The United Football League has the most to gain if the NFL Lockout continues deep into the summer. Year three of the upstart league will begin in August, a ploy to do battle with boring NFL pre-season games, and may be the only professional football any of see for quite some time. However there are now reports that the UFL would like to try and get locked out NFL players to play for their teams and make a big splash and get the new league some attention.
For me grasping at NFL players that would have legally enforceable contracts once the lockout ends is a bad move. They would be required to report to their teams, leaving the UFL with big holes to fill on their rosters mid season. On top of that no player is going to risk their NFL career for the 50 grand salary of the UFL. It just isn’t going to happen, and the UFL should be working the networks to get a TV deal in the absence of NFL football instead of some haphazard scheme to get NFL players on the roster.
Let’s be real honest here, many NFL TV partners will have a huge hole in their schedules come the fall if the NFL is still in lockout mode. The UFL is already established and the on the field product for the most part is pretty good. That is where the UFL should focus, and maybe they will wind up having some games televised to a much broader audience. If that happens maybe this league can stave off extinction.
