UFL delays season's start a month, until mid-September

CHESAPEAKE

Large men wheeled suitcases through the lobby of the Marriott hotel, heading for the checkout desk. Others with later travel plans chatted on their phones, or carried takeout food back to their rooms.

What was supposed to be the first day of preseason practice for the Virginia Destroyers instead felt like the last day of summer camp, with players scattering, following the announcement that the start of the United Football League season had been delayed until mid-September.

"It's disappointing," said defensive back Dante Barnes, a former Norfolk State and Kempsville High player who was making his exit Tuesday afternoon. "But we'll be back in 30 days."

That is the official word. Others, however, may take a more skeptical view of the latest setback for a team that has had more stops, starts and reverses of field than a boxed-in punt returner.

The latest blow would seem to call into question the viability of the financially troubled league. But Commissioner Michael Huyghue and Destroyers coach Marty Schottenheimer were among those insisting Tuesday that this is merely a delay, not a signal that the end of the three-year-old UFL is imminent.

"There's obviously issues, and they're working to be resolved," Schottenheimer said. "From my perspective I have confidence in the principals and powers that be relative to where we go from here.

"I believe very, very strongly that we'll be playing this year, and it's going to be good football."

The league's challenges are financial. Without a major TV deal, the UFL has lost about $100 million its first two years, Huyghue said. With few outside investors, this year's $50 million operating budget will be borne almost entirely by the league's owners.

Huyghue said the league discussed suspending operations last month. Instead, it opted to buy some time in hopes of attracting investors and dealing with several "big ticket" financial issues.

He said owners are committed to playing the 2011 season. However, he said it is the last year they are willing to "go it alone."

"Over the long haul, we will need to generate more capital which means TV will have to come in," he said.

Gambling that the NFL lockout would last into the preseason, the UFL moved its start date to mid-August, hoping that its status as the only pro football league playing games would lead to a TV rights deal. None materialized, however.

With no deal on the horizon, Huyghue said the league hopes to cut expenses by reducing workmen's compensation and travel costs.

The Destroyers, a first-year franchise, had been in the Marriott a week. Coaches conducted meetings in trailers in the parking lot and walked through plays in ballrooms. They had been waiting for the go-ahead to begin practice.

It was supposed to come Tuesday. Instead, players learned from media reports late Monday night that the season was being delayed, several said.

"A lot of guys were distraught," said safety Aaron Rouse, a First Colonial High and Virginia Tech product who has played in both the NFL and UFL. "There's not a guarantee that in 30 days it'll be restarted."

Rouse said he and other players had not been paid since reporting to what the team is now calling a mini-camp.

"We were in meetings three or four times a day, and nobody complained," he said. "That's commitment, and you do that because you love the game."

With the end of the NFL lockout expected to come soon, Rouse said he expects to be in an NFL camp when the Destroyers are scheduled to re-convene in mid-August. Barnes and Michael Stover, a first-year defensive end from William and Mary, said they plan to return.

"I'm confident in what (Schottenheimer) told us," Stover said. "And that's that the UFL will be back this year."

The team has sold about 2,500 season tickets since they became available July 1, said John Castleberry, the team's vice president of sales and marketing. It has done no paid advertising, relying on social media and appearances by Schottenheimer, who has more than 30 years of NFL experience, to get the word out.

Castleberry said he fielded just a handful of calls from season ticket holders Tuesday. The league has offered refunds to anyone who requests one. He also said he'd talked to some of the team's sponsors.

"Right now, everybody is very much on board," he said.

The news of the delay set off alarms for some, though. Eric Kevitz, founder of the team's fan club, said fans' faith in the team and the league has been shaken.

"To me it nearly is a death blow, unless they're able to pull out a miracle," he said. "We really can't trust anything from the UFL at this point."

The team is scheduled to play at the Sportsplex in Virginia Beach. Mayor Will Sessoms said he wishes the team well but that Tuesday's announcement causes him to question its viability.

The city will not lose money should the team not play, Sessoms said. Under an agreement, the UFL would get 80 percent of city admission taxes paid for tickets, an amount that would be capped at $240,000 a year. That money could only be used for improvements at the Sportsplex, such as additional bleachers, restrooms, scoreboards and lights.

The UFL has yet to ask for any admissions tax money back on tickets already sold, said Patti Phillips, Beach finance director.

Chuck Thornton, who manages the Sportsplex for the city, said he'll work with the team to reschedule games. A team official said that only the Aug. 13 and Sept. 2 games would need to be rescheduled. The other two home games - on Sept. 24 and Oct. 14 - could be played as scheduled.

"We don't want to lose them by any means," Thornton said.

Kevitz said he remains hopeful the UFL will "get it together." So does Rouse, who has been one of the team's more visible spokesmen, making appearances and talking up the team to folks in his hometown.

"I've talked to anyone who would listen," he said. "But I wonder if fans are not going to take this league for a joke now."

While players and most coaches are heading home, Schottenheimer, who has been running the team from an office set up in a hotel suite, plans to stay in town, preparing for the season and promoting his squad. "I'm in it for the long haul," he said.

How long that is remains to be seen. Schottenheimer and Huyghue said the league's ultimate salvation could come from forming some sort of partnership with the NFL. Asked if he was pursuing such a deal, Huyghue laughed.

"If the (NFL) labor situation gets solved on Thursday, I would be in their offices on Friday," he said.

Pilot writer Aaron Applegate contributed to this report.

Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372, ed.miller@pilotonline.com