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Post by whaler4life on Jul 28, 2011 18:50:26 GMT -5
thats a good point. Hopefully Mayer says no to Virginia and brings the Colonials to the SFL. That way the Colonials would keep playing and the UFL would have to fold bringing all the talent to the SFL.
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Post by jwolf on Jul 28, 2011 19:52:36 GMT -5
Well now that the Colonials are almost all but dead and look to be folded hopefully the big dogs would be talking to each other and exploring that. Or do Mayer's loyalties lie more with the other UFL owners? I really, really hate to see the Cols folding.....
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Post by J. Myrle Fuller on Jul 28, 2011 20:47:06 GMT -5
It seems that... apologies for derailing this thread... that Mayer is a UFL guy first. After all, remember, he'll be getting Virginia out of the deal, plus, when he signed on to this he wanted that team in New York City. Then they moved it on him. If it were his choice I think the New York Sentinels would still be around (as well they should, since it'd help with the TV contract).
But as for SFL expansion... I think it's tough. They're having trouble with Michigan because of travel issues. If they wanted to give the Coyotes a chance, perhaps building around them would help. Maybe London, Ontario or Canton/Massillon, Ohio. Both have ideal sized stadiums for the SFL and are fairly close to Detroit/Pontiac.
Under the current setup, Mobile is a perfect spot for the team, and Charleston, although a bit of a stretch, could work. L.A. and Vegas are pipe dreams, although if they threw in a team in the Inland Empire, you could get a nice three-team circuit going.
But then you'd have a three-ring circus, and you don't want to expand too quickly (see: Andrew Haines).
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Post by jwolf on Jul 28, 2011 21:02:31 GMT -5
I believe you're exactly right, if travel costs were gonna be this big in the equation right off the bat then start regionally and work your way out. Mobile or Charleston would of been ideal for an inaugural team. But once again we see the guy running the show's ego getting the better part of his business sense (see: Huyghue/Hartford) by having to have his team in Michigan right away, even though it's now a struggle to find a home for them as well as deliver them to their opponents. Her's hoping the SFL expands outward at a pace that Greyhound can reasonably service in a day's time until they get the financial backing to take to the air on a regular basis.
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Post by whaler4life on Jul 28, 2011 22:58:32 GMT -5
Not sure about Mayer being a UFL guy first. He's from Connecticut and knew from the get go that the Sents moving to Hartford was a possibility (thats why they played at the Rent in year 1). He may prefer a team in NYC, but I don't see how he would prefer a team in Virginia over one in Hartford. Quite frankly I don't see how any owner would prefer a franchise in a city that doesn't seem to want them much (Mayor Fraim of Norfolk).
As for the Travel Costs I agree with you guys. The league could put Michigan on hold for a while and keep the league based in the southeast. As they grow financially they could expand further out of the southeast gradually.
2011 Daytona Beach Ft. Lauderdale Michigan New Orleans
2012 (replace Michigan with Charleston) 2013 (add Orlando and Birmingham) 2014 (add Raleigh and Little Rock) etc
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Post by jwolf on Jul 28, 2011 23:24:35 GMT -5
Well if it's true that the founder of the league also owns the Coyotes then I think we're gonna be stuck with them for now. Though they could avoid the same mistake twice (distance wise) by not going with Vegas IF they had more investors. I noticed on the official site (hardly an updated source) that of the 4 franchises in the planning stage, only Charleston and Vegas had players assigned to them. So IF they can expand next year I would hope the Vegas players would be reassigned to the Mobile franchise. Given how little we all know about the league at this point who knows what the plan is for 2012. Or at least put another team in place that has a structure already. So maybe just add the Charleston Admirals and......oh, I don;t know, the Hartford Colonials?
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Post by gatek99 on Jul 29, 2011 9:23:44 GMT -5
They need to add a north division so they do not have to travel that far except for the championship game
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Post by broncofan on Jul 29, 2011 9:41:58 GMT -5
As I recall, Vegas would have been a go this year but they couldn't get the ownership nailed down before they had to start. So they may want Vegas as a franchise that has a genuine owner willing to put up money.
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Post by jwolf on Jul 29, 2011 10:13:53 GMT -5
I'll take your word for it about the investor, I don't know. two things concern me about Vegas: 1) the travel costs would be huge comparatively speaking for a league that is currently bussing their players 12 hours to play an opponent ( Fort Lauderdale to New Orleans). If the SFL is at this stage of travel procurement they probably are wisely saving as much as they can on a big ticket expense. Having a team in Vegas would blow their tiny travel budget big time. 2) As we've seen time and again, Vegas is a tough town for attracting local fans. Look at the 2 time UFL Champion Locos most of the city has never heard of. Granted the marketing has sucked for them up till now, but if the UFL didn't have the funds for marketing these guys sure as hell don't. Mobile, on the other hand, has had success in the past with alternative football teams. And they're on the bus route to both Florida and New Orleans! lol I think Mobile could be the SFL's version of the UFL's Omaha if done right.
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gdawg
Practice Squad
Posts: 47
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Post by gdawg on Jul 29, 2011 11:21:10 GMT -5
I don't see expansion happening for this league next year. They need to keep their current teams stable before they consider expansion.
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Post by broncofan on Jul 29, 2011 12:06:37 GMT -5
I'll take your word for it about the investor, I don't know. two things concern me about Vegas: 1) the travel costs would be huge comparatively speaking for a league that is currently bussing their players 12 hours to play an opponent ( Fort Lauderdale to New Orleans). If the SFL is at this stage of travel procurement they probably are wisely saving as much as they can on a big ticket expense. Having a team in Vegas would blow their tiny travel budget big time. 2) As we've seen time and again, Vegas is a tough town for attracting local fans. Look at the 2 time UFL Champion Locos most of the city has never heard of. Granted the marketing has sucked for them up till now, but if the UFL didn't have the funds for marketing these guys sure as hell don't. Mobile, on the other hand, has had success in the past with alternative football teams. And they're on the bus route to both Florida and New Orleans! lol I think Mobile could be the SFL's version of the UFL's Omaha if done right. This is where I was getting the Las Vegas info: "A Nevada team, the Las Vegas Gamblers is planned as an additional team. The Gamblers were originally planned for the inaugural season; however last minute ownership issues changed that. New ownership was not able to get in place prior to the deadline for this season." thelasvegasinformer.com/sports/37-sportsnews/785-stars-football-league-to-debut-on-june-30-.htmlI don't disagree with any of your points, it just seems like the league really wants to go to Las Vegas. I don't know why either.
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Post by broncofan on Jul 29, 2011 12:10:31 GMT -5
I don't see expansion happening for this league next year. They need to keep their current teams stable before they consider expansion. Yes, but so far, what they should do and what they want to do have turned out to be totally different things.
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Post by jwolf on Jul 29, 2011 12:18:14 GMT -5
Thanks for the link. Any links to media stories about the league are welcome here so we all can learn more about the SFL. Hey if they have an investor there then more power to him! Just hoping they don't bust the budget on travel costs so early in the game, so to speak.
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Post by broncofan on Jul 29, 2011 13:49:16 GMT -5
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Post by jwolf on Jul 30, 2011 9:43:23 GMT -5
Nice work, broncofan. Keep 'em coming!
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