UFL FINALLY SEES ITS POTENTIAL NICHE

We’ve been saying for years now (beginning with a 2003 column from NFL agent Ron Del Duca) that the NFL would be wise to develop a true minor-league system. When the United Football League first announced plans to compete with the NFL via a fall slate of games, it didn’t seem as if the UFL aspired to complement the dominant pro football league. Instead, the UFL apparently intended to compete with the far more established operation. But Commissioner Michael Huyghue and the owners of the fledgling operation seem to realize that the best long-term strategy would be the creation of an in-season minor league that allows players to get live game reps while otherwise being available to be “called up” to an NFL team. According to Howard Balzer of the Sports Xchange, Huyghue thinks that the UFL and NFL could eventually create a system in which players “go back and forth between teams.” For 2009, players cut by NFL teams in late August will be pursued to ink one-year deals with the UFL, and they won’t be permitted to play in the NFL until the UFL season ends. Beyond that, however, the door could be open for the UFL and the NFL to forge a partnership. Balzer also reports that the UFL could add two or four teams in 2010, up from its initial slate of four teams. We remain intrigued by the UFL -- other football leagues have yet to thrive. Even the spring-only effort to export the sport to Europe that the NFL operated at a loss for a long time couldn’t ultimately make it. But we’ve got a feeling that, if the UFL strives to work with the NFL and not against it, the UFL might have a chance.