PRO FOOTBALL : New League Will Make Its Debut

Jack Bicknell isn’t quite sure when he knew he was in for an unusual experience. He does know exactly when he wished he’d taken high school Spanish.

It was when the ambulance came into Spain’s Montjuic Stadium with lights flashing and siren wailing. Bicknell, coach of the Barcelona Dragons of the new World League of American Football, put his hand to his forehead.

“Ay, caramba!”

All Bicknell had asked for was a golf cart to transport an offensive lineman with a sprained ankle to the locker room. Something got lost in the translation.

Another day, Bicknell, who had been coach of Boston College from 1980-90, arrived at the practice field and found a work crew erecting goal posts 10 yards off center. The ground wasn’t completely level near the middle, they explained, and what did it matter, senor?

“Ay, caramba!”

The first team meal was another adventure. Everything seemed to be going smoothly as sleepy-eyed players wandered down from their hotel rooms for breakfast. The food quickly disappeared. The problem was, the first 10 players ate food intended for 40.

“Ay, caramba!”

“There are some things they just don’t understand,” Bicknell said.

The world may not be completely ready for pro football, but pro football is ready for the world. The WLAF will open its first season Saturday when the London Monarchs travel to Germany to play the Frankfurt Galaxy at 37,000-seat Waldstadion.

The WLAF is an odd mix of three European teams, six mostly second-tier U.S. cities and one Canadian team thrown in for good measure. The league was created by the NFL and is supported largely by U.S. television money -- ABC will broadcast the New York-New Jersey Knights season-opener Sunday live from Barcelona.

It is doubtful President Bush had the WLAF in mind when he spoke about a “new world order,” but leave it to the NFL to be on the cutting edge of a move toward a global village.

“We are trying to catch the wave of what has happened in Europe and the world and what will continue to happen,” WLAF vice president Joe Bailey said. “We want to establish a new world order in sports.”

The broken dreams and broken promises of failed football leagues are too plentiful to mention. How will the WLAF be different?

--It will not be competing directly with the NFL, which led to the demise of the World Football League and the United State Football League;

--The league is predicating its chances of survival on an expanding European market;

--It will adhere to a strict salary structure to prevent owners from disrupting the balance of the league with big contract offers, which contributed to the downfall of the WFL and USFL. Quarterbacks make $25,000, kickers $15,000 and all the rest $20,000. Many contracts have performance-bonus clauses, but the most a player can make is around $100,000;

--And, it will attempt to be innovative on and off the field: High-tech, run-and-shoot offenses including quarterbacks with walkie-talkie radios in their helmets to communicate with the sidelines.

Bailey, a former talent scout for the Dallas Cowboys who is assisting league president Mike Lynn, former GM of the Minnesota Vikings in directing operations, said there is a long-term commitment to making the WLAF a success. The NFL is backing the WLAF with money and expertise -- 26 of the 28 NFL teams have invested in the World League (only Phoenix and Chicago declined).

In addition to a $24 million contract with ABC and a $14 million contract with the USA network, the WLAF has deals with European television networks that will allow the games to be seen in at least 23 countries. NFL games have drawn well in Europe the past several years and highlight shows have been popular overseas. NFL merchandise also has become a multimillion-dollar industry abroad, and the WLAF already has some heavyweight sponsors in Delta Airlines, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Coca-Cola.

Four of the six American franchises -- Birmingham, San Antonio, Orlando and Sacramento -- are on the so-called “long list” of possible NFL expansion cities. Season ticket sales have started to pick up, but most of the U.S.-based franchises are starting with sales of 5,000-to-13,000 season tickets.

In Europe, the idea of season tickets is somewhat foreign and sales have lagged. But last weekend at halftime of a soccer game, the Barcelona team ran a series of plays and the 100,000 in attendance responded wildly.

Major marketing has just begun, with NFL players such as Boomer Esiason, Warren Moon and Dan Marino appearing in commercials hyping the new league. It didn’t take investors long to become sold on the idea, considering the prospect for international exposure and the strong backing from the NFL. If the league catches on, TV revenues could eventually exceed those available to the NFL.

“The success of this league is dependent on whether American football will play in foreign markets,” said Robert Sillerman, owner of the New York-New Jersey Knights franchise. “If it’s accepted it will be watched on television. If it’s watched on television this league in 20 years will be at parity with the NFL. Maybe less than 20 years.”