Some positive hope for football fans here in Orlando and their dreams of some day having a professional team. There is a possibility that the Orlando Renegades could be one of the new teams to respawn into existence under a USFL revival of the short lived 80’s football league (story HERE)
Forgive me if I’m a little skeptical.
Orlando has had many NFL alternatives fail here. The most recent endeavor, the Orlando Apollos of the AAF was the most infuriating and embarrassing of the bunch, with high promises made to fans and players, only to fail in completing even one season, and sending fans home with another loss in the spring football column and players home unpaid and without a boatload of promised benefits.
It seemed real with Steve Spurrier coaching and some NFL bonafides along for the ride, but it too was just nonsense. It was my last day to day beat blog and it was shady from the start.
Why will this be any different?
The obstacles are the same. Where will the revenue come from? Even with no NFL team, Orlando football fans travel to Gainesville, and Tallahassee for college games. They travel to Tampa, Jacksonville, and Miami for NFL games. Are they going to expect us to pulll from our budget for this? There could be TV revenue, but we know networks are quick to give the hook to under performers. What will the USFL do different?
Once again, we’ll see what the plan is and what they have in store for us, but I won’t be hopeful.
We’ve been let down so many times, hope is a fool’s errand at this point.