United Football League will delay start of season

OMAHA, Neb. — The United Football League will move the start of its season from mid-August to mid-September because of ongoing financial problems, commissioner Michael Huyghue said Tuesday.

Huyghue said in a statement that the delay will give the league time to finalize television agreements and "other critical business affairs. Players who reported to training camps this week are returning home at league expense, with the plan being to reopen them in about a month.

UFL owner and founder Bill Hambrecht said he and other investors, who have lost millions of dollars, are committed to funding the 2011 season.

Huyghue, who had scheduled an afternoon teleconference with reporters, said previously that each team had about $1 million in unpaid bills at the end of the 2010 season.

The second-tier UFL has franchises in Omaha, Hartford, Conn., Norfolk, Va., Las Vegas and Sacramento.

The UFL opened in mid-September in its first two years but had hoped to start a month earlier this year to capitalize on a slow period in sports nationally and, possibly, a continuation of the NFL lockout.

"We felt, and still feel, that playing meaningful games during August would benefit the UFL," Huyghue said. "Unfortunately the uncertainty gripping pro sports given the NFL and NBA lockouts created a destabilizing impact throughout the industry.

"Ultimately, this delayed our ability to secure television agreements and other related business matters. We believe, though, that the added time will allow for some necessary housekeeping that will strengthen our product and our brand."

Huyghue said in an interview with The Associated Press in March that the league hoped to capitalize on NFL labor problems by filling August television time slots that would have been taken by NFL preseason games.

The UFL's master plan calls for the league to eventually generate revenue from a TV contract. With the lockout jeopardizing the NFL season, Huyghue spoke with CBS and TNT about televising UFL games but couldn't come to an agreement.

UFL games were shown on HDNet and Versus last year, with the league paying production costs for Versus' telecasts.

The league is made up of players who were cut in NFL training camps, veterans who want to get back to the NFL and free agents. Players earn about $40,000 a season.