Commissioner: UFL must add two teams to play in 2012

The United Football League's fate rests upon expanding from four to six teams by early spring, league commissioner Michael Huyghue said Wednesday.

To continue, the three-year-old UFL - whose champion is the Virginia Destroyers - must secure new investors and add two franchise cities, Huyghue said in a phone interview.

"I think we'll give ourselves to March, April at the latest, to build those two new cities," Huyghue said, "but in my mind we've got to get two new cities to really go forward."

Huyghue said he expects one potential team owner to decide as soon as this week whether to buy in. The UFL has previously identified Jackson, Miss.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Portland, Ore.; as possible homes for new franchises.

Salt Lake City is considered the landing spot for the Las Vegas franchise should it wish to move.

Huyghue indicated any hope of securing television revenue or a possible NFL partnership depends on the UFL establishing a larger "footprint."

"In my view we have to have six teams - a minimum of five - but realistically six teams," Huyghue said.

Destroyers coach Marty Schottenheimer said he has had no part in the UFL's expansion effort and has not been briefed on that status.

"At this point my expectation is I'll return," Schottenheimer said. "I'm just waiting to see what happens."

Tom Robinson, (757) 446-2518, tom.robinson@pilotonline.com