Q. What will the team be named?
A. Tell the UFL what name you like best for the Omaha team: Mustangs, Stags, Navigators or Spirit. Or offer up your own idea. Starting today, go to the Spotlight section on Omaha.com to cast your vote. Voting ends April 25.
Q. When will the team play?
A. The schedule still is being developed, but the league will play on fall Friday or Saturday nights. Home Husker games will be blackouts for any UFL game in Omaha.
Q. How do high schools feel about having a new competitor under the Friday night lights?
A. Jim Tenopir, executive director of the Nebraska School Activities Association, said he wouldn’t argue against a UFL team coming to Omaha. Still, he urged, “Keep Friday nights sacred for high school football games.” High schools already have seen attendance drop as the economy forced people to be tighter with discretionary spending. So far this year, the association’s championship events are down 35,000 paid spectators, he said.
Q. Will football games tear up the baseball outfield for the College World Series?
A. Football will be harder on the grass than baseball, but with about seven months from the last football game in November to the first CWS game in June, there is plenty of time for repairs.
Q. How will the football fields be configured inside Rosenblatt and TD Ameritrade?
A. There are two or three possibilities, and team officials are undecided. That decision will be made before tickets are sold, so fans will know where seats are in relation to the field before buying.
Q. How good is the football going to be?
A. Better than some might think. It’s not the NFL, but it’s the next closest thing, with rosters of players who have played in the NFL. Think of it this way: If the NFL expanded, many UFL players suddenly would have spots in the NFL.
Q. How much will players be paid?
A. Last season, the league minimum was $5,000 a week, with some quarterbacks making as much as $12,000.
Q. Will fans be able to buy beer at the games?
A. Yes.
— Thad Livingston and Jeffrey Robb
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