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What's the deal with this Fox supported/promoted USFL?

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Kendra
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What's the deal with this Fox supported/promoted USFL?

#1

Post by Kendra »

OK, I am a football nube and don't follow it at all, so I am curious. Since this league started up a few months ago, I've only seen it hyped by Fox (really, really hyped), and now I'm too lazy to look again, but Google told me Fox had some sort of financial interest in this new league.

So...while I realize I don't follow ESPN and other sports networks, it do know what I've heard when sports updates come on sites like MSNBC and CNN, and to me it's crickets. Is this league really a serious thing, or just a big deal in the Fox world?
W. Kevin Vicklund
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Re: What's the deal with this Fox supported/promoted USFL?

#2

Post by W. Kevin Vicklund »

Kendra wrote: Sun Jun 26, 2022 9:46 pm OK, I am a football nube and don't follow it at all, so I am curious. Since this league started up a few months ago, I've only seen it hyped by Fox (really, really hyped), and now I'm too lazy to look again, but Google told me Fox had some sort of financial interest in this new league.

So...while I realize I don't follow ESPN and other sports networks, it do know what I've heard when sports updates come on sites like MSNBC and CNN, and to me it's crickets. Is this league really a serious thing, or just a big deal in the Fox world?
It's minor league football. :shrug:
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Kendra
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Re: What's the deal with this Fox supported/promoted USFL?

#3

Post by Kendra »

What I suspected, but Weekend Fox and Friends make it such a big effing deal...` :shrug:
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MN-Skeptic
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Re: What's the deal with this Fox supported/promoted USFL?

#4

Post by MN-Skeptic »

Trump was involved in the 1983-1985 iteration of the USFL. He is not involved in this re-birth.

Wikipedia has an article about this version of the USFL. I find the section on player compensation interesting.
USFL players and staff will be able to receive a college degree "tuition-free and debt-free", through a partnership with for-profit universities Strategic Education’s Capella University and Strayer University. They will be able to take classes online or in-person.

Player pay structure will be $45,000 for Active Roster players, $15,000 for Practice Squad Players, and $600 weekly during training camp. Players will also receive win bonuses of $850 per win and $10,000 for winning the championship. Players will be required to pay their own rent, however, while the league offers a reduced hotel price at a cost of $75 per room per day, with an option for two players to share a room.
New Turtle
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Re: What's the deal with this Fox supported/promoted USFL?

#5

Post by New Turtle »

There is a team in Birmingham that uses the new stadium. I never got to go since I moved away before the season started, but I heard the games were inexpensive compared to NFL and SEC games, and people like to bring their kids.

I think the XFL is trying to come back too. They actually were picking up steam in 2020 and had some good ideas in they way they covered the games. They were wrecked by the pandemic.
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Re: What's the deal with this Fox supported/promoted USFL?

#6

Post by northland10 »

New Turtle wrote: Mon Jun 27, 2022 4:48 am There is a team in Birmingham that uses the new stadium.
Actually, until the playoffs last Saturday, all of the games were in Birmingham, not just the ones for the Birmingham Stallions. The playoffs and championship are in Canton, OH (the championship is on July 3 in Canton, OH, at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium). It is Birmingham Stallions v the Philidelphia Stars.

Michigan Panthers apparently went 2-8 :crying: . The good news is that the NJ Generals who were 9-1 and won their division got knocked out by Philidelphia. I have nothing against this NJ team but the name is the same as Trump's previous NJ team (which he owned for 2 of their 3 years).

I assumed that this is really a TV product and few attended in person (not many people in the stands). They have microphones on coaches, and IIFRC, some players. They also have camera angles you would not expect in a normal NFL game as it would be too intrusive for the crowd. In addition, running 4 games a weekend in the same stadium sort of speaks to the fact that you are not intending much in-person attendance.

Yes, I have briefly watched a few pieces of it. I only know the standings now because I went to the website.

This new USFL has decided to create a product that is different and away from the NFL, in order to avoid direct competition The original USFL (which is not related to this one) had done the same until his Rumpness got the NJ team and pushed them to go head to head with the NFL, possibly in order to force a merger ala AFL, ABA, and WHA in order to get Trump an NFL team (which he could not get on his own). His bullying led to that nastigram from the Tampa Bay owner to Trump and also killed the league.

Fox is a minority owner of this league. Wiki mentioned that NBC was carrying some of the games.
101010 :towel:
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Re: What's the deal with this Fox supported/promoted USFL?

#7

Post by bill_g »

Considering that Football is an organized religion, and Fox desperately wanting every fanatic it can find, think of USFL as teleevangelism.
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Kendra
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Re: What's the deal with this Fox supported/promoted USFL?

#8

Post by Kendra »

Thanks all of you for your input :bighug:
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