What do they all have in common?

None currently have plans involving Birmingham.

The Senior Bowl claims it lost more than $150,000 last year, despite the NFL Network's presence and Under Armour sponsorship, and has been courted by Tampa and Jacksonville as a new home.

That would be a blow to Mobile, the game's loyal home since its inception 58 years ago.

Don't include Birmingham in the mix. If organizers bolt the Port City, they want better weather, nicer facilities and a chance to entertain NFL bigwigs and corporate clients.

"If we had a dome, we'd make an aggressive push," said Gene Hallman of the Alabama Sports Foundation. "But the title sponsor, Under Armour, is looking for a location with nice January weather. Without a dome, we have no chance."

While the Senior Bowl is pondering a new home, the USFL is considering a comeback.

The league that produced Jim Kelly, Doug Flutie and Herschel Walker was a modest hit in the mid-1980s, drawing 30,000-plus fans on average the final two seasons at Legion Field.

The plan is to launch a new USFL next spring in some of the same cities that supported the effort 25 years ago.

Yes, Birmingham is on the list, according to media reports. But there has been no official discussion yet.

"I haven't talked to anyone in that league or any other about (using) Legion Field," said Melvin Miller, the director of Birmingham Parks and Recreation.

No one in Birmingham loves off-brand football more than Gene Crowley. He has a Web site devoted to Birmingham's checkered pro gridiron past.

Crowley believes the World Football League, which preceded the USFL, made a splash, but the USFL had legs.

"I do believe the original USFL was the most successful major league that Birmingham has been a part of, regardless of sport," Crowley said. "The World Hockey Association was a major league, but when the Toronto Toros moved here in 1976 the league was on its last legs.

"If the USFL had stayed in the spring for a few more years, there's no telling how long it could have survived."

Among the many outdoor, non-NFL leagues, only the American Football League survived. It went head-to-head with the then-stagnant NFL and eventually forced a merger.

What could make the next effort different, however, is the possibility of an NFL labor lockdown before the 2011 season. If people need their football fix, they may be willing to look at another option.

For the UFL, that option is now. The four-team league begins an abbreviated schedule Oct. 8 with coaches such as NFL retread Dennis Green and franchises in California, Las Vegas, New York and Orlando.

This is the league that Birmingham actually courted two years ago. This is the league that told Birmingham "no".

But if it's still hanging around after season one, there's a chance the UFL could look to Birmingham to expand. Commissioner Michael Huyghue apprenticed with the USHL's Birmingham Fire, and noted Birmingham orthopedic surgeon Larry Lemak is the UFL's medical director.

Former Birmingham Barons and Bulls owner Art Clarkson cut his management teeth in the WFL. He said the only way to survive is to go head-to-head with the NFL.

"The WFL would have made it," Clarkson said. "It started July 1 and ended before the bowl games, but they got greedy and wanted TV money. The schedule was correct. The spring doesn't work."

Hallman has seen the CFL and XFL make cameo Birmingham appearances. The failures had something in common.

"The model is extremely hard to make the numbers work," he said. "You have a large payroll and (expensive) liability insurance because of the risk of severe injury. Even the NFL tried to make it work (NFL Europe) and couldn't."