The Las Vegas Locomotives (called the Locos for short) were a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada that played in the United Football League . The team played their home games at Sam Boyd Stadium , home field for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas . Jim Fassel was the franchise's head coach, president, and general manager . The Locomotives appeared in all three UFL championship games , winning both the 2009 and 2010 iterations; the Locos were also the last of the four charter UFL franchises to remain in their original home city, to retain their original head coach, and to have played all of their home games at the same venue.
154-521: Las Vegas was one of the first markets to be considered for a UFL team, being mentioned as a location from the beginning. When the league released their tentative list of six markets for their inaugural season in early 2008, it included Las Vegas, Los Angeles , New York , Hartford , Orlando , and San Francisco . When the league contracted to four teams prior to the start of the 2009 season, Las Vegas merged with Los Angeles, while New York merged with Hartford. Eventually, despite New York and Los Angeles being
308-421: A bachelor's degree ), room and board for their time. As a result of the college system, first-time players (rookies) enter professional football older, more mature and more prepared for the professional game than players in other sports. The Canadian Football League has a special requirement that a minimum of half of each team's roster be composed of persons who were Canadian citizens at the time they first joined
462-470: A UFL player was supposed pay a transfer fee of $ 150,000 (later lowered to $ 25,000) to the league. This fee was waived after the 2009 season but was more strictly enforced for 2010; in practice, no NFL team ever paid the fee, and the players who did jump to the NFL ended up paying the fee out of their UFL salaries. The league dropped the transfer fee for the 2011 season. For 2009, each team was unofficially tied to
616-493: A cable or satellite service, to carry all of the league's games. The CFL on TSN exclusive contract began in 2008; previously, like the NFL, it split its broadcasts up between two providers. Other leagues have found it much more difficult to find an outlet on American television, much less one that pays a rights fee large enough to make it worthwhile. One of the reasons for the United Football League 's failure
770-668: A championship game or playoff, setting its championship with a vote of the league owners. The Akron Pros had the best record in 1920, and the Chicago Staleys were the 1921 "champions", albeit not without controversy . In 1922, the APFA changed its name to the National Football League . While the Ohio League mostly ceased to exist after the foundation of the NFL (other than a few independent teams such as
924-522: A classroom setting, also attributed to him. While the NFL was still segregated, the AAFC's Browns became the first modern Professional Football team to sign black players. Although many of its teams outdrew NFL teams, by 1949 the AAFC's costs had risen so steeply that the league agreed to a 'merger' with the NFL. It was more of a 'swallowing' of the AAFC, with only the Browns, 49ers, and Colts being admitted to
1078-606: A couple owners in hand, the UFL decided to go ahead and do a "soft launch" in 2009, similar to the one used by the Arena Football League in its inaugural season in 1987, rather than delaying play another year. The soft launch called for opening the league with fewer teams than planned and playing an abbreviated schedule. They hoped a functioning league would yield the UFL a superior position for attracting potential owners over competing leagues still under development (like
1232-606: A current member of the National Football League. The Cardinals organization, which was originally based on Racine Street in Chicago, has operated near-continuously since 1913, but counts an earlier team that played from 1898 to 1906 as part of its history. The Watertown Red & Black is the oldest semi-professional club that is still in operation, tracing its history to 1896. While the practice of professional and semi-pro teams playing college and amateur teams
1386-456: A deal to have their games broadcast on CBS sports. On the league's official website [1] on August 1, 2012, an official schedule for 2012, with the September 19 starting date and each team playing an unbalanced, eight-game schedule was posted, matching the earlier speculation. As of that time, final postseason plans remained undecided; the date for the championship game, Friday, November 16,
1540-492: A general environment of Canadian cultural protectionism . Indoor football has also developed in the United States, beginning with the Arena Football League , which formed in 1987. The AFL is the second longest running professional football league in the United States after the NFL, although its current incarnation is a separate entity from the original, which folded due to bankruptcy in 2008. From its debut until 1997,
1694-409: A half interest in a team. The league would own the other half. The UFL had difficulties finding willing owners the UFL leadership considered suitable. The UFL planned for each team to eventually sell shares to the public that they hoped could raise another $ 60 million. This never came to pass. Ultimately, the league accrued financial losses of between $ 120 million and $ 150 million over the course of
SECTION 10
#17327795226911848-596: A high number of average TV viewing households as potential team locations. Target markets in the US included: Austin , Birmingham , Columbus , Hartford , Las Vegas , Los Angeles , Louisville , Memphis , Milwaukee , New York City , Oklahoma City , Orlando , Portland , Raleigh-Durham , Sacramento , Salt Lake City , San Antonio , and San Jose ; as well as international markets in London , Mexico City and Monterrey . With their planned launch date arriving soon and only
2002-636: A lower level of play than the Western Hemisphere counterparts and have only recently begun contributing players to the NFL on a regular basis. Professional football is considered the highest level of competition in gridiron football. Whereas most of the other major sports leagues draw their players from the minor leagues, the NFL currently draws almost all of its players directly from college football . College football, in turn, recruits players from high school football , with most potential stars receiving athletic scholarships to play. The source for
2156-414: A more risk-oriented on-field approach that appealed to fans. The AFL also actively recruited from predominantly black colleges and other small colleges, a source the NFL virtually ignored. This led to a higher percentage of minority players, as well as several firsts, such as the first black number one draft choice ( Buck Buchanan , Chiefs); the first black middle linebacker , Willie Lanier , Chiefs; and
2310-423: A novelty. Nevertheless, the rules of professional football at the outdoor level are nearly identical to those at the high school and college levels, with some minor exceptions (such as the locations of hash marks , procedures for overtime , and the number of feet required to be in-bounds to catch a forward pass ). Indoor football's rules are closely based on outdoor football but are heavily altered to compensate for
2464-487: A pair of divisions in the National Football League. In addition to this feature, the league held a draft on June 18, 2009, the UFL Premiere Season Draft . A second draft was held on June 2, 2010. The 2011 UFL Draft was held on May 2, with player selections announced via Twitter . No formal draft was staged prior to the 2012 UFL season . The original plan was for owners to pay $ 30 million to buy
2618-593: A peak in 1925, when the aforementioned Maroons were hailed as the NFL champions by several newspapers after Pottsville defeated the Chicago Cardinals on December 6, even though there were still two weeks left in the season. This led to other teams scrambling to add extra games, including the Chicago Cardinals , who won two 'extra' games and claimed the championship. In the melee, the league cancelled games and suspended Pottsville's franchise. Through
2772-551: A player salary cap range of $ 12–20 million per team with a staff salary cap of $ 3 million per team. The UFL hoped to be paying at least 10 players on each roster in excess of $ 1 million each per season. These players would provide name value and legitimacy for the league and would fast track the development of local fanbases and a national TV audience. The original plan was predicated on luring very wealthy owners like billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban. The UFL however ultimately proved unsuccessful in securing commitments from enough of
2926-517: A second American Football League of six teams was formed to challenge the NFL. It included another New York Yankees team, as well as the Cleveland Rams, the predecessor to today's Los Angeles Rams . Future American Football League (1960–1969) coach and Hall of Famer Sid Gillman played his only year of Professional Football with the Rams. Before this AFL's second year, the Rams jumped to
3080-463: A small sum to cover their expenses on an under-the-table basis, or arrange for amateur athletes to receive jobs in a company connected to the team (the Olympic Club of San Francisco, California is believed to have done the latter, thus creating the designation of " semi-pro " football in 1890, before football had gone professional); in most cases, the practice was within the rules of amateurism at
3234-447: A soft launch financially tolerable, player salaries had to be dramatically scaled back—pro-rated to reflect the shortened season. An agent representing two players with NFL experience, Jack Bechta, reported his clients were offered UFL contracts at a base salary of $ 35,000. He confirmed with other agents that $ 35,000 was the league mandated salary for skill players and $ 25,000 for punters, place kickers and long snappers, at least for
SECTION 20
#17327795226913388-450: A step back as the Ohio League relied more on local, cut-rate talent, such as player-promoter George Parratt , and its Pennsylvania counterpart also steered clear of major spending. Another bidding war was sparked in 1915, when a revived Bulldogs signed multi-sport athletic superstar Jim Thorpe to a contract. During the late 1910s, the Ohio League not only had to compete among its own teams for talent, but also against leagues in Chicago and
3542-555: A team that, with its ball-control style, would overpower the NFL and carry on to defeat AFL opponents in the first two AFL-NFL Championship Games after the 1966 and 1967 Professional Football seasons. The NFL champions in 1968, the Colts, and in 1969 the Minnesota Vikings , were each in turn considered to be "the best team in the history of the NFL." By 1969, the NFL had grown to 16 teams, with four teams directly attributable to
3696-527: A third New York Yankees team. The league was the first major Professional Football league to complete a double round robin schedule, in which each team played each other twice. The onset of World War II and the resultant draft dried up the source of players for professional football and the new league did not have enough resources to continue. Also forming in 1940 was the Pacific Coast Professional Football League ,
3850-430: A total of $ 50,000 in the regular season; participants in the 2010 UFL championship game were paid a total of $ 10,000 each, with an additional $ 10,000 going to each player on the winning team. Starting quarterbacks earned a $ 200,000 salary. There was a significant delay in payments after the 2010 season, because of a revenue shortfall, a severe underestimation of expenses, and a delay in a $ 50,000,000 subsidy from one of
4004-601: A well-developed minor league system or pyramid , either official or otherwise. In North America, the top level of professional football is the National Football League , with the Canadian Football League second to the NFL in prominence and pay grade. Despite the much lower level of pay, the CFL has greater popularity in Canada because of its long history in the country, the NFL's limited presence in Canada, and
4158-480: A whole could not compete, and folded after the 1937 season. Also in 1936, the American Association was founded as a minor league. It played for five seasons, suspending operations for World War II, and returned under the "American Football League" name in 1946 before sputtering to a collapse in 1950. Still another try at an American Football League was made in 1940, with five franchises, including
4312-447: Is also a strong league that has a long history since 1971. The NFL has existed continuously since being so named in 1922. The best American football players are among the highest paid athletes in the world, with the highest salaries reaching tens of millions of dollars per year. Compared to the other major professional sports leagues of the United States and Canada , football has comparatively few levels of play and does not have
4466-576: Is in fact what happened; in addition to the championship game between Virginia and Las Vegas, the season concluded with a third-place game (on the same day) in Omaha between the other two teams, the first such game in outdoor professional gridiron football since the demise of the NFL's old third-place game, the Playoff Bowl , which was last contested in January 1970 following the 1969 season . Despite
4620-523: The Baltimore Colts (not related to today's Indianapolis Colts , which began play in Baltimore in 1953) fielded quarterback Y. A. Tittle . Paul Brown made many innovations to the game on and off the field, including year-round coaching staffs, precision pass patterns, face masks, and the use of "messenger guards". He was the first coach to film the opposition and break down those game films in
4774-714: The Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Eagles . There were two fixed monochrome iconoscope cameras and a single play-by-play commentator, Skip Walz . Although the NFL as a whole continued to play through World War II, the schedule was reduced, rosters were seriously impacted, and the Steelers were forced to merge operations with other NFL teams in 1943 and 1944 , while the Cleveland Rams were forced to suspend operations in 1943. In 1936,
Las Vegas Locomotives - Misplaced Pages Continue
4928-567: The Canton Bulldogs . Ohio pioneered the concept of playing games on Sundays to avoid competition with college football games; this was illegal in Pennsylvania (as well as New York City) due to still-existing blue laws , but eventually became the professional standard. A fabricated betting scandal , coupled with a lack of competitive games and increasing price tags, effectively ruined the Ohio League by 1907. Professional football took
5082-713: The Chicago Bears ; Cowboys receiver Bob Hayes ; the Philadelphia Eagles ' and the Redskins' Charley Taylor . The AFL's influence on the NFL was evident in several ways: in 1962, the NFL emulated the junior league by arranging its own league-wide national television contract, with CBS; and late in the 'sixties, the NFL began recognizing the wide talent pool the AFL had tapped in small and predominantly black colleges , and it, too, started scouting and signing from those schools. Tired of raids on players and escalating salaries, in
5236-664: The Chicago Bulls to the Los Angeles Wildcats (actually based in Chicago) formed the first American Football League in competition with the NFL. Because of the 1925 shenanigans, the NFL's Rock Island Independents left the seven-year-old league to join the AFL. The major attraction of the new league was Red Grange of the Yankees, but the league folded after just one year, with the Yankees being absorbed into
5390-500: The Florida Tuskers with a final score of 23-20. Prior to the 2011 season, head coach and general manager Jim Fassel added the title of team president. Fassel assumed more authority over the team as part of the league's efforts to transform their original top-down business model into one in which teams are given more authority over their own operations. Among the reforms Fassel implemented was an increase in direct marketing and
5544-482: The Ironton Tanks and the pre-NFL Portsmouth Spartans ), the other regional leagues continued. The New York league continued throughout the 1920s, outlasting many of the teams that it had contributed to the NFL, albeit without championships. Western Pennsylvania's league lasted until 1940. 1924 saw the foundation of eastern Pennsylvania's Anthracite League , the last regional "major league." The Anthracite League
5698-413: The National Football League of 1902 , the first all-professional league. The league hoped to draw fans by featuring stars such as Rube Waddell and Christy Mathewson touring Pennsylvania and New York. It was during this time that Blondy Wallace emerged as the biggest, and most controversial, name in professional football. The league didn't draw as many fans as hoped, but promoter Tom O'Rourke considered
5852-529: The New York Giants 23–17 in professional football's first sudden-death championship game, and repeated the victory against the same team in the 1959 NFL title game, this time by a score of 31–16. The Colts had folded after the 1950 season and from 1951 through 1959 the NFL had twelve teams, six each in the East and West conferences. The league during this period featured not only star players absorbed from
6006-572: The New York Pro Football League . New York, with future NFL teams such as the Buffalo Prospects , Tonawanda Kardex , and Rochester Jeffersons , introduced the playoff tournament to professional football; Buffalo won the last contest in 1919. World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic caused a severe disruption in professional football, which shut down most teams but allowed those that could continue (including most of
6160-582: The United States Football League . On December 31, 2023, the XFL and USFL announced the formation of the modern United Football League . The remnants of the previous league ceded their social media handles to the 2024 UFL on April 6, 2024. The National Gridiron League attempted to relaunch as the UFL, using the existing trademarks and claiming to be a continuation of the original league. The UFL's original pay structure plan included
6314-473: The de facto major league (and, in fact, the only professional circuit) for football in the United States; it, like many of its successors, was not a "league" in the modern sense of a formalized organization, but rather an informal group of teams in free association with each other and any other team willing to play them. The oldest existing professional football club is the Arizona Cardinals ,
Las Vegas Locomotives - Misplaced Pages Continue
6468-538: The 1920s, the smaller cities gave up on top-level pro football, while larger cities such as Boston, New York and Philadelphia saw teams take root there. This portion of the NFL's existence saw the admission of the Boston Braves , owned by George Preston Marshall who was to exert major positive and negative influences on the league. In 1926, teams from nine cities ranging from the New York Yankees to
6622-401: The 1980s, the UFL played all of its games in the traditional fall season, competing directly with the NFL, college football , and high school football . The UFL occupied the second tier of professional football in the United States, behind the National Football League. The UFL primarily consisted of players who had previously played for an NFL team. Although the league had no connection with
6776-443: The 2009 inaugural season. One of the players represented by the agent was a quarterback who received an offer of $ 35,000, although he stated that his negotiations revealed that teams are allowed to pay one quarterback more than the $ 35,000 salary. Bonuses were limited to $ 10,000 per player. In addition to the base salary, the league also paid for all housing expenses for its players. The league's initial salaries were roughly equal to
6930-658: The 2010 season, the New York Sentinels permanently settled in Hartford, Connecticut, becoming the Hartford Colonials . The new name was chosen by fans through an online vote. The California Redwoods relocated to Sacramento, California, and chose the name Mountain Lions, also from a fan vote. In another change for the 2010 season, each UFL team would gain their own uniform color identity, loosening them from
7084-536: The 2011−12 season. The thought was that the NFL would fail to reach an agreement with the NFL players' union after the end of their collective bargaining agreement. This would have led to the 2011−12 NFL season being delayed or cancelled, leaving the UFL the only pro football available. The NFL did lock out their players, but the situation was resolved in July 2011, before the start of the NFL season. This negated any benefits
7238-503: The 2012 season had sued the league ownership for failure to pay their salaries. The Destroyers' business license expired on March 1, 2013, and that team's remaining offices were closed before that date. On March 28, 2013, a report in The Wall Street Journal noted that both the spring 2013 resumption and the fall 2013 season were canceled, and that if the league were to return, it would not have been until spring 2014 at
7392-533: The AAFC 'merger' but others such as halfback Frank Gifford ( New York Giants ); the Philadelphia Eagles ' quarterback Norm Van Brocklin and receiver Tommy McDonald ; and the Colts' quarterback Johnny Unitas and running back Lenny Moore . Television coverage of the league was spotty, with some teams starting in 1950 to have individual arrangements with the Dumont Network and NBC. CBS began to televise selected NFL regular season games in 1956, but there
7546-593: The ACFL unsuccessfully applied to join the AFL, two new leagues formed: the Professional Football League of America (PFLA), which ran from 1965 to 1967, and the more prominent Continental Football League (ContFL), which ran from 1965 to 1969. The ACFL lost three of its best teams to the ContFL, but survived. The ContFL and ACFL had different strategies: the ContFL had major-league aspirations, while
7700-553: The ACFL was happy as a developmental league and (like previous leagues run by the Rosentovers) allowed its teams to become farm teams to the AFL and NFL teams (for instance, the Hartford Knights were a farm team to the AFL's Buffalo Bills ). The ContFL arguably had better talent that went on to NFL and CFL stardom ( Ken Stabler , Don Jonas , Johnnie Walton and Sam Wyche ), but folded after 1969, and plans to take on
7854-605: The AFL and NFL rivalry, several minor leagues thrived in this era as well. The United Football League lasted from 1961 to 1964 and was concentrated in the midwest. However, in 1962 it was quickly eclipsed by the Atlantic Coast Football League , which was run by the same people (the Rosentover family) as the previous American Association of the 1930s. When the UFL folded, and the Newark Bears of
SECTION 50
#17327795226918008-731: The AFL's planned expansion to Atlanta by offering that city's investor the Falcons ' NFL franchise. Ironically, the Falcons' replacement in the AFL were the Miami Dolphins who have appeared in five Super Bowls, winning two, while the Falcons were losers in their two appearances. Star NFL players during this period included the Browns' fullback Jim Brown ; the Green Bay Packers ' quarterback Bart Starr , fullback Jim Taylor and halfback Paul Hornung ; halfback Gale Sayers of
8162-582: The Arena Football League operated with a monopoly on the indoor game, due to a broad interpretation that virtually all of the league's rules, collectively known as arena football , were covered under its patent; the Professional Indoor Football League successfully defeated the AFL's legal action against it in 1997, opening the possibility for other indoor football leagues to form. Only one significant aspect of
8316-817: The Browns-dominated AAFC had had the same champion every year, six out of the Original Eight AFL teams won at least one AFL championship, and all but one (the lone exception being the Denver Broncos ) played in at least one post-season game. In addition to traditional eastern cities, it placed teams in Texas, in the West with the Broncos, Oakland Raiders and the Chargers, and eventually in
8470-466: The CFL head-to-head were abandoned. The ACFL also produced some significant talent (e.g. Marvin Hubbard , Jim Corcoran and the first female professional football player, placeholder Patricia Palinkas ) and lasted longer, through 1971, with a return season in 1973. The attempted major World Football League sapped the ACFL of most of its talent, and forced it to fold prior to the 1974 season. In 1970,
8624-494: The CFL). The NFL has, over the course of its history, recruited rugby union , association football and Australian rules football players from other countries (particularly those who are retired from competition in their home countries) to play in the league, almost always as kickers and punters. Broadcasting is an integral part of professional football. Not only does it provide the sport with exposure to an audience wider than just
8778-663: The Hartford Colonials potentially on the chopping block. On August 10, 2011, the UFL announced that it would "suspend operations" of the Colonials and go forward with a four-team league. Jerry Glanville , a UFL consultant who had previously been announced as the new head coach of the now-suspended Colonials, began a listening tour of Chattanooga, Salt Lake City and Jackson, Mississippi , in October 2011 to gauge support for UFL expansion franchises. He has stated that of
8932-659: The Las Vegas Locomotives), blue (Florida Tuskers), black (New York Sentinels), and lime green and white (California Redwoods). Each of the team jerseys had the same design template, complete with a horizontal arc across the top front that resembles the arc on the UFL's logo. One of the Redwoods' games was moved to San Jose; the other two were played in San Francisco (the move to San Jose was a short-notice move due to poor attendance in San Francisco; however,
9086-518: The Locomotives' future in Las Vegas. Hambrecht openly considered relocating the team to Salt Lake City , Utah , setting a late January deadline for his decision. On January 31, 2012, Hambrecht announced (the same day the league commissioner resigned) that, should the fall 2012 season go on, the Locomotives would stay in Las Vegas. The league also considered moving to Cashman Field , the home of
9240-624: The Midwest Kansas City and the deep South Miami . The league forced a merger with its rival, and made possible the Super Bowl at the end of the 1966 season. Although it lost the first two, by its demise it had beaten two NFL teams proclaimed as "the best in history" to win the final two World Championship games between two Professional Football league champions. The decade ended with the AFL retaining its original franchises, plus two expansion teams, and those ten teams represented
9394-399: The NFL added three of its teams, for a total of thirteen, but maintained the 14-game format. The first year after admitting the Cleveland Browns , the NFL was humbled by having the Browns, a team from what it had ridiculed as an inferior league, win its championship. The Browns went on to be NFL champions in three of their first six years in the league. In 1958, the Baltimore Colts defeated
SECTION 60
#17327795226919548-407: The NFL and were replaced by the first Professional Football team to actually play its home games on the West Coast, the Los Angeles Bulldogs , who had several stars including quarterback Harry Newman and end Bill Moore . The Boston Shamrocks , with all-star end Bill Fleming , outdrew the NFL's Redskins in 1936, causing George Preston Marshall to move the team to Washington. However, the league as
9702-433: The NFL's merger with the American Football League ; each competing league had its own broadcaster, both of which kept the rights to their respective conference after the merger, while additional networks were sold showcase packages of once-a-week games held at night. In Canada, where the threat of competing sports leagues is far less, the CFL opts instead for an exclusive contract with TSN , available only by subscription to
9856-441: The NFL, and had never intended to foster any such connection, some speculated that it could have become a minor or "developmental" league for the NFL, including the UFL's own commissioner. Early news reports had speculated that based on the UFL's initial plan the league would become a "competitor" to the NFL. The UFL seemed poised to capitalize on fan disgust with the NFL should the established league lock out its players prior to
10010-402: The NFL, the Los Angeles Rams added them in 1946, as they were required by their stadium lease to integrate the team. The league had two five-team divisions, each team playing an unwieldy 11-game schedule, with some teams playing more home games than others. They increased to twelve games the following year, partly because of the success of the rival AAFC's 14-game format. After the AAFC folded,
10164-414: The NFL. In 1933, the league divided into the Eastern and Western divisions, and finally instituted a championship game between the division winners. Each team played from 10 to 13 games per season during this period, and by 1945, the league had two five-team divisions, with each team playing a 10-game regular season schedule. In 1936, to select and assign graduating college players to particular Pro teams,
10318-403: The New USFL, which at the time was trumpeting a spring 2010 launch). The markets chosen for the premiere season were New York City ( Sentinels ), Las Vegas (Locomotives), Orlando ( Florida Tuskers ), and the San Francisco Bay Area ( California Redwoods ). The league's short schedule made the kind of expensive promotional efforts often employed with a new league cost prohibitive. Additionally,
10472-444: The New York Sentinels), Omaha Nighthawks, Sacramento Mountain Lions (originally the California Redwoods), Florida Tuskers, and Virginia Destroyers. The Florida Tuskers and Virginia Destroyers were legally separate teams, but because the Tuskers folded before the Destroyers began play, the UFL assigned most of the Tuskers' staff to the Destroyers and the two are typically conflated for the purpose of league history. Only stadiums in which
10626-458: The New York squads) to pick up the talent that stayed stateside, effectively ending the Ohio League's decade-long monopoly on pro football talent. Barnstorming tours between the circuits, along with the continuing bidding wars, led to the regional circuits forming connections and laying the groundwork for the first truly national professional league. A year after the Buffalo Prospects won the first Professional Football championship game, teams from
10780-453: The Ohio League organized to form the new American Professional Football Conference; two months later, adding teams from the other regional circuits surrounding Ohio, the league changed its name to the American Professional Football Association (APFA). In an effort to expand beyond the midwest, the league staged a showcase game between Canton and Buffalo at the Polo Grounds in New York City (Buffalo won) in December 1920. The league did not have
10934-440: The San Jose game ended up being even more poorly attended). The league was unable to secure a fiscally reasonable deal for a stadium within New York City, forcing the league to have the Sentinels play one home game each in Hartford, Connecticut; on the campus of Hofstra University in Long Island , and in New Jersey . In addition, one of the Tuskers' games was played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida , in part because
11088-675: The Tuskers shared ownership that year with the Tampa Bay Rays ; this was not reprised in 2010. The Florida Tuskers finished 2009 with a 6–0 record. The Las Vegas Locomotives were next at 4–2, the California Redwoods were 2–4, and the Sentinels were last at 0–6. The Locomotives played the Tuskers in the 2009 UFL championship game ; the Locomotives won the title on a field goal in overtime. Before
11242-426: The UFL announced it would delay the start of its season until mid-September due to financial issues. The league was in negotiations with CBS and TNT for coverage after Versus dropped the UFL as part of its rebranding to NBC Sports Network , but was unable to get any, and the league also lost its existing television partners. After this postponement, the league confirmed it was considering even further contraction, with
11396-428: The UFL ceased operations for the remainder of the 2012 season. According to head of public relations Larry Weismann, the league intended on resuming the canceled schedule some time in spring 2013, with those games counting toward the 2012 season standings, then come back yet again for the next season in fall 2013. By spring 2013, 78 players from the 2012 season, two head coaches from 2011 and four assistant coaches from
11550-470: The UFL for their failure to repay the loan by the October 6, 2010, deadline. For the 2011 season, the UFL announced the addition of a franchise in the Hampton Roads ( Norfolk metro area) region of Virginia , originally owned by former CFL owner Jim Speros and managed by former NFL and USFL quarterback Doug Williams . Soon after Speros' ownership was announced, he relinquished control of
11704-419: The UFL might have hoped to reap from the labor dispute. The league was beset by frequent operational interruptions, stemming from systemic financial shortfalls, especially from summer 2011 onward. The United Football League announced on October 20, 2012, that it was ceasing operations immediately, after four weeks of play. The official line from the league was that they intended to resume operations and complete
11858-534: The UFL suspended operations four weeks into the season, never to return. On January 16, 2013, the majority of the Locomotives' roster filed a class-action lawsuit against Hambrecht for unpaid salaries. The lawsuit was ultimately successful, although Hambrecht still has not paid the salaries. In the inaugural 2009 season, all teams were to adopt color schemes from the UFL logo. The Locos were given silver as their primary color. They would wear silver helmets on both road and home, with silver jerseys at home and white on
12012-433: The UFL was arranging a broadcast TV deal with CBS Sports Network (a deal the league had desperately sought) to go along with regional supplemental coverage. However, May 1 came and went without any official announcement by the UFL on their future plans. The league had previously entertained input on the possibility of moving from a fall schedule to the spring. Michael Huyghue, the UFL's original commissioner, resigned from
12166-513: The UFL's owners. As of February 2011, the bonuses for the 2010 championship game remained unpaid, as did numerous other bills accrued by the league during the 2010 season. Most of these bills were eventually paid in March. According to reports that surfaced in May 2011, the base salary for players was reduced to $ 5,000 per game (including the championship), with only a $ 1,000 additional bonus for winning
12320-476: The UFL's scheduling plan was different from that of the National Football League, which is prohibited under federal anti-trust exemption law ( 15 U.S.C. § 1291, i.e., the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 ) from broadcasting any professional game within seventy-five miles of any inter-collegiate or high school game on any Friday or Saturday, beginning with the second Friday in September and ending
12474-626: The United Football League name. In 2018, he instead announced a new XFL , a brand used by McMahon's defunct football league that played one season in 2001; the new XFL began play in 2020 but went on a two-season hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2023, the XFL—by this time owned by Dany Garcia , Dwayne Johnson and RedBird Capital Partners—re-filed for the UFL and United Football League trademarks ahead of its proposed merger with
12628-462: The audience attending at the stadium, but it can also provide revenue in the form of rights fees. The NFL relies on television for nearly half of its revenue; this is in part because the league only plays one game each week, leaving fewer opportunities for ticket sales than the other professional sports (in turn, however, NFL stadiums have among the highest per-game attendance thanks to large stadium capacities, figures only exceeded or matched by some of
12782-476: The average per-game salaries in the Canadian Football League and, adjusted for inflation, equivalent to the old XFL . In another similarity to the XFL, teams could offer a sizable performance bonus; former Locomotives starting quarterback J. P. Losman has stated that he received a "nice sized" bonus for winning the 2009 UFL championship game . In 2010, players earned $ 6,250 per game, for
12936-463: The boost it had received from the 1958 Colts-Giants sudden-death game. It was content with a 12-team league playing a 12-game schedule and featured "ball-control" football. When Texas oilmen Lamar Hunt and Bud Adams tried to purchase existing NFL franchises to move to Texas, or to establish new NFL franchises there, they were told that the conservative NFL was not interested. The result was that Hunt and Adams joined with six other businessmen to form
13090-428: The championship game. This contradicted the word of the commissioner, who had previously stated he aimed to increase compensation to $ 10,000 per game in March. Pay was further reduced to $ 3,500 per game for the 2012 season. Each player was under contract to the UFL through February of the following year, effectively creating a two-month non-compete clause after the season ends, and any NFL team that wished to sign
13244-417: The deep-pocketed owners their original plan required. By time the initial season began, the league had totally dumped its original salary structure to suit the reality of the soft launch. The league's original plan would have had the average UFL salary in the $ 240,000-$ 500,000 range, far in excess of the CFL's average salary. The short schedule gutted the league's ability to generate TV or gate revenue. To make
13398-478: The difficulties of 2011, UFL officials were on record as wanting to move ahead on future plans for the league. An April 2012 Las Vegas Review-Journal report indicated that the UFL would announce plans on May 1 to field a five-team league for the 2012 season, including the four 2011 teams plus a fifth expansion team. (The Review-Journal report mentioned San Antonio, Southern California , and Portland, Oregon, were expansion candidates.) The report also indicated that
13552-462: The earliest. The ownership lost or settled most of the lawsuits against them in 2014. As of 2016, all of the remaining non-liquid assets of the league were sitting in a warehouse in Jacksonville, Florida , with an estimated value of $ 100,000. The league still owes approximately $ 1,000,000 to the estate of Dennis Green ; under a court ruling, the league itself is liable for Green's salary, as
13706-664: The end of the first NFL. From there, professional football's focus moved north and west, as teams such as the Massillon Tigers and the short-lived Franklin Athletic Club went on buying sprees in an effort to defeat local teams. Massillon's buying spree led to the rise of the Ohio League , drawing much of the top professional football talent in America from Pennsylvania to Ohio, including Wallace, who signed with
13860-656: The entire NFL excluding blacks after 1934. Also joining the NFL around this time was one of the last teams from Pennsylvania's independent era, the Rooneys ; they became the Pittsburgh Pirates when they joined the NFL in 1933, later renaming themselves the Steelers as part of a complicated franchise swap and abortive merger attempt in 1940. In 1939, NBC broadcast the first-ever televised Professional Football game from Ebbets Field , an October 22 contest between
14014-822: The established league, even though the Buffalo Bills drew good crowds and raised funds from citizens to back the franchise. Players from the Bills and the other AAFC teams not 'merged' were distributed among the NFL teams. Motley, Graham, Groza, Hirsch and Tittle all starred in the NFL after the 'merger'. Of the three AAFC teams that joined the NFL: Following five years of what the league perceived to be weak leadership on behalf of commissioner Elmer Layden (of Four Horsemen fame), league officials appointed Philadelphia Eagles owner-founder Bert Bell as commissioner in 1946. After twelve years without black players in
14168-496: The establishment of the league's first team-run Web site separate from the main UFL Web site. The move initially doubled the team's season ticket base. Despite the gain in season ticket base, the Locomotives drew only 6,500 fans to their first home game, which was a factor in the league deciding to cut their season short and cancel the Locomotives' two remaining games. The increasingly poor attendance at Sam Boyd Stadium jeopardized
14322-641: The existence of the AFL: the Vikings, Cowboys, and Falcons, added to compete with the AFL, and the New Orleans Saints , who were added as a reward to Louisiana federal legislators for their support of PL 89-800, which permitted the merger. Likewise, the AFL-NFL wars brought two teams to Missouri (one in each league), marking the first time NFL teams had played in the state since the 1930s. Concurrently with
14476-406: The field, had done in 2010 after repeated delays of its announced inaugural schedule. However, on July 26, 2012, news broke that the UFL would indeed play a fourth season in 2012. Terms had not been finalized, but initial plans called for four teams playing an eight-game schedule (which would require an unbalanced schedule) on Wednesdays and Fridays beginning September 19, 2012. The league did reach
14630-490: The first minor league compact with the NFL. The PCPFL folded in 1948 after years of declining attendance and the arrival of the NFL in its flagship Los Angeles market. A year after World War II, another new Professional Football league was formed – the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). It attracted some of the nation's best football players and posed a serious challenge to the NFL. Like
14784-485: The first Professional Football ' entry draft ' was held. The University of Chicago 's Heisman Trophy -winning running back Jay Berwanger was selected first overall by the Philadelphia Eagles . However, Berwanger chose not to play Professional Football. The league was dominated by the Chicago Bears , Green Bay Packers , and New York Giants , with stars like quarterback Sid Luckman (Bears); and fullbacks Tuffy Leemans (Giants) and Clarke Hinkle (Packers). Even with
14938-407: The first contest, followed by a paltry 601 fans at the start of the second contest, the worst attendance for a league of the UFL's caliber in modern professional football history. In both cases, the actual attendance was reportedly even smaller. Both games were held early on Wednesday evenings, which may have held down attendance. With already low attendance numbers dropping further across the league,
15092-567: The first ever cooperative television plan for professional football, in which the proceeds of the contract were divided equally among member clubs. ABC and the AFL also introduced moving, on-field cameras (as opposed to the fixed midfield cameras of CBS and the NFL), and were the first to have players "miked" during broadcast games. But the American Football League was different from the AAFC in its overall competitive balance. While
15246-553: The first modern black starting quarterback ( Marlin Briscoe , Broncos). The AFL was similar to the AAFC in that it offered innovations, like a return to the double round robin schedule introduced by the earlier league and had eight teams in two divisions like the AAFC. The AFL also introduced official scoreboard clocks, player names on jerseys, the two-point PAT conversion and important off-the field elements such as gate and TV revenue-sharing and national TV contracts. The AFL developed
15400-696: The first open professional after accepting $ 10 to play for the Latrobe Athletic Association ; Latrobe became the first all-professional club soon after. William Chase Temple would become the first man to directly bankroll a football team himself when he assumed "ownership" of the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club in either 1898 or 1899. Throughout the 1890s, the Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit would act as
15554-704: The first professional league on the West Coast. The PCPFL was notable for its continuous operation through World War II (it even spun off a second league in 1944 ) and for its open embrace of black talent that had been blacklisted from the NFL since the 1930s. Along with the American Association and the Dixie League , the PCPFL were members of the Association of Professional Football Leagues ,
15708-420: The first time a major sports league had merged with another without losing a franchise. The legacy of the American Football League is that virtually every aspect of today's wildly popular professional football, on and off the field, can be traced to innovations developed by the AFL and adopted by the NFL. After the sudden death of commissioner Bert Bell in 1959, Los Angeles Rams general manager Pete Rozelle
15862-472: The fourth American Football League (1960–1969). The league started out by signing half of the NFL's 1960 first-round draft choices including the Houston Oilers ' Billy Cannon , and never slowed down. With future Hall of Fame Coaches Hank Stram ( Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs ) and Sid Gillman ( LA/San Diego Chargers ) as well as others like the Buffalo Bills ' Lou Saban , the league offered
16016-490: The fourth season starts, a rebuilding and restocking of personnel will need to take place. To conserve much-needed funds the Virginia Destroyers relocated to much smaller office space by February 2012. The league remained silent throughout winter, spring and early summer 2012, raising fears that the league had quietly folded, in the same way the proposed All American Football League , without ever actually taking
16170-517: The game); only one indoor team, the AFL's short-lived Toronto Phantoms (2000 to 2002), has ever played its games in Canada. The all-female Lingerie Football League had operations in Canada from 2011 to 2014, but that league dropped to amateur level by the time the LFL entered the country. Up until the 1970s, semiprofessional and minor football leagues would often develop lower end players into professional prospects. Though there are still numerous teams at
16324-405: The high school and college levels. Since interleague play is extremely rare, there is no need for a nationwide standard for all leagues, and each league will adopt and discard rules as they see fit. The Arena Football League had a patent on several of its rules that expired in 2007. Several professional leagues have experimented with rules in an effort to improve the quality of the game or to create
16478-543: The larger markets, Las Vegas and Hartford were given sole rights to the teams, and Las Vegas never played a game in the Los Angeles metro area. Las Vegas was awarded a franchise for the inaugural season of the UFL in 2009 . The team named Jim Fassel as head coach. Fassel led his team to a 4–2 record in his first season. In the 2009 UFL championship game , the Locos defeated the then-undefeated Florida Tuskers to become
16632-518: The league $ 5 million in April 2010. He did not own a franchise and he was not involved in day-to-day operations of the league nor of any of its teams. In January 2011, Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and majority owner of HDNet (now AXS TV ), a cable channel and Web-streaming service which had broadcast some games of the league's inaugural two seasons, filed a federal lawsuit against
16786-476: The league (prior to 2014, the restrictions were much tighter in that the person also had to be resident in Canada since childhood). As such, Canadian Interuniversity Sport feeds players to the CFL to meet these quotas, much as the NCAA does in the United States. The remaining half of the roster may be filled by either Canadians or by internationals (formerly imports ; these are typically American players who play in
16940-952: The league announced Moglia would instead coach the Omaha Nighthawks. At the same time, the Florida Tuskers ceased operations in Orlando and moved to Virginia, with Jay Gruden initially remaining as the Destroyers' coach; however, Gruden was hired the next month by the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL. For possible 2011 expansion, all cities that were in consideration for 2010 (Portland, San Antonio, Austin, and Salt Lake City) remained in consideration, as well as Raleigh, North Carolina ; Los Angeles; and Honolulu. In regards to future expansion, Huyghue has said that they "may never have more than eight teams" depending on
17094-513: The league as potential owners, but both backed out prior to the 2009 season. On February 9, 2009, it was announced that Paul Pelosi , husband of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi , was one of four investors who had stepped forward to invest $ 10,000,000, plus a personal commitment to cover opening-season losses up to another $ 10,000,000 for a one-half interest in four franchises to play in the league's 2009 inaugural season. The league
17248-407: The league had a full schedule of three home games in the same stadium in only one of their selected cities, Las Vegas. During the week of August 10, 2009, the four team names and their uniform jerseys were revealed. Each of the uniforms (and the team logos and helmets that were unveiled on October 2) incorporated the UFL's signature color scheme into their designs, including silver (primary color for
17402-512: The league to be the best teams in America. O'Rourke brought a coalition of the two Philadelphia teams to his World Series of Football and immediately labeled them the favorite for the tournament, bestowing the team home-field advantage and naming it "New York." New York was upset by the Syracuse Athletic Club in the first round. An agreement between the baseball leagues to form modern Major League Baseball led directly to
17556-545: The league to turn a profit. While he did reach the 20,000 fan threshold in Sacramento in 2010 and 2011, the paying television contract never materialized. Hambrecht sustained losses of $ 40 million on the league. Six teams played in the UFL over the course of its history, no more than five in any given year. The teams that played in the league were: the Las Vegas Locomotives, Hartford Colonials (originally
17710-577: The league's economic situation. The league announced it would expand into the Hampton Roads region of Virginia prior to the start of the 2011 season, giving the Virginia Destroyers time to organize. During UFL Championship Week 2010, the league announced it had a seventh franchise in place, with Huyghue indicating that it would most likely be in Los Angeles, and that the team would not be officially announced until an eighth franchise
17864-438: The league's first champions. Prior to the 2010 season, head coach Jim Fassel added the title of general manager, replacing league-wide general manager Rick Mueller , who handled the duties in 2009. The team also made a small tweak to their color scheme with red replacing the league-standard teal color in the trim of the logo for the 2010 season. On November 27, 2010, the Locomotives won their second UFL championship, again beating
18018-403: The league's four years of play. Paul Pelosi's investment alone was between $ 10 million and $ 50 million, according to federal disclosure forms filed by his wife Nancy. For his part, Pelosi initially anticipated losing $ 6 million per year, based on an anticipated 20,000 fans per game, and hoped to make up the difference from a renegotiated television contract in 2011 that paid enough rights fees for
18172-414: The league. The college football development system is a unique feature in the professional football system, stemming from the fact that the game of American football originated at the college level, unlike other sports that were products of independent clubs. Although ostensibly amateurs, college athletes are compensated with five years of free undergraduate college education (more than enough time to pursue
18326-611: The major college football teams and by the NASCAR Sprint Cup , both of which are also weekly events) and because the expense of the game (it has the largest rosters of any professional sport) makes the cost highly prohibitive. The NFL has sold broadcast rights to each of the major television networks , who pay large annual fees on top of the cost of production for the rights to air the game. The networks make back much of their money through advertising and retransmission consent fees. The use of multiple broadcasters dated to before
18480-518: The mid-1960s, certain NFL owners secretly approached AFL principals, seeking a merger of the two leagues. The merger was agreed to in 1966, with a championship game to be played between the league titlists, and a merged schedule beginning with the 1970 season, when existing TV contracts could be re-worked. The decade was dominated in the NFL by the Packers, who won four NFL titles, and by the mid-to late 1960s their head coach Vince Lombardi had fashioned
18634-443: The minor-league baseball Las Vegas 51s , but the team returned to Sam Boyd Stadium for the first two games in 2012. By the start of the 2012 season, the Locomotives proved to be the best team on the field in the UFL, decisively winning their first two contests against Virginia and Omaha. However, the Locomotives' off-field problems were becoming even worse. According to official figures, only 2,500 fans arrived at Sam Boyd Stadium for
18788-411: The owners had not personally guaranteed it. Hambrecht has also allegedly not paid the 78 players who sued him for back pay, even as the players won a $ 2.4 million judgment against Hambrecht. Frank Vuono, an executive with the UFL in its early existence, stated that Hambrecht had simply stopped paying the league's bills. The UFL abandoned its trademarks by 2017, when Vince McMahon filed a trademark on
18942-600: The patent, the large rebound nets the AFL has used since its debut to keep balls in play, was fully protected; the patent expired in 2007, although no other professional indoor league has adopted rebound nets since. As of 2011, two national leagues (the AFL and the Indoor Football League ), along with several regional professional and semi-pro leagues, are in operation. As of 2011, no professional indoor football league has had any significant presence in Canada (despite an abundance of hockey arenas that are ideal for
19096-440: The position on January 31, 2012, citing in part the league's severe financial problems and philosophical differences with the league's owners on how to move forward. Instead, the league dispensed, at least for the time being, with a central office and owners Bill Hambrecht (Las Vegas) and Bill Mayer (Virginia) oversaw the league's business operations, while Locos' coach/president Jim Fassel overseeing football operations. Before
19250-552: The pre-war AFL, it used a double round robin schedule. The league was dominated by a franchise owned and coached by Paul Brown : the Cleveland Browns , a team that would win the league's championship every year of its existence. The Browns featured players such as fullback Marion Motley , quarterback Otto Graham and kicker Lou Groza , while the San Francisco 49ers had running back Elroy 'Crazylegs' Hirsch and
19404-475: The road. The Locos also wore blue pants. For the 2010 season, teams were able to change their colors. The Locos kept the silver, but replaced the UFL blue with UNLV red. In an attempt to "match with their environment", the Locos adapted the main color scheme of the stadium into their uniforms, emulating the colors of UNLV. The Locos had red jerseys at home and white on the road, with silver pants. UFL Los Angeles The United Football League ( UFL )
19558-827: The same home stadiums as in 2011; the Mountain Lions moved to the Triple-A baseball stadium ( Raley Field ) of the Sacramento franchise of the Pacific Coast League , the Sacramento River Cats . In addition, the Las Vegas Locomotives also negotiated backup plans with Cashman Field in Las Vegas, although the team was able to play its first two home games at Sam Boyd Stadium . On October 20, 2012, after four weeks, continued financial shortfalls, an uncertain stadium situation in Las Vegas, and dramatically reduced attendances across all four markets,
19712-409: The same team the next week; the sums were very large by the standards of the day, and like most payment arrangements, both players denied any payment ever took place for much of their lives. For several years afterwards, individual players and sometimes entire teams received compensation to play in "barnstorming" type games without rigid schedules and against a variety of opponents. John Brallier became
19866-574: The second Saturday in December (15 U.S.C. § 1293). Professional football (gridiron) In the United States and Canada, the term professional football ( French : football professionnel ) includes the professional forms of American and Canadian gridiron football . In common usage, it refers to former and existing major football leagues in either country. Currently, there are multiple professional football leagues in North America:
20020-456: The semi-pro level in both the United States and Canada, they have mostly dropped to regional amateur status, and they no longer develop professional prospects, in part due to the rise of indoor football. Though Japan ( X-League ) and Europe ( Austrian Football League and German Football League ) have professional football leagues composed primarily of national citizens along with a limited number of American Imports, these leagues are generally of
20174-580: The smaller field. Professional football evolved from amateur "club" football, played by general interest athletic clubs or associations . These clubs began playing football in the late 1870s, approximately ten years after the game took form in American colleges. Amateur club football established itself as a somewhat lower quality alternative to the more popular college football ; some of the better teams would play against college teams. Eventually, some ostensibly amateur teams would secretly begin paying players
20328-471: The standard league colors. For 2010, the league indicated that five markets were under consideration for expansion teams: Omaha, Nebraska ; San Antonio or Austin, Texas; Portland, Oregon; and Salt Lake City. On April 15, 2010, Omaha was granted an expansion team, called the Omaha Nighthawks . Mark Cuban, who was mentioned as a potential franchise owner in the league's formative stages, loaned
20482-491: The stellar fullback Cliff Battles , Marshall's team, now called the Redskins, was driven out of Boston in 1936 by a competing league, and he moved his franchise to Washington, D.C. as the Washington Redskins . Marshall introduced the marching band and a team song to Professional Football, along with other promotional efforts. However, he also refused to have black players on his team, and his influence resulted in
20636-446: The team played more than one game are listed. In an approach similar to previous football leagues, the UFL mostly adhered to standard NFL and football rules with a few differences of note: For the 2009 and 2010 seasons, the UFL scheduled its games on non-traditional evenings for pro football: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. Though these games conflicted with high school and college football events in some locations,
20790-539: The team to the league and allowed bidding to be opened again. Williams later joined his alma mater Grambling State University as their head coach, resigning as Destroyers' general manager. The UFL announced the businessman Joe Moglia , also executive advisor to the head football coach of the University of Nebraska, as the first head coach and president of the Destroyers in November 2010; however, in January 2011,
20944-505: The third consecutive year. If a sixth team had been added, the schedule for each team would have expanded to ten games. The schedule for the 2011 UFL season , released June 9, 2011, confirmed that the league would be locked at five teams for the season, with no expansion. The 2011 season was to shift from a traditional late fall schedule to a late summer/early fall schedule beginning in August 2011 and ending in October; however, in July 2011,
21098-438: The three championships , appearing in (but losing) the third, and having a perfect record for the season at the time of the cessation of operations. The United Football League was founded by Bill Hambrecht and Tim Armstrong . The UFL initially had plans to start with eight teams with $ 12–20 million rosters playing in targeted sites in the fall of 2008. T. Boone Pickens and Mark Cuban had originally been in discussion with
21252-416: The three, at least "one has a UFL team and one may get a UFL team." On October 16, 2011, immediately after each team's fourth game, numerous reports indicated that the remainder of the 2011 season had been cancelled and that the 2011 UFL championship game between Las Vegas and Virginia would be moved up to the date of Virginia's last home game, which would have taken place against Omaha on October 21. This
21406-617: The time. Many of the early semi-professional and professional teams were works teams consisting mostly of employees of the companies that sponsored them. The first record of an American football player receiving "pay for play" came in 1892 with Pudge Heffelfinger's $ 500 contract to play in a game for the Allegheny Athletic Association against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, with the second being Ben "Sport" Donnelly 's $ 250 contract to play for
21560-538: The two longest-running leagues are the National Football League (NFL) in the U.S, and the Canadian Football League (CFL) in Canada. American football leagues have existed in Europe since the late 1970s, with competitive leagues all over Europe hiring American imports to strengthen rosters. The Austrian Football League and German Football League top division are known as the best leagues in Europe. The Japan X-League
21714-508: The unfinished 2012 schedule at an unspecified time in spring 2013, then revert to a fall schedule in fall 2013 without a full off-season. This announcement, however, was met with widespread skepticism from both within and outside the league, skepticism that was proven to be warranted as the league never returned. Over the course of the league's history, the Las Vegas Locomotives were the most successful team, winning two of
21868-584: The vast majority of professional football players is the Division I Bowl Subdivision , with most coming from the five conferences with automatic bids into the College Football Playoff bowl games . Under current regulations, players must be at least three years removed from high school graduation to qualify to play in the NFL. Because of these barriers to entry , players who do not play college football have very few options for breaking into
22022-419: Was a professional American football minor league based in the United States that began play in October 2009 and played four seasons, the final one being cut short in October 2012 . The small league, which never had more than five teams playing at one time, played most of its games in markets where the National Football League (NFL) had no current presence. Unlike most professional football leagues since
22176-532: Was common in the 1890s, the Amateur Athletic Union began pressuring and threatening college teams with the loss of amateur status if they did so. Over the course of the first few years of the 20th Century, college and professional football began to diverge, until the NCAA formed in 1906, giving college football a separate sanctioning body. The stigma of being a professional athlete, and the threat it
22330-603: Was confirmed. As events would turn out, neither franchise would materialize. The league suffered a setback when they had to fold the Florida Tuskers in January 2011. The league moved most of the Tuskers' staff to the Destroyers and reassigned the coaching staff already in Virginia to Omaha, firing the previous Omaha coaching staff. After this, the league reduced their goal to six teams, with Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City; and new contender Chattanooga, Tennessee , still in consideration, and Los Angeles no longer in consideration for
22484-730: Was its having to pay for television coverage instead of being paid for the rights to it, along with its use of networks that were not widely available. Similarly, the Continental Football League only had one of its games televised nationally in its five-year existence, and the American Football Association blamed its failure on an inability to secure television coverage. Virtually all professional football teams broadcast at least some of their games on local radio. The rules of professional football are more likely to vary from league to league than
22638-428: Was named his replacement after a contentious, eight-day, 23-ballot stalemated election in which the league's favored candidate, Marshall Leahy , repeatedly fell one vote short of the supermajority of votes necessary to be elected commissioner. Whereas his predecessors generally put their league offices in the city of the teams they previously represented (the key issue that prevented Leahy from becoming Commissioner, as he
22792-401: Was no league-wide, national television (the Browns, for instance, held out and syndicated games themselves until the early 1960s when a league-wide contract was imposed). By the start of the 1960s, the NFL was complacent in its dominance of the market for Professional Football fans, and had little incentive to expand that market. The AAFC was history, and the NFL had chosen not to capitalize on
22946-773: Was previously an employee of the San Francisco 49ers and was planning to move league offices to the West Coast), Rozelle instead agreed to establish a permanent office in New York City, where the league remains to this day. The 1960 NFL had ten teams, only two south of Washington, D.C. and/or west of Chicago (the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers), and none in the Southern United States , where college football still dominated. Though it had rebuffed efforts to move or expand, it immediately
23100-454: Was put on the defensive by the new AFL, first causing the owners of the proposed Minnesota franchise in that league to renege for an NFL franchise to start in 1961, and immediately establishing the Cowboys in previously rejected Dallas, as competition to Hunt's Dallas Texans . The NFL also expanded its footprint by moving the Chicago Cardinals to St. Louis, Missouri in 1960. Later, it impeded
23254-462: Was set, although the location was not. Also left unanswered was the question of whether last season's unusual third-place game would be repeated. On September 6, a revised UFL schedule for 2012 was posted on the Omaha Nighthawks website [2] showing the season rescheduled to begin on Friday, September 28, and end on Saturday, December 1, along with the claim that CBS Sports Network was in full concordance with this revision. All teams but Sacramento used
23408-584: Was to one's amateur status, meant that pseudonyms and nicknames were commonplace among professional players through the early part of the 20th century, in the hopes that covert professionals would not have themselves outed in a publicly released roster. Very few pro football players played under their given first names (John Brallier was a prominent exception). The next step in pro football stemmed from an unusual source: baseball. Teams from each championship city (Pittsburgh and Philadelphia), three in all, received support from baseball teams in their cities and formed
23562-556: Was under the overall direction of William Hambrecht, a former Wall Street figure who had sold his old firm, Hambrecht & Quist, to what was then Chase Manhattan Bank for US$ 1.35 billion in 1999. Michael Huyghue , a former executive with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the head of a sports agency service, was the league's first and only commissioner. The league had identified 21 cities that they deemed possessed strong economic bases, passionate football tradition, and
23716-633: Was won by the Pottsville Maroons , who, after one year (and winning the league title), jumped to the NFL. The Anthracite League remanifested itself as the Eastern League of Professional Football , an explicitly minor league, in 1926 and 1927. From 1922 through 1932, the NFL still declared as champions the team with the best record. There were no set schedules, and each team did not play the same number of games: some teams played against college or other amateur teams. The confusion reached
#690309