Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 3, 1994 TAG: 9405030089
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
Organizers of the new venture are Mike Lynn, former executive vice president of the Minnesota Vikings and commissioner of the failed World League of American Football, and Jim Spence, former vice president of ABC Sports.
The plan for what, at the moment, is being called The A League, is to distribute a dozen franchises to corporations such as Federal Express, Anheuser-Busch and the Walt Disney Company.
Teams would play in the headquarters cities of the companies - Memphis, Tenn., for Federal Express, St. Louis for Anheuser-Busch, Anaheim, Calif., for Disney - and wear uniforms with company colors and logos.
"We are in the formative stages," Spence said. "I think as a television sports executive, it's a marvelous concept. The corporate involvement lends instant credibility and addresses longterm viability.
"The companies we've discussed this with think it's a terrific marketing opportunity. In this day of 500 TV channels, it's sometimes difficult to deliver their message the way they want."
Spence said the league is continuing to develop commitments from companies. He would not discuss finances, but it was reported that each franchise would commit $10 million over two years to produce $120 million in seed money for the venture.
Spence said the new league hoped to begin play in 1995. CBS plans to fill Sunday afternoons this fall with movies and alternative sports programming such as figure skating. The network remains interested in football, however, and said it was impressed with the "efforts and prospective ownership constituency," of the Lynn-Spence group.
"We look forward to continuing discussions with them," CBS said in a prepared statement.
Spence said corporate ownership of franchises had worked well in Japan.
"It is a natural evolution for it to happen in the United States," he said. "There's a lot of work to be done, but it's an excellent opportunity. The fact that CBS is without football makes for a positive opportunity. I think there are enough rating points available. There were 36 rating points last fall on an average Sunday. This league doesn't need too many to be successful if the product is what we intend."
Since the American Football League merged with the NFL in 1967, three leagues have been formed and failed.
The first was the World Football League, which operated in 1974 and 1975. It was followed by the United States Football League from 1983-1985 and finally the WLAF, which operated in 1991 and 1992. The WLAF suspended play last year, but there are plans to restore it as a Europe-only operation in 1995.
Both the WFL and USFL engaged in signing wars with the NFL for top players. The new league could produce similar confrontations.
"If the league is to be successful," Spence said, "there will have to be a number of top quality players in the league."
Spence believes three factors will enable the new league to avoid the failures of the others.
"This league will play in the fall, which is the natural time for the sport," he said. The WFL, USFL and WLAF all played spring or summer schedules.
"This will not be like the WLAF was, a farm team, developmental league. That was at the core of its failure. This league will have its own identity and will compete against the NFL.
"The involvement of major companies who are in it for marketing purposes provides instant credibility and staying power for the league.
"All of those things make this markedly different from the WLAF, the USFL and the WFL."
by CNB