Murdoch says fox plans on building up and selling teams for the next 5-7 years

[herns]

“NEW: Fox plans to build up a bunch of @USFL teams & sell them in 5-7 years”
https://twitter.com/sarafischer/status/ ... QxLwWjfaew
“One of Fox's most intriguing projects so far this year has been the rebooted USFL spring football league that Fox launched with a historic simulcast with NBC in April. Ratings so far have been surprisingly good, considering previous efforts to build a spring football league have failed.

Murdoch said Fox plans to continue building up small local teams and then sell those franchises to local owners in five to seven years' time.”

https://www.axios.com/2022/05/24/fox-li ... an-murdoch

So does this mean the USFL is already looking at expanding?

[SamTheRam28]

And does it mean that they plan on keeping the hub for 5-7 years? Because I don't like the sound of that. I hope they sell these teams and get them in market as soon as they can get a good owner lined up.

[herns]

And does it mean that they plan on keeping the hub for 5-7 years? Because I don't like the sound of that. I hope they sell these teams and get them in market as soon as they can get a good owner lined up.

I think if that’s the plan it’ll fail. It could also mean have the new teams play a year in the hub and then move out, wish they went more in depth in the interview

[Tank55]

I would interpret "small local teams" to mean that they are in market.

I'm curious what he means by "small." It's going to be a very interesting off season for the USFL.

[MarkNelson]

Murdoch needs to monetize the league. That’s the only way he can support this thing. Really though. Is this a surprise?

I’m willing to hedge a bet that the XFL owners are no different. They want to build the league so they can sell franchises. Making a huge return on their investment. Don’t be disappointed if they say this is about football, because it is only partially about football.

I believe in my heart McMahon had more interest in the game of football. WWE shareholders saw it as an investment.

Back to Murdoch and the USFL. Does he think he has the right people in place to grow this league? He might be disappointed.

[4th&long]

Murdoch needs to monetize the league. That’s the only way he can support this thing. Really though. Is this a surprise?

I’m willing to hedge a bet that the XFL owners are no different. They want to build the league so they can sell franchises. Making a huge return on their investment. Don’t be disappointed if they say this is about football, because it is only partially about football.

I believe in my heart McMahon had more interest in the game of football. WWE shareholders saw it as an investment.

Back to Murdoch and the USFL. Does he think he has the right people in place to grow this league? He might be disappointed.

Agree with this part in bold.

I see NOLA next year as I previously posted as its busing distance from Birm - that means going from 10 to 18 home games. They can also do some in Philly (esp Philly/NJ games) and Houston.

As far as having the right people, BW said this strategy last yr pre TSL season. They can enhance staff as needed as they grow/evolve. Their stated goal year 1 was accomplish a complete season done well.

[herns]

Murdoch needs to monetize the league. That’s the only way he can support this thing. Really though. Is this a surprise?

I’m willing to hedge a bet that the XFL owners are no different. They want to build the league so they can sell franchises. Making a huge return on their investment. Don’t be disappointed if they say this is about football, because it is only partially about football.

I believe in my heart McMahon had more interest in the game of football. WWE shareholders saw it as an investment.

Back to Murdoch and the USFL. Does he think he has the right people in place to grow this league? He might be disappointed.

The consistent reporting has been fox thinks they have solved and figured out spring football. Maybe they’re right if they can get solid ownership groups in place quickly but we don’t know if that’ll happen Or not yet

[MGB01]

If the plan is to eventually become the original USFL size-wise well forget it in the short term. You can't run anything what the USFL had originally as a single entity, especially now when we're talking about monies that start with B to make this a real deal. "Over 5-7 years" doesn't sound real assuring that there's a slew of ownership groups in wait for now either.

[GDAWG]

5-7 years is overly ambitious. I can't see the league lasting past a second year if they continue to have a hub. What's the point of giving the teams city names if the plan in 2023 is keeping them in a hub?

[herns]

If the plan is to eventually become the original USFL size-wise well forget it in the short term. You can't run anything what the USFL had originally as a single entity, especially now when we're talking about monies that start with B to make this a real deal. "Over 5-7 years" doesn't sound real assuring that there's a slew of ownership groups in wait for now either.

I think it depends on how you read it, I read it as expansion while others read it as it’ll take that long to get 8 owners for current teams. I wish the interviewer dug a bit deeper on this one because it’s so damn vague