Search Results: usfl

• Gene Therapy: Then You Don't Love Football

  Jul 4, 2022 Gene Clemons 0 Comments

  

   

  by: Gene Clemons

   

   

  While most media members ignored it or tried to paint a narrative that nobody was paying attention, the USFL just completed their first season. That culminated over July 4th weekend when the Birmingham Stallions defeated the Philadelphia Stars in the USFL Championship held in Canton Ohio. Fox Sports president Eric Shanks did not allow any speculation to begin when he announced last week that the USFL will return next season. The ratings have been steady throughout the season. Games averaged over a million viewers on Fox and NBC. Even when you add in the cable network games on USA Network and FS1 the averages were still 715,000. Those numbers were better than the NHL, Premier League and MLS in this country. All three of those entities people will argue with you that there is an appetite for those sports but not for Spring football.

   

  The question is why? Why are so many in the media lying to sports fans; pretending as if there is no appetite for football in the spring? The answer may actually shock you. Too many people who work in football don't love football! 

   

  The idea might be difficult to understand as a sports fan, but the truth is like every other job, writers, broadcasters, and content creators get burned out and they are accustomed to the offseason to provide them with the necessary time to recharge the batteries. Interesting enough, most people who love their jobs don't need months away from it to feel rejuvenated. Usually all I need is a few days off from writing or creating content and I am right back ready to work. So, the idea of Spring football was fantastic for me. When the FCS decided to move their 2020 season to Spring 2021, I seemed to be the only journalist in the country excited about it and who truly believed that could be a permanent decision for them. Everyone else thought it would be a disaster. Nobody really pointed to anything significant except logistics.

   

  I love sports and more specifically I love football. One of the reasons I believe I don't get burned out on the game is because I love the game. I have heard many people including those in the business say things like "I love the NFL" or "I love college football" but I like it all. Youth league, high school, college, flag, women's, and every professional league out there, including foreign leagues, offer something to learn or study about the game. Many journalists don't invest in the intricacies of the game, they invest in storylines that can be regurgitated. But, like anything you have grown to truly love, you are always finding new things to love about it. That is what sustains you when you can't lean on the things that normally fuel your attraction. How can you ever love something you don't truly understand? How can you remain in love with something you only know at a superficial level?

   

  Another thing that shows up when people who cover the sport for a living don't want to invest in new leagues is that the grind to build up the sports fan's sustained attention is real. Football fans have been burned so many times before with leagues that did not last for many reasons but ultimately because the investment was not there for the ownership, sponsors and of course the media. Fans need the investment from the other stakeholders before they will truly invest. That means if media entities and journalists don't regularly produce content on the league, if they don't tweet or post about it, then how will the football fan who doesn't know much about the league find information about it. Most fans have their trusted outlet, journalists or creator that they follow for their sport's information. So, if those people or entities do not spread the word, how can the interest spread.

   

  The social media buzz began to rise over the past few weeks as more people happened upon the games. The response seemed to be pretty universal "These are some fun games." Watching as various football writers or creatives woke up and remembered that football was being played once they were not focused on NFL non-padded OTA and voluntary minicamps was funny. But the built-in attention that NFL content gets makes them want to grab the low hanging fruit. But the chance to expand the game of football is one that should never be overlooked or avoided because it may not get as many clicks, initially. As a football fan more football is never a bad thing, especially if it is fun. Ultimately, that's all you can ask for; right? Entertainment is the purpose, so as long as a league can be entertaining, then football fans will definitely invest in it. 

   

  There's value in being a pioneer. People always remember the "day one's" those that invested before it was fashionable. The fact that so many media coverage outlets didn't even bother to try and cover the USFL is sad. In days long past now, the media was charged with exposing the community at large to new endeavors and once the information was properly disseminated, the people could make an informed decision about whether they wanted to continue to consume it.

   

  I was excited to see the USFL accomplish something the XFL was not able to in its initial return or the AAF in their failed attempt at a league. I was willing to be critical about the areas where the league came up short and I gave them their props on the things they hit out of the park. I was even willing to admit I was wrong about the things I did not believe would work. That's all a part of loving this game and wanting to see it consistently expand and improve. There is more to football than the NFL and major college programs. More athletes deserve to be highlighted and more have earned the right to play the game we love professionally and be paid a good living wage to do so. The debate about the appetite for Spring football is over. A hunger was fulfilled and there will only be more to eat next year. It is time for sport's media to do their part. Start cooking.

   

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  Gene Clemons is a Sports Analyst and Contributor to CWN Sports. His weekly column and podcast - Gene Therapy focuses on Sports, Politics and Social/Urban issues.

   

   

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• Gene Therapy: USFL, Adapt or Die!

  May 10, 2022 Gene Clemons 0 Comments

  

   

  by Gene Clemons

   

  The USFL is weeks into their return to action after 37 years of inactivity. Through the first few weeks the USFL has shown video technology and camera angles not seen on an NFL broadcast. That innovation is nice but it's adding questionable tech to a product that everybody else already enjoys. The real innovations that could separate them from the established game have not really been taken advantage of so far in the young season. Only one three-point conversion has been made this season. Nobody has tried the new onside kick and there are other little gameplay innovations that we have not seen used.

   

  Outside of the players there are so many people who want the USFL to succeed. They know that there is room for football that is not the NFL that football fans will consume. But there is a quote from the movie Moneyball that applies perfectly to the USFL, the XFL and every other league that decides it wants to dip its toe in the water. Billy Beane is talking to his scouting department as they try to put a game plan in place to replace their three most influential players and he knows they can't keep doing things the way they have always done it. He announces their new direction, and all of the scouts think he's crazy. After dropping an expletive in response to Grady Fuson's answer, he bangs his fist on the table and says:

   

  "If we try to play like the Yankees in here, we will lose to the Yankees out there."

   

  If these leagues try to do what the NFL does or even try to garner affiliation with the NFL, their product will without a doubt flounder and fail. In other words, "lose" to the NFL. So the innovation can't simply be in the first down technology, these leagues can't be afraid to embrace playing offense and defense differently. The rules can't be afraid to go completely away from formatting that we have become accustomed to with the NFL and college football. One of the reasons Canadian football has been able to survive is that the game is played differently than the American game. 12 men, forward motion, three downs, and many other smaller modifications allows them to create a lane all their own. So much that success in the NFL does not automatically mean success in Canada.

   

  In the first week of the USFL season, kickers blamed the new ball that was being used for all the missed kicks. The real question was why were there so many kicks attempted? Why were the offenses so conservative? Yes there is a new three-point conversion but why not promote scoring by making field goals more difficult? Reduce the field goal width to the size of an arena league field goal. That may make teams think three times about playing for a field goal. Back up the extra point to 35 yards so that teams understand the added value of the two and three-point conversions. Nobody comes to a football game to watch the four or five field goal performances seen regularly in the NFL. They want to see scoring or they want to see teams die trying. 

   

  The offensive end is where it is easiest to put in stipulations that reward aggressive offenses. Possibly changing the hash marks or even widening the field could encourage more offensive innovation. You can give an offense an extra 10 yards if they get a first down on a first down play. This would encourage offenses to abandon conservative play calling on third down. If the offense decides to punt beyond the 50 yard line or kick a field goal, the team should be penalized 10 yards. This would also encourage more people to go for it on fourth down once they get beyond midfield. Penalizing the conservative forces these coaches to innovate and adapt to a modernized game.

   

  Another innovation that the USFL needs to make is to speed the game up. Traditional play clocks allow for slower play from teams which in turn bores fans who have the attention span of a garden fly. If the play clock was set at 20 seconds, it would force all teams into up-tempo play which means that teams have a better chance of making mistakes that lead to more scoring. A faster game also keeps the fan engaged because things are moving quickly. Football is a game of mistakes and the team who makes the least mistakes usually wins the game. Force the teams into a situation where mistakes are critical. Don’t pause the game to allow defenses to substitute when offenses substitute. The pace of the game would ultimately result in the clock running consistently and a faster overall game time.

   

  Fans love scoring! The Arena League was one of the most popular professional football entities because they were a fast-paced league built on scoring. The USFL would be wise to bottle some of that excitement as they transition from Birmingham where all of the teams are currently playing, to their actual cities in year two of the league. That is when they can really make the league more personal like the AFL was able to do for years. The USFL has been consistently pulling ratings that rival or beat other professional leagues and with that it has proven it is a viable business. To grow in the right direction it will take foresight. The Arena League was able to tap into the community by offering an affordable experience for the family to come and attend. Many minor league baseball teams use similar models to draw in fans. The fan experience needs to be personal, much more personal than they get from the NFL and even big time college football. 

   

  The ability to innovate is there for the USFL, not just in technology used to broadcast the game, but on social media, in their game play and in their fan interaction. They need to adapt, to be open to constantly evolving as they explore various avenues. That willingness makes them unique and can make this league unique if they really want to be around forever.

   

   

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  Gene Clemons is a Sports Analyst and Contributor to CWN Sports. His weekly column and podcast - Gene Therapy focuses on Sports, Politics and Social/Urban issues.

   

   

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