UFL Optimistic on Verge of Kickoff

The UFL, despite the location of its season opener, is trying to get the word out. Its success at doing so has yet to be determined.

The inaugural season of the four-team professional football league will kick off Thursday in Las Vegas, where what happens stays -- to paraphrase a famous slogan. The hometown Locomotives and visiting California Redwoods certainly hope the opposite is true, as players, coaches and the fledgling league will be showcased.

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In the opener, the Locomotives will start former Buffalo Bills quarterback J.P. Losman, who will be on the sideline when a trio of Las Vegas linebackers, Gary Stills, Teddy Lehman and Brandon Moore, use more than 250 games of NFL experience on the other side of the ball.

The coaches, Jim Fassel of Las Vegas and California's Dennis Green, have familiar names, and the contest will be broadcast live on VERSUS from UNLV's Sam Boyd Stadium. The league, despite everything going for it, will have to fight the stigma of past failures in similar ventures.

Will the UFL be any different than the USFL, Arena League, XFL or NFL Europe?

As Fassel and Green told FanHouse last week, the UFL believes its product -- featuring former NFL and college stars -- is simply better, thanks in part to Rick Mueller, a former personnel man with the New Orleans Saints, who is the general manager for all four teams and has a keen eye for talent.

That pedigree, according to many associated with the league, gives the UFL a leg up on the other alternative leagues that flamed out. The UFL's markets include areas (Orlando, Las Vegas) that have been underserved by professional football -- the country's most popular sport -- presumably allowing the mere presence of a team to spark interest.

It also boasts big markets (New York, San Francisco) that have the diverse population to support almost anything. In places big and small, though, teams will play in big league venues -- including New York's Citi Field and Giants Stadium, San Francisco's AT&T Park and the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles.

But most importantly, the league's cocktail -- aspiring NFL players or former stars, recognizable coaches and a savvy general manager -- will not be forced down the throats of fans. Instead, it will be expected that paying customers are thirsty for that product.

Why?

"We can get good players," Green told FanHouse, referring to the experience of those players, 48 percent of whom have donned NFL jerseys. "Americans have shown that they will watch good football, period."

That football, however, will be played in the fall, sharing the season with the juggernaut NFL in attempt to confirm the theory -- one that the NFL has capitalized on -- that America will anchor itself to the couch as long as the pigskin is on the tube. The UFL will be played mostly during the week, with three Saturday games sprinkled in.

Other alternative leagues, of course, attempted to catch the consumer's eye by offering the gimmick-ridden play that the NFL could not -- for all intents and purposes, separating themselves from the NFL, instead of utilizing that success.

Fassel, Green and Mueller, in their conversations with FanHouse, made it clear that the UFL's mission was different. It wants to play solid football and let the rest take care of itself. The rest, for the players' part, is to create interest from NFL teams that will be able to sign UFL talent when the season concludes on Thanksgiving weekend.

For the league, it hopes to start small, outfitting four teams that play six games each at the start, and grow into something much bigger and better. However, it seems as though the league will need more than "good football" to keep people interested during such a crowded part of the sporting calendar.

There have been conflicting reports about tickets sales, with some outlets reporting that the attendance will only reach 5,000 despite 40,000-seat venues, causing the Florida Tuskers to offer a free rock concert with the purchase of a ticket.

Of course, the UFL -- like its big brother -- has something besides ticket promotions and the promise of stellar play to keep people's attention.

It's got Vegas.