Could a new football league possibly work? Taking on the NFL would be nearly impossible, but I believe there is enough interest from fans to support more pro leagues. The AFL didn't quite make money in the short run, but it did damage the NFL enough to force a merger. Of course, it's hard to overestimate how much better shape the NFL is in today than the 1960's.

The only way a new league could work is with a group of deep-pocketed owners that don't mind losing money, possibly for a long time. Owners like that wouldn't be easy to find, but Mark Cuban seems like one man crazy enough to do it. The new league would have to acquire premium talent. If teams offered enough money, players at any level would follow. They did with the USFL, just like the AFL. Players will take the sure thing when it comes to cash. Joe Nocera writes for the NY Times' Play magazine that the UFL would offer more money to rookies not subject to the NFL's salary structure.

One option would be to eventually go after high school seniors and college underclassmen. This would be declaring war on the NFL, but perhaps that's the only way. Pete Rozelle himself, working for the Los Angeles Rams in 1960, lost prize recruit and Heisman winner Billy Connor to Bud Adams and the AFL's Houston Oilers, largely because the NFL had illegally signed Connor before he was even eligible to be drafted.

In 1966, it was Giants owner Wellington Mara who escalated the war between the leagues when his team broke a seven-year unwritten rule by signing away Buffalo's veteran kicker Pete Gogolak. It was the first time either league attempted to sign a veteran player from the other league. AFL Commisioner Al Davis was incensed, and soon the AFL Chargers were offering contracts to three Giants players. The two leagues merged a few months later.*

The lesson I take from these examples? All is fair in business and war. The NFL will do what they have to in order to protect their interests and would be very difficult to dent at this point. The UFL would have numerous obstacles, including stadium financing. But the NFL has nurtured so much passion for football in America, the right group of owners may just have a shot to gain a foothold. If owners were willing to pay more to mid-round draft picks, they could get decent players. If the MLS and WNBA can survive, however marginalized, surely another pro football league could make an impact.

* Thanks to Michael MacCambridge's incredible book America's Game for providing the research here.