The USFL is seeking to become relevant once again. The rights to the Spring/Summer football league were purchased by San Diego based businessman, Jamie Cuadra and he has been assembling a formidable group of former NFL executives and players to help him in the resurrection of the failed league. Cuadra has promised that this time, the USFL will not decide to take on the $9 billion dollar a year NFL, but rather create a developmental league to give players additional game time to hone their skills.
Mr. Cuadra recently spoke with Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times outlining his plans for the new USFL. In the course of the interview, he told the Times that currently three cities in Florida are being considered for placement of a team. Tallahassee, Orlando and Daytona Beach are on the list according to Cuadra. Orlando makes perfect sense for the league.
The new version of the USFL has a completely different business plan than the earlier model. The league is searching out smaller markets and does not plan to place a team in any city with a current NFL or MLB franchise. From this standpoint, Orlando should be the only possible location selected by the league.
Tallahassee is the Florida capitol, home to 181,000 people as well as the Florida State Seminoles. Football is big business in Tallahassee with tens of thousands showing up to Bobby Bowden Field on Saturdays in the fall, but can the region really support a USFL franchise. Mr. Cuadra told the Times that his current business plan includes average attendance at games in the first season at 17,000 per game. Once out of the confines of Tallahassee, drawing fans from surrounding areas will become a chore. Tallahassee is 150 miles from Gainesville, Florida and 165 from Jacksonville. Those are long distances for an upstart league to draw from.
Daytona Beach is a popular destination for Spring Break and events such as Bike Week, but with a base population of 60,000, this location should not be considered for a USFL franchise.
The numbers should favor placing a team in Orlando. The city which is home to Walt Disney World and countless theme parks, is home to a population of 238,000 residents. Nearly 5 million more residents inhabit the Tampa Bay region which is just 80 miles away. Tampa Bay was home to one of the original USFL franchises, the Tampa Bay Bandits. The Bandits were one of the more successful clubs in the league in the early 1980′s.
Over 50 million tourists visit the Orlando area each year, making the airport the 13th busiest in the United States. Orlando currently supports the Orlando Magic, a NBA franchise as well as the AFL Orlando Predators organization. The region is home to two stadiums- the Citrus Bowl which can house 70,000 fans and Bright House Networks Stadium, the home of the UCF Knights and 45,000 fans.
If the goal of the league is to place approximately 20,000 fans in the seats for games, the USFL should easily select the Orlando region, a locale which could see well over 30,000 fans per game in the seats per game.
Hardcore football fans are eagerly awaiting the re-launch of the USFL. As Mr. Cuadra told the Times, “I’m not a huge basketball fan. So there’s always such a void after the Super Bowl, and it would be great to have football in the spring.” I couldn’t agree more. Now lets make sure that the league makes the right decision in placing franchises in order to guarantee success. Placing a franchise in Orlando would be the first step.
Filed under: NFL
Tagged with: USFL, USFL in Orlando Florida
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The placement of a franchise in Orlando seems to be appropriate.
That’s certainly the best area among the three suggested.
What, exactly, makes you think 30k people per game will show up for a minor league football team in Orlando, when its UFL, XFL and original USFL teams never approached that?
And what makes you think people from Tampa will drive to Orlando to see USFL football? They’ll be fortunate to get people from Orlando to go, much less Tampa.
Did you bother to read the article KT? You obviously were born after the advent of the original USFL. If the USFL places a team in Florida, Orlando will be the best place. How can the Orlando team generate 30,000 fans? Market the team with the 50 million annual tourists which visit the area, along with the surrounding population.You are obviously a marketing genius KT. The UFL and XFL were a joke and that was reflected in attendance.The original launch of the USFL was a failed attempt. Do I think the new launch of the USFL could put 30K in the seats? Yes, under the current business plan. Potential NFL development with the league and affordable ticket prices, a USFL franchise in Orlando could be very successful.
Saying 30K a game is a little hopeful, but saying 25K a game is not. The XFL and USFL attendance was around 25K a game in Orlando. Remember the actual attendance for XFL games was actually pretty good, it was the TV ratings and all the drama that was the problem. Watching the 2011 UnderArmour All-American high school game on espnU right now and they drew about 25K in Tampa and had about the same in Orlando the previous year. So absolutely 25K can be done in Orlando, that’s a realistic foundation to build on.
Here’s a link to attendance, the USFL and XFL figures are at the bottom. Orlando drew about 25K for each of them:
http://www.oursportscentral.com/boards/archive/index.php/t-1789.html
Rank 1985 Attendance Avg. Total
1. Tampa Bay Bandits 45,220 406,980
2. Jacksonville Bulls 44,325 398,925
3. New Jersey Generals 41,268 371,412
4. Birmingham Stallions 32,065 288,585
5. Memphis Showboats 30,948 278,532
6. Orlando Renegades 24,136 217,224
7. Portland Breakers 19,919 179,271
8. Houston Gamblers 19,120 172,080
9. Arizona Outlaws 17,881 160,929
10. Oakland Invaders 17,509 157,581
11. Denver Gold 14,446 130,014
12. Baltimore Stars 14,275 128,475
13. San Antonio Gunslingers 11,721 105,489
14. Los Angeles Express 8,415 75,735
- League 24,375 3,071,232
XFL Attendance
Rank Team Avg. Total
1. San Francisco Demons 35,005 175,024
2. NY/NJ Hitmen 28,309 141,545
3. Orlando Rage 25,563 127,817
4. Los Angeles Xtreme 22,679 113,395
5. Las Vegas Outlaws 22,619 113,069
6. Memphis Maniax 20,396 101,981
7. Birmingham Thunderbolts 17,002 85,012
8. Chicago Enforcers 15,710 78,549
- LEAGUE 23,410 936,392 (with NO HIGH PRICED PLAYERS)
The Tampa attendance was really high, but at the time they had Burt Reynolds as one of the owners and the Bucs were really really awful. But who knows? Maybe a team in Orlando AND Tampa one day?
Tallahassee is College Football town
The 1st year target attendace is an average of 17.000
It doesn’t looks impossible to me, let’s round it up to 20k, I guess if you see a good fottball match on TV, then you are teased to watch it live, am I wrong ?
Orlando would definitely not be a good place for a USFL team. The Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League play in the spring and attract an average of 13,000 people per game. Any USFL team located in Orlando could not compete with the Predators. The USFL team there would fold.
AJ
I guess that’s one way to look at it. On the other hand Orlando led the AFL in attendance in 2011. That’s more than the Soul, the Brigade, the Power The Voo Doo the Mustangs, or the Storm, so according to your theory, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Milwaukee, and Tampa Bay, all NFL cities, couldn’t support a USFL team.