One option the UFL is exploring in its fight for survival is moving its season from the fall to the spring.
That could pose a big problem for the Omaha Nighthawks, who played their 2011 season at TD Ameritrade Park.
Omaha's downtown stadium already has a spring tenant in Creighton baseball, and the thought of playing four or five football games on the field where the College World Series is held in June might not set well with the NCAA.
The UFL is addressing the possibility of spring play, both on its website and in a letter from Commissioner Michael Huyghue. The Nighthawks distributed copies of the letter to their fans.
In the letter, Huyghue wrote, "Potential media partners, investors and stadium authorities have said they want us to consider spring as our football crazed country lacks professional football during that period.
"In the UFL, however, fans come first and we want to hear from you as to whether or not you think we should consider the spring in the future."
The letter asks fans to go to a website, spring.ufl-football.com, to fill out a survey.
"We hope to continue to hear from you as we make plans for a bigger, better UFL in 2012," Huyghue wrote.
The financially plagued league completed its third season last Friday, with Virginia defeating Las Vegas to win the title. On the same night, Sacramento defeated Omaha in a game that was arranged after the league had decided to cancel the final two weeks of its regular season.
The Nighthawks joined the league in 2010 as an expansion franchise. They averaged 22,700 fans in four home games at Rosenblatt Stadium. They moved to TD Ameritrade this season and averaged 14,552 for their three home games.
Whether TD Ameritrade would be available for spring football play is uncertain. The spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority, which operates the park, had no comment at this time.
"It's really too early to speculate," MECA's Rebecca Kleeman said. "We would need more information."
Creighton Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen said the school would comply with whatever MECA decides.
"It obviously isn't our facility,'' he said. "If MECA felt it could work, and I would think it would also require NCAA approval, then we would do what we could to make it work."
Attempts to reach Dennis Poppe, NCAA vice president for football and baseball, were unsuccessful. In the past, the NCAA has demanded that the field on which college baseball's premier event is played be in excellent condition.
Nighthawks General Manager Rick Mueller, an advocate of spring play, said the team would explore other options if TD Ameritrade was unavailable.
"Our first choice would be to play there,'' Mueller said. "If not, we would have to look elsewhere."
Mueller said the UFL looked at Caniglia Field on the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus when it was considering Omaha as an expansion franchise. UNO no longer has football but the stadium, which seats 9,500, is still being used for high school games.
"When we looked at it, we felt that there were some things that we could do to get it up to where it would seat 15,000," Mueller said. "That would be right in our wheelhouse."
Virginia plays its games in a 14,500-seat stadium while Sacramento's seats 20,000. Las Vegas, which drew 6,500 for its only home game this season, plays in a 36,800-seat stadium.
Mueller said the Nighthawks are committed to playing next season, spring or fall.
"Right now, the spring is just something that's being discussed,'' he said. "If the league decides to play in the spring, we would be playing UFL football in Omaha."
Somewhere.
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