UFL, Hartford, Rentschler Field

The UFL officially made the move to Hartford and Rentschler Field today and at least for the next two years there will be professional football in Hartford.

Most of Connecticut is cynical and skeptical, and considering the history of sports in this area and all the false starts its with good reason. But, this isn't talk of brining some NHL, NBA, MLB team here. This is a done deal and happening.

The UFL is trying to satisfy a need in the football market, and without NFL Europe anymore, there is certainly a need in pro football for another pro league. The UFL is trying to be that league. It's not a competitor to the NFL. The UFL thinks of itself as complimentary. As far as attendance, the league is predicated on having a television deal (which it has with Versus and HDnet) and won't be reliant on attendance to sustain operations. The UFL feels it has a sustainable financial model and is projected to break even in year 3. None of the other leagues that failed showed any ability contain costs.

As far as other cities, Orlando and Vegas are back and San Francisco and New York are out. The New York team was moved to Connecticut. The reason was the league felt in its first season the enthusiasm in non-NFL markets was much greater. The league will have six teams with a Nebraska and Texas team added (aren't ready to announce cities) to the mix along with Orlando, Las Vegas, Hartford and a California team. It will expand to 8 teams in 2011. They won't be in any NFL markets. They tried that with new York and a San Francisco team, and that failed.

Chris Palmer, who played at Immaculate in Danbury, at Southern Connecticut, was an assistant at UConn (Andy Baylock hired him) and then found himself in the NFL as Browns head coach and Texans offensive coordinator. He recently served as Giants QB coach the last three years. He also coached in Jacksonville while Randy Edsall was defensive backs coach. Interestingly enough, UFL commissioner Michael Hughuye, a Windsor native, was an executive with the Jaguars at the time.

Now onto logistics. Hughuye reiterated that the league would be willing to help defray the cost of putting field turf in Rentschler Field. field turf would cost an estimated $1 million to put down and the UFL is willing to pay for half of that. They will rent the building, like other tenants and the UConn Football team comes first. That means as long as their is natural grass surface their won't be any two game weekends. The league will hold its home games when the Huskies are not schedule to be at the Rent. That would avoid some of the field mess that happens at a place such as Heniz Field in Pittsburgh, which sometimes hosts Pitt and the Steelers.

It's a complicated procedure and the state would have to initiate the upgrade with the permission of its main tenet. But, I see no reason why we won't see field turf in 2011 or 2012. It makes the building much more versatile for concerts, and grass can be brought in temporarily for soccer and rugby. Everything else would make the building a much more versatile arena.

I have a lot of thoughts on the league, but I think this one might just work. Long-term in Hartford? I don't know. But I think it's set up to have some staying power. The NFL really does need it to keep a reserve of NFL caliber players in shape and sharp.