
Great info bro!!!
I like the way you say home, you must be from Pennsylvania or south Jersey
Most football fans never saw a UFL game. The AAF has done much more in a short amount of time to reach fans.
jwharvell I'm still waiting to see a UFL game on TV but I've watched what 8 games of AAF ?? Lol
I went to the Virginia Beach games, I enjoyed them
ITS BACK!!!!
I’ve never heard of it
I remember hating the fact that all the uniforms were so similar.
They should bring these teams to the current ufl
The Men's Wearhouse guy should have made so they play in those 3-for-1 suits; You're gonna like the way we play, we... don't guarantee it. 😆
2024 Lets Go!!
Jeez. This is actually really sad.
The original United Football League UFL could’ve been the NFL’s development league minor league just the MLB’s MiLB the NBA’s G League and the NHL’s AHL.
It was foolish to play in fall
Why do you say that
Because the TV market is cornered by CFB and NFL (in the fall). And if the SEC controlled committee was eliminated . The National Championship would be more popular than the SB.
Yeah whatever old man. Don't you realise that fall is the season of thanksgiving, and football?
he is completely right moron@@immanuelwalden8274
If George Zimmer was an investor, then that's why I saw Men's Wearhouse logos on the field.
I don't even remember the UFL
It began when I was born.
I'm hoping the AAF and new XFL have better luck (although I wouldn't be surprised at all if those two leagues end up merging after a year or two).
I remember all of the leagues at the beginning except ungl
This is exactly why I can't jump on the AAF just yet
Dude, are you from Delaware? Or Delaware or Chester counties? 🤔
Nope
He sounds Canadian.
@@panowa8319 I hear what I call the "Hoagie Accent" in the way he speaks. The Hoagie Accent is prevalent in Northern Delaware, southeast Pennsylvania, southwest New Jersey & parts of Maryland. It's an odd accent that can be very pronounced or very subtle. And it's actually pretty difficult to imitate properly. 🤔
@@JamesSmith-vk2ky You're pretty close. Never realized it much until I started listening to myself...do a lot of narration on my other account on here and try to hide the accent on some of the words. Didn't this time.
@@samcdemo Cool. Where ARE you from though, if you don't mind me asking? Just curious now.
Why don't I remember this? It wasn't that long ago.
I didn’t even know it ever exist , too. But, at least AAF is popping out on my recommendation list.
Didn't even know this exist
I called this the internet league
AAF North:(Oakland,CA*) (Sacramento,CA*) (Portland,OR) (Omaha,NEB*) (SiouxFalls,SD) (St.Louis,MZ) (Milwaukee,WI*) (FortWayne,IND) (Columbus,OH) (NewJersey)...*=Maybe
Now we have the AAF in 2019.
Ricky Jarret played in the UFL. Lol
Not the AAF
6 games season
The Locos went Loco
It was ok football, let's be serious.
Seems like another pro football league just can't survive....
AAF baby
AAF Go Orlando!!!!
rip california red woods
Watching the AAF today?
Sequoia Sackers..
Anyone here waiting for the XFL relaunch? 😬