Sports Business July 31, 2009, 7:05PM EST

The United Football League's Game Plan

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Players' minimum base salaries are expected to be $35,000, with performance bonuses that would increase pay to a few hundred thousand dollars. Huyghue expects former NFL players such as quarterbacks J.P. Losman and Tim Rattay to be in the upper echelon of talent, though he declined to discuss roster details.

A potential marquee name for the fledgling league would be former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, reinstated on July 27 to play in the coming NFL season but tainted by his conviction on federal dogfighting charges and an 18-month prison term. However, many expect Vick to draw interest from an NFL team—and the UFL says it will avoid any talent-bidding contests with the NFL. "If, after the conclusion of training camp, no [NFL] team has made an offer to sign Vick, we will reevaluate our position," Huyghue wrote in an e-mail on July 31.

Seeking Naming-Rights Sponsorships

With second-rate talent, alternative football leagues have found it difficult to attract first-rate advertising dollars and a loyal fan base. Paul Staudohar, a professor of business administration at California State University, East Bay, who studies sports economics, thinks the new league will face the same problem. He puts the UFL's long-term survival prospects at 50-50, figuring that potential fan-customers might "watch a game or two out of curiosity."

Hambrecht, who held a minority stake in the USFL's Oakland Invaders, is banking on the sport's popularity and demographics—primarily a market dominated by 21- to 34-year-old men who drink beer. He calls football the "most valuable property you can create."

The UFL is looking to add revenue by more closely aligning corporations with the on-field product: Brand names are to be displayed on jerseys and helmets. Chief Operating Officer Frank Vuono, a former NFL vice-president for licensing, says the "ideal situation" would be for companies to sponsor the naming rights of a team, citing Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls as an example. The UFL registered at least four team names with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, a move the league says is meant to gauge the public's reaction. Registered monikers include the Las Vegas Locomotive, New York Sentinels, Orlando Tuskers, and San Francisco Rockfish. Team names are expected to be announced on Aug. 4 and 5.

Complementing corporate sponsorships, the UFL plans to raise capital through franchise IPOs. The Green Bay Packers have relied on grass-roots financial support in the past, offering four stock sales in its history, most recently in 1997. This fund-raising tactic is credited with keeping the Packers in small-town Wisconsin. According to the team, 112,088 people own more than 4.7 million shares, with a per-person cap of 200,000 shares. The stock can only be sold back to the franchise.

Jamie Clement, an analyst at independent research firm Sidoti, isn't sure these tactics will matter in the long run. "The USFL ultimately fell apart. The XFL fell apart," he notes. "So is the third time a charm—or do disasters come in threes? I'm leaning toward the latter."

Spielberg is a reporter for BusinessWeek.