THE MICHIGAN PANTHERS ARE BACK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Motor City Sonics]

USFL announced their 8 teams..............and the Michigan Panthers are one of them 

 

AWESOME !!!!!!

 

 

Where will they play?   Don't know yet.    I'd bet on Wayne State, but the MICHIGAN Panthers could mean Grand Rapids too. 

[Motor City Sonics]

[Motor City Sonics]

Birmingham Stallions

Houston Gamblers

Michigan Panthers

New Jersey Generals

New Orleans Breakers

Philadelphia Stars

Pittsburgh Maulers

Tampa Bay Bandits

 

 

Surprised Oakland, San Diego and St. Louis weren't part of it 

 

[buddha]

can we bring bobby hebert out of retirement?  pretty sure he's doing sports radio in louisiana now.

[Motor City Sonics]

Just now, buddha said:

can we bring bobby hebert out of retirement?  pretty sure he's doing sports radio in louisiana now.

Do you think the Panthers quarterback (I predict Shea Patterson) will be better than Goff/Boyle/Blough) ? 

[buddha]

if history is any guide, the panthers will be better than the lions...

[John_Brian_K]

Someone brought up on 97.1 today a question about a new NFL team in Detroit.  It was laughed off and rightly so, but I could not help but yearn for the possibility of having a new NFL team that was local to root for without betraying the state by rooting for the Steelers or Rams or something.

I do not actively root for the Lions anymore, have not for a few years.  Still like watching football, but it is just such a waste of time with this organization.  I looked up some stats...we have averaged under 6 wins per year since the inception of the Lions...almost 100 years and even less over the past 20 years...it was just over 5 I think.  It is brutal.

Give me the Up North Hawks or something, come on Dan Gilbert...you buy everything else..get working on it.

[RedRamage]

1 hour ago, Motor City Sonics said:

USFL announced their 8 teams..............and the Michigan Panthers are one of them 

 

AWESOME !!!!!!

 

 

Where will they play?   Don't know yet.    I'd bet on Wayne State, but the MICHIGAN Panthers could mean Grand Rapids too. 

Woot!  Finally, a professional football team in the state! 🙂

[RedRamage]

I would be surprised to see if in Grand Rapids.  There really aren't any good football stadiums around here that I can think of... The best option would probably be GVSU but that's in Allendale, a 15 minute drive west of GR.

[RedRamage]

Hmm... well, I guess we know they won't be playing in GR at least the first year:  https://www.foxsports.com/stories/other/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-united-states-football-league-spring-2022

[Motor City Sonics]

48 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

Hmm... well, I guess we know they won't be playing in GR at least the first year:  https://www.foxsports.com/stories/other/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-united-states-football-league-spring-2022

But own market.........They are the MICHIGAN Panthers, not the Detroit Panthers. 

NFL is getting pissy already over Panthers.   The USFL had it first.  

Possible venues include.....

 

Jimmy John's Field in Utica,   Cap. 4,500

Wayne State (Tom Adams Field)  Cap. 6,439  (where do they get 39 from.......can squeeze an extra body in there?)

Rynearson Stadium (EMU)  Cap  30,000

Keyworth Stadium (DCFC - Hamtramck)  Cap. 7,933

Silverdome Parking lot -  The ground can't be any harder than it was with a layer of carpet on a slab of cement.

 

Any other possible venues?

 

Old Tiger Stadium site with some seating added?   

 

Could this be the catalyst for a multi-use stadium that brings elite pro soccer back? 

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

Edited November 22, 2021 by Motor City Sonics

[MichiganCardinal]

Jimmy John's Field is the first venue I thought of, but their low capacity may be a dealbreaker. 

The USPBL has enjoyed success despite COVID, but struggle with a venue that can only be used so many months out of the year. This is exactly the type of thing I would expect from their ownership. I could even see their ownership funding a new stadium if public interest in the team is high enough.

Edited November 22, 2021 by MichiganCardinal

[RedRamage]

I'd honestly love 

8 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

But own market.........They are the MICHIGAN Panthers, not the Detroit Panthers. 

NFL is getting pissy already over Panthers.   The USFL had it first.  

Possible venues include.....

 

Jimmy John's Field in Utica,   Cap. 4,500

Wayne State (Tom Adams Field)  Cap. 6,439  (where do they get 39 from.......can squeeze an extra body in there?)

Rynearson Stadium (EMU)  Cap  30,000

Keyworth Stadium (DCFC - Hamtramck)  Cap. 7,933

Silverdome Parking lot -  The ground can't be any harder than it was with a layer of carpet on a slab of cement.  

I'd honestly love to see them play over here on the west side of the state... I just don't think it's likely.

In some ways Lubbers stadium would be perfect... ~10K capacity... big enough to fit a lot of fans, not too big that it seems empty if you don't have huge numbers.  The field is also a pretty nice field.

But in other ways it would be really bad... 15 minute drive from the major population area.  Getting on and off campus during busy times is horrendous and not huge amounts of parking.  Very little stadium improvements in terms of concessions and probably would need to work out something to serve alcohol.

My guess would be Keyworth Stadium. I suspect it would relatively cheap to get in there vs. Ford Field and it's right in Detroit area vs. Rynearson.  If the USFL ends up being wildly successful, then maybe it'll move to EMU... and if it become even more successful than that... Ford Field??

Which of course brings up another interesting speculation question.  According to Wikipedia, the stadium is owned by Detroit/Wayne County Stadium Authority, but is operated by the Lions.  If you were the Lions and, let's say 5 years down the line the USFL is pretty successful and the Panthers in particular are doing well... do you allow them to play in Ford Field (assuming the contract that Lions have allows them to refuse various things)?

[buddha]

1 hour ago, RedRamage said:

Hmm... well, I guess we know they won't be playing in GR at least the first year:  https://www.foxsports.com/stories/other/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-united-states-football-league-spring-2022

i will be really surprised if there was a second season.

[Motor City Sonics]

No way this team will ever play at Ford Field.    

 

 

[Motor City Sonics]

Keyworth seems like a good fit and DCFC draws very well, but that fan base will lose their shit if a pro football team plays there. 

My guess would be Wayne State.      And I would be surprised if it lasted a second year, but we'll see. 

[Motown Bombers]

Connor Cook may actually be a starting QB in Detroit after all. 

[Hongbit]

 I’ve been burned too many times before. I’m done with off-season pro football leagues. 

This one appears to be really clever marketing as they aren’t ever going to play in Michigan and instead use the name to try and dupe the locals into becoming fans.  Smart in a scummy ad guy way.  

Edited November 22, 2021 by Hongbit

[MichiganCardinal]

1 hour ago, Hongbit said:

 I’ve been burned too many times before. I’m done with off-season pro football leagues. 

This one appears to be really clever marketing as they aren’t ever going to play in Michigan and instead use the name to try and dupe the locals into becoming fans.  Smart in a scummy ad guy way.  

Still not as scummy as the Oakland County Cruisers…..

[Cruzer1]

This will be garbage. Can't wait for baseball.

[Triggerwarning]

So has the league folded yet?

[John_Brian_K]

18 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

But own market.........They are the MICHIGAN Panthers, not the Detroit Panthers. 

NFL is getting pissy already over Panthers.   The USFL had it first.  

Possible venues include.....

 

Jimmy John's Field in Utica,   Cap. 4,500

Wayne State (Tom Adams Field)  Cap. 6,439  (where do they get 39 from.......can squeeze an extra body in there?)

Rynearson Stadium (EMU)  Cap  30,000

Keyworth Stadium (DCFC - Hamtramck)  Cap. 7,933

Silverdome Parking lot -  The ground can't be any harder than it was with a layer of carpet on a slab of cement.

 

Any other possible venues?

 

Old Tiger Stadium site with some seating added?   

 

Could this be the catalyst for a multi-use stadium that brings elite pro soccer back? 

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

I think Tom Adams Field would be perfect, but the parking around there is not that great.

[RedRamage]

The maybe difference here (vs other leagues) is that it's owned by Fox Sports.  I think we all know that a big huge part of how professional sports are funded are the media deals.  The fact that the media is the league might make a difference.

Now, obviously the league will ultimately stand or fall based on fan interest, but the fact that the media is directly involved eliminates part of the process.  The league doesn't have to worry about promoting itself enough to attract a media outlet... the league is the media outlet.

This doesn't eliminate all the obstacles, obviously, but there's a least a bit more of a stream lined process.  Fox will do with the league what makes the most sense from a media perspective which will hopefully make it more successful in a media format, which will bring in the dollars to keep it going... hopefully.

All that said I'm not optimistic that it'll catch on, but we'll see.

[Hongbit]

19 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

The maybe difference here (vs other leagues) is that it's owned by Fox Sports.  I think we all know that a big huge part of how professional sports are funded are the media deals.  The fact that the media is the league might make a difference.

Now, obviously the league will ultimately stand or fall based on fan interest, but the fact that the media is directly involved eliminates part of the process.  The league doesn't have to worry about promoting itself enough to attract a media outlet... the league is the media outlet.

This doesn't eliminate all the obstacles, obviously, but there's a least a bit more of a stream lined process.  Fox will do with the league what makes the most sense from a media perspective which will hopefully make it more successful in a media format, which will bring in the dollars to keep it going... hopefully.

All that said I'm not optimistic that it'll catch on, but we'll see.

I am guessing Fox will treat this like a television production judged solely on its ability to gain viewers.    It’s just programming for them. 

I know they said the plan is to play in home cities if they have a year two but that will never happen.   

[John_Brian_K]

They were talking about this on 97.1 today and I found myself getting legit excited about the league.  I am going to sell out 100% on this league.  A reason to get excited about football again.  Apathetic Lions fan here just sick of watching the worst team in pro sports here after year.

I just wish they could have worked it out to play all the game in Vegas.  You are going to have 8 teams from all over the country spending time and money to see a game in Alabama?  I would have 100% scheduled a Vegas trip around a game and gone to see it.  I have no reason to go to Alabama.  And their team will only (presumably) play once a week?