RMFL - Although the Utah Football League and the Rocky Mountain Football League had not always seen "eye to eye" over the years, there has always been a sort of "spirit of cooperation" between the neighboring leagues. But will that "spirit of cooperation" be enough? Similarly to when the American Football League (AFL) combined with the National Football League (NFL) to form a new NFL with an American Football Conference (AFC) and a National Football Conference (NFC), the Utah Football League would combine with the Rocky Mountain Football League. However, the deal is far from "done" at this juncture. UFL officials are currently discussing any potential "deal-breakers" regarding teams or policies.
The motion that was formally approved by the RMFL board, however, was to immediately accept the UFL's "Top 5" and most "established" teams (South Ogden Rhino Raiders, Utah Blitz, Utah Warriors, West Jordan Bulldogs and Davis Vipers), and review the remaining two teams (Salt Lake Nemesis and Layton Longhorns) in January with the other "new entrants" into the Rocky Mountain Football League. "One of the issues raised by the UFL board when I attended their meeting on the 15th," explained RMFL Commissioner, Jared Neumeier, "is they feel they may have "too many" teams in the Salt Lake/Ogden area. They think they have market saturation. Not that the general consensus is necessarily that the Nemesis or Longhorns are or would be the weakest teams in the league in 2004, its just that the only 'objective' way for us to place two teams in that area on 'evaluation' would be to objectively look at the teams that finished in the last two places in the league, which also happens to be the least established teams." According to Neumeier, this doesn't mean they threoretically, would not just get approved in January since they have advantages over other teams that will be applying, "they each have a full season under their respective belts. In fact, the Nemesis, for all intents and purposes, may simply be the Riverton Wolfpack with a new name. The Wolfpack have a great tradition and history."
The UFL Managing Board, however, lead by UFL commissioner, Dave Stireman has expressed concern over the league's joining and the ultimate administration structure that would follow. According to Stireman, "all of the UFL board" would like to keep him on, at least during the transition as a "co-commissioner". The exact role of the "co-commissioner", however, could not yet be explained. Then there remains the question of which Utah teams would be acceptable in the new league structure. According to Stireman, at least a couple UFL teams still owe the league money and there are a couple that might not be viably dependable in this sort of comprehensive football league. The RMFL philosophy has always been to accept teams in good standing and for the leagues to determine which teams should be considered "in good standing" or not may just be another hurtle.
Still, many RMFL GM's have expressed a concern over Stireman's management and integrity. Stireman has always contended that he makes absolutely no money off of UFL fees and yet continues to keep the UFL budget "under wraps". According to Stireman, "As for public records of the league's finances, the Utah Football League is a non-profit entity. Which means that the finances are only available to the team owners. Every team owner is fully aware of the leagues finances, including the ones that still owe the league money.." Yet the numbers, according to one RMFL GM, "just don't add up". Comparing the two leagues budget's for the 2003 season could look something like this:
RMFL/UFL BUDGET COMPARISON 2003
| Budget Item | RMFL |
UFL |
| 1 - Revenues | 10 tms x $550 = $5500 | 7 tms x $2750 = $19250 |
| 2 - Liability Insurance | $900 | $800 |
| 3 - Web Site | $300 | $300 |
| 4 - Championship Rings | $0 | $2450 |
| 5 - Trophies/all-stars | $650 | $0 |
| 6 - Head of Officials | $300 | $500 |
| 7 - Game Officials | $1500 (post season) | $9300 |
| 8 - Miscellaneous/office | $350 | $350 |
| Commissioner/Sports Writer | $1500 | $0 |
| Total Expenses | $5500 | $13700 |
| Unaccounted for Revenue | $0 | $5550 |
Legend:
In addition to the $550 league fees, RMFL teams were required to pay for officials for their home games at an average of $200 - $250 for each of 4 home games, maximum $1000. The maximum an RMFL team would pay for the 8-game season was $1550, with UFL fees set at $2750, the RMFL teams were charged at least $1200 less than the UFL teams were required to pay. The difference leaves many RMFL GM's asking, "what were they paying for??" Even if you factor out the difference in the RMFL's trophy/shirt budget from the UFL ring budget, that leaves thousands unaccounted for. According to RMFL Commissioner Neumeier, "of course, everyone assumes that Stireman is simply pocketing it... and denying it. I think it’s perfectly all right for someone to get paid for their services. If everything is on the 'up an up', just publicize, itemize and explain. It's not like there has to be some secret about where how you cover league expenses. And there is still the possibility that Dave is right and all that money is being funneled back into some other fund. As far as I'm concerned, if all of the UFL GM's and players know what that is, it's none of our business. The RMFL is certainly a non-profit organization, and I feel it very important, and responsible management to make our budget public and be prepared to pass a financial audit."
Aside from the budget and integrity perception issue, the other biggest issue will be who to accept into the league. Both leagues have typically accepted based on roster size, field procurement and fees paid on time. With this potential merge, however, UFL officials feel the time is right to address "market saturation", particularly within the greater Salt Lake City area. Currently, there are 6 teams in that area. Salt Lake Stallions, Utah Blitz, Utah Warriors, West Jordan Bulldogs, Salt Lake Nemesis and Wasatch Wildcats. The South Ogden Rhino Raiders and Davis Vipers are based primarily out of the Ogden, Utah area and the Layton Longhorns draw from the area between Salt Lake and Ogden. Beyond that, there is the issue of a potential number of newly forming teams, particularly in the traditional "RMFL area" of Idaho and Montana.
Many of the new potential league entrants (Kalispell/Whitefish, Montana, Great Falls, Montana, Missoula, Montana, Pocatello, Idaho, Mountain Home, Idaho, Boise, Idaho, Vernal, Utah, Logan, Utah that are currently known) would all be teams that would be effectively starting up new franchises and would likely be looked at closer than franchises that have proved they can compete on the field. "I think the board will want to be careful, though," asserts Neumeier, "somewhere among these newly forming teams could be a Madison Lionz, Pocatello Silverback or even a Utah Blitz in the making. One of these teams could come out of no where and pull off some serious surprises. That's why we play the game!"
UFL Commissioner, Dave Stireman, and Neumeier have been working together to figure out a "smooth transition". Stireman, who also manages, coaches and thus far, plays for the South Ogden Rhino Raiders has been interested in some time to cut his workload and focus on the success of his team and "get out of the league-running business". If the merge occurs, Neumeier is also committed, however, to maintaining UFL historical information. "Anyone that follows the RMFL will know I am very nostalgic," said Neumeier, "If this happens, I would like to take every historical file the UFL has, build links and pages so that if you access the Rocky Mountain Football League site, you can also read all about the history, yearly results and activities of the Utah Football League since its inception. I know there are many UFL board members very proud of the Utah Football League name," explains Neumeier, "I would be. We would need to maintain that continuity and history."
If the merge occurs, the RMFL board, likely to become up to 16 voting members in January, will actually have the final vote and say in how the league will be structured and played in 2004, Neumeier supports a two conference system in which the northern conference is called the "Rocky Mountain Conference" and the southern conference is called the "Utah Football Conference". These conferences would be under the Rocky Mountain Football League which, if it swells to 16 teams would become the 8th largest football league (out of 57 total leagues) in the nation. The largest current football league in the country is the North American Football League (NAFL) which has 64 recognized teams, followed by the Ohio Valley League (34 teams), New England (24 teams), Golden State Amateur (24 teams), United (23 teams), Arizona (19 teams) and Diamond (18 teams). "I think we could actually see up to 20 teams looking for entrance in 2004," Neumeier speculates, "however, I believe that the current member teams are very interested in making sure that the teams we accept are guaranteed to be quality teams that honor their commitments... to the league, their fans and their players."
In commenting upon a "percent chance" of the merger happening before 2004, Neumeier would only speculate, "If my perception of what Dave Stireman is telling me is correct, we are probably too far apart right now to have a great chance. The 2005 season might just end up being our target. We shall just have to see."
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