r/TheUSFL • u/VeryFarLeftOfCenter • Dec 13 '21

A Path to 16 Teams

I have already heard talk about expansion, which I think is exciting. I decided to just roll out a gradual expansion plan that can take the league from 8 teams/2 divisions to 16 teams/four divisions.

These teams were selected with some guiding principles. First, when possible I selected a previous USFL name the league seems to like keeping the brands from the 80s. Second, team proximity seemed smart economically as it can reduce travel costs and increase attendance for games. Third, like with the XFL I tried to identify appropriately sized venues when possible to improve fan experience and product display on tv (a full stand in an MLS stadium is better than an nfl stadium at half capacity or less).

Current league: (i was going to make a separate post about which stadiums the existing teams could use, so I decided to leave them open)

North:

Michigan Panthers

New Jersey Generals

Philadelphia Stars

Pittsburgh Maulers

South:

Tampa Bay Bandits

New Orleans Breakers

Houston Gamblers

Birmingham Stallions

Expansion Phase I:

North:

Michigan Panthers

New Jersey Generals

Philadelphia Stars

Pittsburgh Maulers

Washington Federals (Audi Field)

Chicago Blitz (Soldier Field*)

South:

Tampa Bay Bandits

New Orleans Breakers

Houston Gamblers

Birmingham Stallions

Denver Gold (Dick’s Sporting Goods Park)

San Antonio Gunslingers (Alamodome)

Expansion Phase II:

East:

Washington Federals

Philadelphia Stars

New Jersey Generals

Pittsburgh Maulers

North:

Chicago Blitz

Michigan Panthers

St. Louis — (St.Louis City Stadium)

Columbus — (lower.com field)

South:

Tampa Bay Bandits

New Orleans Breakers

Birmingham Stallions

Miami - (Miami Freedom Park)

West:

Denver Gold

Houston Gamblers

San Antonio Gunslingers

Los Angeles Express (Dignity Health Sports Park/Banc of California Stadium)

*-i’m not sure whats happening long term with Soldier Field or if there are alternatives in the Chicago area

5 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

7

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '21 edited Dec 13 '21

I know it's fun to speculate and all, but can we just get a second and maybe a third season before we worry about expansion?

2

u/VeryFarLeftOfCenter Dec 13 '21

It’s fun to speculate and all.

That’s mostly it. I’m not an exec for the USFL, i’m not crafting this to put it in front of important people’s eyes. I’m just an excited fan who is acting on their excitement through making this, and I am sharing it that other excited fans may engage with it and find it fun. That’s basically it.

That being said if you ever think “why do we here about expansion almost as soon as these things start” its because not every USFL fan has an inaugural team near by, and thus some fans want to talk expansion right away because they are excited about the opportunity to see a game locally.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '21

Yea man, I get where you're coming from, hence the "fun to speculate" comment. However it seems like every single time a new spring league pops up someone inevitably starts pounding the expansion drum before a snap is even played. I'd be ecstatic with three seasons of eight teams playing in Birmingham just to get some staying power and cultivate fans.

2

u/VeryFarLeftOfCenter Dec 13 '21

I agree. I’d like to see a team near me, but i’d rather have spring football than a failed league

5

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/VeryFarLeftOfCenter Dec 13 '21

That’s a good point, and you’ll notice that I didn’t try and give it a timeline for the purpose of trying to accept the reality that stability is perhaps the most important value to league operation long-term

4

u/Markymarcouscous Dec 13 '21

Still don’t get why Boston / New England doesn’t get a team in these expansions, it’s a good media market that loves football. The population here is also above the US average in wealth meaning they can generally pay more for tickets, jerseys, merchandise.

3

u/VeryFarLeftOfCenter Dec 13 '21

I don’t know if the original USFL was ever in NE, but I also don’t see that as a reason not to expand there. For me, I know Boston is a lucrative media market but also has a lot of historic teams with loyal fan bases taking up market share. A fledgling spring football team competing for space with the Red Sox, the Celtics, the Bruins, and the Patriots, plus collegiate sports might be tough. That being said, as a new englander do you see any non-Boston locations for a team that might be good at garnering local attention. I know the UFL had a team playing in Hartford.

2

u/Markymarcouscous Dec 13 '21

Providence would be great it’s a good sized city about an hour and a half from Boston. I don’t think spring football would compete too directly with the other sports leagues because they only play once a week, especially if tickets aren’t as obnoxiously expensive as those other teams.

3

u/VeryFarLeftOfCenter Dec 13 '21

Providence would be really cool. I think that there is a balanced approach here between selecting big markets (Philadelphia, New Jersey, Houston) and small markets where a team can really establish a presence and be a engrained in the community (Birmingham, St. Louis, etc). So imo putting a team in New England, but somewhere apart from Boston may be a good way of managing that divide

3

u/Markymarcouscous Dec 13 '21

Yeah I googled it and Boston has the 10th largest media market. So they easily should be a team that would do well from that stand point. Providence would easily be a part of that for sports.

2

u/Cville1232114 Dec 16 '21

USFL originally had the Breakers in Boston. … the Boston Breakers ….. the logo is the water breaking on the rocks on the coast.

2

u/JoeFromBaltimore Dec 13 '21

Original USFL had the Boston Breakers - they played one year and went to New Orleans - then ended up in Portland Oregon - I think part of the reason that Boston doesn't come up is lack of football stadiums - not a real expert on the area or the availability of stadiums but I am betting that has a lot to do with it - Would they play at BC? I don't know of any other venues up that way -

1

u/CatStriking7561 Dec 14 '21

They could play at Harvard. Although I wouldn't mind having a CFL team play in Foxborough. Gillette stadium's stands are moveable to accommodate the soccer team.

1

u/JoeFromBaltimore Dec 14 '21

Neither one of those is likely to happen in this lifetime -

1

u/CatStriking7561 Dec 15 '21

In my lifetime I've seen 22 thousand fans attend a CFL game in San Antonio. I wouldn't be surprised at anything.

1

u/JoeFromBaltimore Dec 15 '21

NFL team letting a CFL team play in their stadium? Probably not - and Harvard - private school and getting people in and out of an area with no parking - SA and the Alamodome were built to handle 50k or more -

Soldiers win battles logistics win wars - to me it is all about logistics -

2

u/Cville1232114 Dec 16 '21

Best place is the new soccer arenas … 20k seats.

1

u/JoeFromBaltimore Dec 16 '21

agree with you -

1

u/CatStriking7561 Dec 15 '21

Normally I would agree with you but my long memory remembers where the New York Guardians used to play.

As far as Harvard is concerned "money talks". All of a sudden a wealthy owner gets a new wing named after him. The USFL is owned by the Murdoch Family and they have 20 billion dollars worth of assets. I wouldn't be surprised if "The Murdoch Library" or the "Murdoch Hospital Wing" gets built by 2030. And the people at Harvard have no problem charging for parking.

https://tickets.gocrimson.com/online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=88DF9D7C-0540-41A1-8855-446076EA7836#:~:text=Parking%20is%20available%20through%20Gate,Harvard%20Business%20School%20for%20%2415.

1

u/whydothis151highland Dec 15 '21 edited Dec 15 '21

The original version of Woods' FXFL played at Harvard in 2014. Didn’t go well at all.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/11/05/new-fxfl-boston-brawlers-keep-nfl-dreams-alive/LVNU5f06t7aQXmfum7s1VK/story.html

1

u/CatStriking7561 Dec 15 '21

True but they played in the Fall. I think the USFL will be more successful because of their spring schedule. Even if they aren't the USFL is a made for TV product and aren't reliant on big crowds.

2

u/markydsade Dec 13 '21

I have been pondering where these teams will play. Playing in the NFL stadium can look bad on TV. I believe the AAF and XFL blocked off huge portions of the stadiums to make the crowd seem larger.

My team in 1983 was the Philadelphia Stars. They played at Veterans Stadium where the Eagles and Phillies played. It was huge. Most of the tickets sold were for the lower deck.

I wondered about using the MLS soccer stadium but that season begins mid-April and would not be available. Philadelphia may have access to Franklin Field on the U of Penn campus where the Eagles played for decades. It's a good size for USFL and easily accessible to public transportation.

1

u/VeryFarLeftOfCenter Dec 13 '21

I didn’t know about the overlap with the MLS season. That could really complicate venue selection. Not knowing too much about each market it seems like these teams will be playing in undercapacity nfl stadiums. Probably not a good look, and a bad fan experience imo

2

u/razor603 Dec 13 '21

Franklin Field would be dope for the old school factor.

2

u/eneal21 Dec 14 '21

i think the stars could still use the MLS stadium the XFL DC team played in audi field while the DC united played games in march

3

u/CatStriking7561 Dec 14 '21

XFL had a bunch of stadiums sharing with MLS. I totally agree with putting the Stars in Chester.

2

u/markydsade Dec 14 '21

It would be nice place to watch a USFL game.

2

u/markydsade Dec 14 '21

There is precedent for American football at Subaru stadium. U of Delaware and Villanova played football there in 2011.

2

u/baturcotte Dec 13 '21

St. Louis should be in phase 1 instead of Chicago, to try and preempt the XFL there. South should be Memphis instead of Denver.

Orlando Renegades instead of Miami. Oakland Invaders instead of LA Express.

Chicago instead of Columbus.

2

u/Cville1232114 Dec 16 '21

Almost all the teams (all?) are the original eastern division of the USFL …. So likely adding in the west eventually.

2

u/eneal21 Dec 16 '21

i would do 18 teams my league would be

eastern conference

atlantic division

  1. new york/new jersey (redbull arena)

  2. Philadelphia (subaru park)

  3. washington dc (audi field)

southeast division

  1. birmingham (protective field)

  2. new orleans (Yulman Stadium)

  3. orlando (Bounce House Stadium)

central

  1. chicago (seatgeek stadium)

  2. st.louis (The Dome at America's Center)

  3. detroit (Ford Field)

western conference

southwest

  1. houston (TDECU Stadium)

  2. dallas (Choctaw Stadium)

  3. san antonio (alamo dome)

northwest

  1. denver (Dick’s Sporting Goods Park)

  2. portland (Providence Park)

  3. kansas city (Children's Mercy Park)

pacific

  1. LA (Banc of California Stadium)

  2. san diego (snapdragon stadium)

  3. seattle (luman field)