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From: wildbill@ucbvax.ARPA (William J. Laubenheimer)
Newsgroups: net.sport.football
Subject: Re: Whither the USFL?
Message-ID: <9089@ucbvax.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 15-Jul-85 21:19:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.9089
Posted: Mon Jul 15 21:19:39 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 17-Jul-85 07:06:24 EDT
References: <8994@ucbvax.ARPA> <2338@ut-sally.UUCP>
Reply-To: wildbill@ucbvax.UUCP (William J. Laubenheimer)
Distribution: net
Organization: University of California at Berkeley
Lines: 26
Keywords: USFL, NFL, merger, realignment

Regarding the breakup of current rivalries such as Dolphins/Jets,
Cowboys/Redskins, etc.: When moving from mostly five-team divisions to
four-team divisions, something obviously has to give. If you're selling
out your stadium every week anyway (what percentage of capacity does the
NFL average, anyway?), and most teams involved in rivalries of this
nature seem to be able to do this, the only difference would be in the
TV ratings, which might be somewhat lower as compared to a grudge match.
But in many cases, there would be compensations. Maybe the Dolphins don't
get to play the Jets every year, but they would get two games against the
Steelers. Cowboys/49ers and Cowboys/Rams twice a year seems like adequate
compensation for Cowboys/Redskins and Cowboys/Cardinals. Other relocated
teams would quickly find opponents to create rivalries with. Also, in those
years when you match up with a former rival, interest would probably be
substantially up as compared to when the rival used to be around each year.

I also like the eight-team division-winners-only format, as I indicated in
my original article. The problem, though, is that fewer playoff games
mean less revenue from playoff games, which means less money in the owners'
pockets and less salary and playoff awards for the players -- which is why
it's about as likely to happen as Jim Brown making a successful comeback.
In other words, don't count on it. That's why I think a twelve-team format
is the most likely one.

                                        Bill Laubenheimer
----------------------------------------UC-Berkeley Computer Science
     ...Killjoy went that-a-way--->     ucbvax!wildbill