MICHAEL VICK AND SELLING TICKETS - Ingles

If Michael Vick is too toxic for the NFL, he may have another option. This article was written by Jay Greenberg and appeared in the New York Post
"It's not a gimmick for us," said Michael Huyghue, Commissioner of the United Football League, a Thursday night endeavor (appearing on Versus) that will debut this fall in four cities, including New York. "We polled fans on our Web site and did a Twitter poll and while there was clearly some opposition from animal lovers, more than 80 percent said we are a country of second chances.

"Maybe the NFL is not the right platform because that would be giving him too much too quickly, but a six-game tune-up to the NFL might be the vehicle. We have had no direct conversation. They are obviously aware of our interest."

The UFL, which largely will exist to bring teams to non-NFL markets, is aware that it can't do just Orlando and Las Vegas, two of its four debut franchises.

"Can't play without New York," said Huyghue, who yesterday introduced William Mayer, co-founder of Park Avenue Equity and a former Jets season ticket holder who tired of the trip to the Meadowlands, as owner of a yet-unnamed New York franchise that will play "East of the East River."

Mayer said that could be Citi Field (the San Francisco team has confirmed they will play at the Giants' AT&T Park) or Hofstra Stadium. Wherever the unnamed New York franchise plays, ticket prices will average a family-friendly $20 during an opening six-game season that will culminate in a Thanksgiving-weekend championship game in Las Vegas.

"New York's two teams are in New Jersey and there are 100,000 fans combined on those waiting lists, so I don't think there's a shortage of fans in this market," said Huyghue.

New York's UFL squad, to be airlifted for Year One games from a central camp in Casa Grande, Ariz., and coached by former Jets' defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell, will play one contest in Hartford as a test for a franchise there.

Each owner committed $20 million for two seasons of what Huyghue, a former executive with the Jaguars and Lions, describes as a lean, mean operation (cap of $6-20 million per team, all players assigned by the league) that is determined not to get clotheslined by the unsustainable ambitions that felled the WFL, USFL and XFL.

"Players who perform will benefit from a performance pool and make about 50 percent of our cap," said Huyghue. "Even our lowest paid players will make the same salary as an NFL practice squad player and have a chance to go back to their roster at the end of our season." This article was written by Jay Greenberg and appeared in the New York Post.