OMAHA, Neb. — With the NFL working to end its lockout and save the preseason, the struggling United Football League announced Tuesday it would push back the start of its games from August to September.
The schedule switch is another blow — at a critical time — to the second-tier pro league that has lost more than $100 million in its two years of existence.
The UFL had hoped to gain exposure in the vacuum left by a locked-out NFL. It scheduled several early-season games on Sundays and aimed to fill television time slots normally reserved for NFL exhibition games. But Commissioner Michael Huyghue told reporters he was resigned to losing a “windfall” from the NFL.
“It seems nonsensical for us to play on Sundays when the NFL is there,” Huyghue said. “The only reason we did it was we hedged our bet and felt confident the labor situation was going to invade the traditional preseason, and that might be inducement for networks to want to fill that void with a high-quality football product. That is not the case.”
The UFL has franchises in Omaha, Hartford, Conn., Norfolk, Va., Las Vegas and Sacramento.
The league is made up of players who were cut in NFL training camps, veterans who want to get back to the NFL and free agents. Players earn about $40,000 a season.
Even with the delayed start, the plan is for each team to play eight regular-season games, Huyghue said.
This is considered a make-or-break year for the UFL, whose majority owners are Bill Hambrecht, Paul Pelosi and Bill Mayer.
Huyghue said the league projected that it would lose money the first three years. But the $100 million in losses so far is considerably higher than Huyghue had reported previously. There also are $6 million in unpaid bills from UFL vendors.
Huyghue said he twice recommended that the league suspend operations, in January and again last month. But he said each time the owners told him they believed in the UFL’s mission and were committed to funding the league’s $50 million budget for this season.
The commissioner said the UFL’s long-term survival depends on bringing in new investors and landing a TV contract. He unsuccessfully negotiated with CBS and TNT in recent months.
The best-case scenario would be for the NFL to come on board as a partner, he said.
Huyghue said he had unsuccessfully approached the NFL the past two years about a partnership or a commitment to use the UFL as a developmental league.
Asked if he would try again, Huyghue said, “If the labor situation got solved on Thursday, I probably would be in their office on Friday. It’s a natural fit. We’re going to need a more powerful support behind us to assist with television and sponsorship.”
If the UFL became a developmental league in the mold of the old NFL Europe, Huyghue said, the UFL would be willing to play in the spring or fall or a combination of the two.
The NFL and UFL have had a “cordial” relationship, Huyghue said. Last season each 52-man roster included an average of 24 players with NFL experience. NFL teams signed about 60 UFL players last season, assigning them to either the active roster or practice squad.
“Our owners don’t want to get out,” Huyghue said. “They want a system of support so they’re not shouldering all the financial burden themselves.”
UFL games were shown on HDNet and Versus last year, with the league paying production costs for Versus’ telecasts.
The league also spends about $9 million for workers’ compensation insurance and an additional $2 million on chartered flights and hotels, Huyghue said.
The emergence of the Omaha Nighthawks as a signature franchise gave the UFL hope it could find its niche. The team averaged about 23,000 fans for its four home games last season with a roster featuring NFL veterans Jeff Garcia and Ahman Green and former Ohio State star Maurice Clarett.
Clarett is set to play for the Nighthawks again this season along with Nebraska’s 2001 Heisman Trophy winner, Eric Crouch.
The UFL is hoping to avoid the fate of other upstart pro football leagues that failed.
“You can only tell people you’re doing your best,” Huyghue said. “The only crystal ball I have is the message I get from the owners, and they are supportive.”