Mark Cuban bullish on the UFL and its inaugural season
By: Jim Williams
Examiner Sports Columnist
August 6, 2009
The new United Football League announced Tuesday that HDNet would be a TV partner, airing games starting Saturday nights in October.
I spoke to Mark Cuban, the chairman and co-founder of the network, about this new league and other sports related matters.
Why the UFL? What excites you about the league?
Cuban: "I think the UFL is taking the right approach to creating a new football league. They are being conservative. They have a great ownership group and structure and strong management. They aren't taking on the NFL head-to-head. More importantly, I think there is plenty of demand for more football. The UFL is taking a great first step toward leveraging the demand.Ó
How will it help the growth of HDNet?
Cuban: "I don't know that it will help HDNet grow. We are doing fine. But I think HDNet viewers will enjoy UFL games. We are the leader in mixed martial arts programming. We have more live events than all other networks combined. We have the only MMA news show on TV with "Inside MMA.Ó It's the SportsCenter for mixed martial arts that has featured just about every major fighter in the world. We break more MMA news than any other outlet and have really established ourselves as the ultimate MMA news source on TV. So to answer your question, MMA is a key programming source for us. The UFL will be incremental to the MMA, but you won't see us looking to compete with traditional sports networks.Ó
For those who are unaware what the UFL is, here are a few fast facts:
The United Football League will start this fall in four cities with high-profile coaches Jim Fassel in Las Vegas, Ted Cottrell in New York, Jim Haslett in Orlando and Dennis Green on the sideline in San Francisco. Game tickets will average $20 compared to $74 for the NFL.
They will play their games starting the first week of October and will play their championship game on Thanksgiving weekend. Rather than starting with eight or 10 teams, the UFL is starting small, hoping to gain credibility and build slowly by using players that will have a chance to make the NFL -- in some cases in December before the playoffs.
UFL games will also be aired on Versus during the inaugural season. Meanwhile, Comcast and Cox carry HDNet. They have quality programs like "Dan Rather Reports" and "HDNet World Reports." The HD Concert library includes top acts like Dave Mathews Band, U2, Doobie Brothers, Bon Jovi and Eminem. So come on, put them on the air.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this! on washingtonexaminer.com.
