As We See It

Why not the UFL?

Some random thoughts with Commish Michael Huyghue

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UFL Commish Michael Huyghue
Photo: Steve Marcus

Yes, Las Vegas has a football team—The Locomotives (“Locos”), part of the United Football League, whose commissioner was in town to promote the league’s sophomore season:

On the level of talent in the UFL: “You’re seeing NFL backups play. Look at [former UFL Florida Tusker] Michael Spurlock, who went to Tampa Bay late last year and scored returning a punt back against the Saints. He’s not a well-known player, but he certainly was on that day.”

Calendar

Locos host Florida Tuskers
at Sam Boyd Stadium, September 18
Tickets start at 20
ufl-football.com

On getting Las Vegans to attend games: “We didn’t know what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised. We had a core audience of 5,000-6,000 who came to each game. This market led the league in attendance.”

On what will be done differently this year: “The team will live in Las Vegas this year—the players and coach [Jim Fassel]. We’ll have cheerleaders, a marketing and PR department ... and new uniforms, silver, red and black. The other [green and blue] uniforms were a bit of a blunder.”

On the possibility of the NFL buying the UFL: “We have a close relationship with the NFL. That 43 players and five coaches and administrators moved up [to the pro level] last year is indicative of that. But we want the autonomy to run our league separately and not just be a development league. Plus, we embrace gambling in our league. We think Vegas is the right spot, and want to make it the pinnacle headquarter franchise for our league. We don’t feel we have to follow the NFL philosophy all the way through. That’s what our owners invested in.”

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Ken Miller

Ken Miller is the editor of Las Vegas Magazine, having previously served as associate editor at Las Vegas Weekly, assistant ...

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