Start-Up Tackles Football Dreams | Entrepreneurs go for touchdown with creation of a development league
Many have tried, but none have succeeded in creating a profitable professional spring football league.
But if Marvin Tomlin and Ben Eison have their way, the New Haven-based United National Football League will be a first to transform those business fumbles into success.
The two recently announced the formation of a development football league and will be shooting for a kickoff date in January of next year.
They have already begun wooing possible franchise owners as well as media partners and corporate sponsors.
So why do Tomlin and Eison believe they can succeed where so many have failed, in some cases spectacularly?
“We are going to be completely different than any other league,” Tomlin said. “Every league that has started up in the spring has attempted to be a league that is almost competing with the [National Football League]. We’re not going to be competitors.”
Tomlin’s point is emphasized as the frenzy over the Super Bowl peaks. The playoff game between the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers drew more than 50 million viewers, an indication of the NFL’s strength and popularity.
Becoming part of the NFL’s system — as opposed to competing against it — is Tomlin’s plan.
Tomlin describes the UNFL as a minor or development league for the NFL. Its players would only be allowed to participate in the league for a maximum of two years, with the singular goal for all players to get a job with an NFL team.
“This is something that has never been done before. It will be a lot like Triple A baseball,” said Tomlin.
Its business model centers on selling franchises. Tomlin said they are in talks with four potential owners, but he declined to name the interested parties. However, the UNFL may make a formal announcement in February following the Super Bowl.
Another twist in the UNFL’s plan is to avoid the big cities and to focus recruiting players and a fan base from colleges. “We want to grab that college crowd because most of these players will be right out of college,” Tomlin said. “We want to have a college community support their professional franchise.”
There may be another spring professional league starting up. The All-American Football League is slated to start play in April with six teams and players will earn an average of $5,000 per contest with some “star” players earning bonuses. It has been a rocky start for the AAFL; it was supposed to start play last year.
That pales in comparison to the failure of the XFL, started in 2001 by World Wrestling Entertainment chairman Vince McMahon. The XFL lost an estimated $30 million before it folded after one year.
In 1983, the United States Football League nearly succeeded with big-money contracts to lure top talent and a contract with then-fledgling ESPN. It closed down in 1987, reportedly $160 million in debt.
Each of these leagues is different, but similarities in their failures exist, asserted David Carter, University of Southern California professor of sports business.
“The similarities are in the challenges they face,” he said. “It can include not being funded well-enough or a quality of play that is not up to the expectations of fans.”
Carter also cited a lack of media distribution that has doomed some leagues. Viability can hinge on the league and owners setting “appropriate benchmarks.”
Tomlin is unfazed. He knows the sport as management coordinator for Milford-based Real Games Sports Management, an agency for football players. “The idea for this came up from talking to certain players and coaching personnel,” he said. “There wasn’t a way for coaches to scout all the good talent, especially from smaller schools.”
The league is scheduled to play games from January to April, to coincide with the NFL Draft. “We’ve told the NFL what we’re doing and they’re okay with it, as are some NFL teams we’ve talked to,” he said .
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