Previously, the NFL has ignored the UFL, a new pro football league that will launch later this year with a four-team, six-game premiere season.
Though it’s not as if the NFL should feel threatened by the upstart league, there’s no reason for the undisputed champ of the sport to help out a potential competitor. (It’s not as if the UFL will generate enough revenue and eyeballs to bogart, say, Rich Eisen from NFL Network.)
But NFLN’s newest on-air addition has posted an item at NFL.com about the UFL’s pay scale. And the UFL reportedly is taking issue with it.
Jason La Canfora reports that the UFL will offer a measly $35,000 to all players, on an across-the-board basis. Another $15,000 might be available in playing-time incentives.
(On a per-game basis, the $35,000 figure translates to a salary of $93,000 in the NFL’s 16-game season. First-year players in the NFL earn a minimum salary of $310,000.)
If true, it’s good news for the NFL, since it creates the kind of financial disparity that even the promise of joining a UFL starting lineup (as opposed to languishing on an NFL practice squad) couldn’t overcome.
But there’s a question as to whether the report is accurate. The UFLAccess.com web site, which might or might not have a formal relationship with the UFL, says that the report is incorrect, citing an unnamed UFL source.
We’ve contacted the UFL in an effort to resolve this one. We’ll update if/when we hear anything.
