Week 2: Hartford, Sept. 24
Week 3: Sacramento, Oct. 2
Week 4: at Las Vegas, Oct. 8
Week 5: at Hartford, Oct. 16
Week 6: Bye
Week 7: Las Vegas, Oct. 28
Week 8: at Florida, Nov. 5
Week 9: at Sacramento, Nov. 13
Week 10: Florida, Nov. 19
The United Football League has released the schedule for its Omaha franchise, and it appears the four-game home slate will avoid conflicting with most of the area's traditional football routine next fall.
The professional team, playing its 2010 games in Rosenblatt Stadium, won't host any opponent on a Husker game day, and just one of its home contests is scheduled for a high school football Friday.
Minimize the weekend overbookings. That was the league's objective, though it wasn't exactly easy when crafting a 10-week schedule for five teams, Commissioner Michael Huyghue said.
“It's always a difficult challenge because each venue has a lot of different conflicts,” he said. “But I like what we've been able to do. It's a great schedule.”
It does mean that plans to add a sixth UFL team have been put on hold. Another expansion franchise is coming, Huyghue said, but not next fall.
“In terms of building the strength of the five teams we already have, we didn't want to slow that process,” he said. “But still expect us to announce the sixth franchise this season.”
So it's four home games, four road games and two bye weeks for five UFL teams. The championship is scheduled for Nov. 26 or 27 at an undetermined location.
Huyghue said that TV deals and kickoff times won't be announced for another few weeks. Last year, he said, most games occurred at night and were televised on HDNet and Versus.
It is possible, depending on start time, that an Omaha UFL matchup could overlap with the University of Nebraska at Omaha homecoming game Oct. 2. But that's the only Saturday home game for the city's franchise, thus the only game-day scheduling clash involving the Mavericks.
That Oct. 2 game, between Omaha and Sacramento, occurs five days before the Nebraska's football team opens its Big 12 season at Kansas State in an ESPN Thursday night showdown.
Two other UFL home games are scheduled for the same weekend as a Husker game in Lincoln.
But Omaha plays Hartford on Sept. 24 (Friday) and Las Vegas on Oct. 28 (Thursday).
The UFL regular-season finale in Omaha will occur Nov. 19 against Florida, the day before NU plays at Big 12 opponent Texas A&M.
Huyghue said the Husker program was considered as the United Football League developed its schedule.
But in the end, he said, Omaha posed few scheduling problems.
“Actually, we probably had fewer conflicts in Omaha than most of the other sites,” he said.
In Omaha, though, a concern was that the UFL might serve as a substitute for high school football games, especially if the league held games on Friday nights.
But only the Sept. 24 opener against Hartford will conflict with the high school regular season. Omaha's final UFL game also will take place on a Friday (Nov. 19), though the state finals will likely begin three days later.
There's still plenty of time before that. Season tickets, expected to cost around $60, haven't gone on sale yet. Huyghue said the Omaha team's roster has a little more than 20 players on it.
Still, UFL officials seem to be encouraged by the growing enthusiasm for the franchise, which was unveiled by the league two weeks ago and doesn't even have a team nickname.
“We are excited that our schedule is out and that we will have four home games in Omaha, where the people of Nebraska really know their football” Omaha's UFL head coach, Jeff Jagodzinski, said in a statement.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9585, jon.nyatawa@owh.com
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SCHEDULE
WEEK 1
Friday, Sept. 17
Florida Tuskers at Las Vegas Locos
Saturday, Sept. 18
Sacramento Mountain Lions at Hartford Colonials
Bye
Omaha
WEEK 2
Friday, Sept. 24
Hartford Colonials at Omaha
Saturday, Sept. 25
Florida Tuskers at Sacramento Mountain Lions
Bye
Las Vegas Locos
WEEK 3
Thursday, Sept. 30
Las Vegas Locos at Florida Tuskers
Saturday, Oct. 2
Sacramento Mountain Lions at Omaha
Bye
Hartford Colonials
WEEK 4
Friday, Oct. 8
Omaha at Las Vegas Locos
Saturday, Oct. 9
Florida Tuskers at Hartford Colonials
Bye
Sacramento Mountain Lions
WEEK 5
Friday, Oct. 15
Las Vegas Locos at Sacramento Mountain Lions
Saturday, Oct. 16
Omaha at Hartford Colonials
Bye
Florida Tuskers
WEEK 6
Thursday, Oct. 21
Sacramento Mountain Lions at Florida Tuskers
Saturday, Oct. 23
Hartford Colonials at Las Vegas Locos
Bye
Omaha
WEEK 7
Thursday, Oct. 28
Las Vegas Locos at Omaha
Saturday, Oct. 30
Hartford Colonials at Sacramento Mountain Lions
Bye
Florida Tuskers
WEEK 8
Friday, Nov. 5
Omaha at Florida Tuskers
Saturday, Nov. 6
Sacramento Mountain Lions at Las Vegas Locos
Bye
Hartford Colonials
WEEK 9
Thursday, Nov. 11
Hartford Colonials at Florida Tuskers
Saturday, Nov. 13
Omaha at Sacramento Mountain Lions
Bye
Las Vegas Locos
WEEK 10
Friday, Nov. 19
Florida Tuskers at Omaha
Saturday, Nov. 20
Las Vegas Locos at Hartford Colonials
Bye
Sacramento Mountain Lions
November 26/27
Championship Game – venue and date to be confirmed
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