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Death of the Alliance of American Football


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1 hour ago, Seadragon76 said:

Are these teams going to have nicknames and color schemes or are they just going to be 'Alliance Orlando' and 'Alliance Atlanta'?

 

I think they've said they'll have nicknames and what-not.  If they go "Alliance Orlando," etc., they'll be perceived as not worth fan investment.  

 

And they'd be right.

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They have promised names and identities for all teams, but have not given us a timeline on that.  If they are going the "fan input" route, they would need to do it soon in order to make a choice and then have designs created and uniforms made.  I suspect they are already working on both identity and uniforms and they will hold a "guess the name" rather than a "choose the name" competition in the 8 cities.   Selfishly I wish they would come out with them already, but I suspect we are looking at Sept. or later before we start to learn the team identities. 

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On 7/13/2018 at 7:22 PM, Mac the Knife said:

"Local" however was kind of loose, as if you went to the University of Nebraska, your rights didn't go to the closest USFL team (the Chicago Blitz), but rather to (again I forget which, but it was either) the Boston Breakers or New Jersey Generals.

 

As a former season ticket-holder for the Boston Breakers I can confirm that the team held USFL Territorial Draft rights to players from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1983. The Breakers' assigned schools for the purpose of the USFL Territorial Draft were Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

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On 7/16/2018 at 4:43 PM, Brian in Boston said:

 

As a former season ticket-holder for the Boston Breakers I can confirm that the team held USFL Territorial Draft rights to players from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1983. The Breakers' assigned schools for the purpose of the USFL Territorial Draft were Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

So... you were the one?  :D

 

It's a shame the Breakers couldn't get access to a bigger facility than Nickerson back then.  George Matthews, Randy Vataha and Bob Caporale were really dedicated to making it work there, but Randy once told me there was no way they could've played a second season there.  When Joe Canizaro applied for a New Orleans franchise, he basically let it be known he'd gladly buy an existing team as long as he could move it, they figured it might be the only chance they had of getting out without losing their shirts.

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2 hours ago, Mac the Knife said:

It's a shame the Breakers couldn't get access to a bigger facility than Nickerson back then.  George Matthews, Randy Vataha and Bob Caporale were really dedicated to making it work there, but Randy once told me there was no way they could've played a second season there.  When Joe Canizaro applied for a New Orleans franchise, he basically let it be known he'd gladly buy an existing team as long as he could move it, they figured it might be the only chance they had of getting out without losing their shirts.

 

Playing at Boston University's Nickerson Field long-term was financially untenable. At the time, the stadium's capacity was just over 20,000 people, but amenities were sorely lacking for fans of a professional franchise, even an alternative pro football team. Frankly, the fact that the Boston Breakers averaged just under 13,000 fans a game at a facility like Nickerson Field was pretty amazing. I will say that the fans who did show up were enthusiastic.

 

My season ticket for the Breakers was the first that I personally ever owned. Prior to that, my father or uncles had sprung for our family's sports purchases.     

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You should have just become friends with a BU student and made your own end zone skybox.

 

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What's truly interesting about the Breakers time at Nickerson was that they spent over $400,000 investing in upgrades to the stadium, knowing they'd be there only one year.  They thought if they proved themselves a good tenant there, they'd be able to convince at least Harvard into a tenancy for 1984.  Didn't happen.

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If the XFL gets stupid, they will go to Toronto. With Oliver "ego" luck running the show, you can't rule out Europe. Germany wants football. If the NFL played an international game in Dusseldorf or Frankfurt, the tickets would be gone in five minutes. For the NFL or any other league, Berlin has always been a hard sell. No one will go to a game in Munich, especially minor league. London? Not a chance. A minor league product. If the XFL goes to London, no one will go – minor league product. Mexico may be interesting. 

 

Here's the catch. With the trade wars, the dollar is increasing against all currencies. It will only make things more expensive.

 

I can see Columbus if the Crew move. An empty stadium with the right seating capacity. St. Louis? Yeah. Oakland? Not so fast. The Invaders had a decent first year but attendance declined like a dropped stone over the last part of the first season, then in years 2 and 3. Virginia like the UFL? That might work.  

 

As for the AAFL, they are blowing it already. I would have team identities done by now.

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5 hours ago, NYC Cosmos said:

If the XFL gets stupid, they will go to Toronto. With Oliver "ego" luck running the show, you can't rule out Europe. Germany wants football.

 

 Virginia like the UFL? That might work. 

The cost of flying and housing those teams aren't worth it to McMahon. Toronto would be viable except that they'd have to share BMO Field with soccer and Canadian football. Virginia is only upgradeable to 17,000 seats and has 5,000 permanent seats currently. Columbus would require upgrades as well because current ownership refuses to address several major issues. It also is limited in the high end suites that similarly sized stadiums have. 

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6 hours ago, NYC Cosmos said:

If the XFL gets stupid, they will go to Toronto. With Oliver "ego" luck running the show, you can't rule out Europe. Germany wants football. If the NFL played an international game in Dusseldorf or Frankfurt, the tickets would be gone in five minutes. For the NFL or any other league, Berlin has always been a hard sell. No one will go to a game in Munich, especially minor league. London? Not a chance. A minor league product. If the XFL goes to London, no one will go – minor league product. Mexico may be interesting. 

 

I can see Columbus if the Crew move. An empty stadium with the right seating capacity. St. Louis? Yeah. Oakland? Not so fast. The Invaders had a decent first year but attendance declined like a dropped stone over the last part of the first season, then in years 2 and 3. Virginia like the UFL? That might work.  

 

As for the AAFL, they are blowing it already. I would have team identities done by now.

 

I could see XFL in London.  I hadn't thought about it until you mentioned it, but I could absolutely see Vince McMahon doing it, just to be innovative.

 

The Columbus of 2020 could be a boom or bust market, with nothing in between.  The WLAF Ohio Glory were a complete bust, but the Crew demonstrated that a spring outdoor sport could work there.  And Columbus, generally speaking, is football nuts, albeit for OSU and seemingly only OSU.  But if they went into Mapquest Stadium (Maple?  Mapfre?  Mapquest?  Whatever the hell it's named), maybe they draw 20-25,000.

 

The AAF (no L, because it's not a league... it's an ALLIANCE!  Bwahahahahaha) hasn't blown it yet with respect to team identities.  Where they are blowing it seems to be virtually everywhere else.  There are active members of the CCSLC in every one of the eight AAF markets - since the team announcements, have you heard jack :censored: from these people?  Any information on season ticket prices (rather than reservations)?  Any full page ads in the local paper or a ticket sales ad blitz on the local radio or television stations?  Any announcement that your local AAF team will have its games air on WIND or KILL radio?  Any word that the teams are hiring front office staffers?  Have you called 411 and been able to get a simple phone number for their local office?  No?  That's where they're blowing it.

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2 hours ago, Mac the Knife said:

 

I could see XFL in London.  I hadn't thought about it until you mentioned it, but I could absolutely see Vince McMahon doing it, just to be innovative.

 

The Columbus of 2020 could be a boom or bust market, with nothing in between.  The WLAF Ohio Glory were a complete bust, but the Crew demonstrated that a spring outdoor sport could work there.  And Columbus, generally speaking, is football nuts, albeit for OSU and seemingly only OSU.  But if they went into Mapquest Stadium (Maple?  Mapfre?  Mapquest?  Whatever the hell it's named), maybe they draw 20-25,000.

 

The AAF (no L, because it's not a league... it's an ALLIANCE!  Bwahahahahaha) hasn't blown it yet with respect to team identities.  Where they are blowing it seems to be virtually everywhere else.  There are active members of the CCSLC in every one of the eight AAF markets - since the team announcements, have you heard jack :censored: from these people?  Any information on season ticket prices (rather than reservations)?  Any full page ads in the local paper or a ticket sales ad blitz on the local radio or television stations?  Any announcement that your local AAF team will have its games air on WIND or KILL radio?  Any word that the teams are hiring front office staffers?  Have you called 411 and been able to get a simple phone number for their local office?  No?  That's where they're blowing it.

Here in SA all we've seen are a couple articles and the PowerPoint of how players are allocated. 

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https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/07/26/alliance-of-american-football-contracts-will-have-an-nfl-out-clause/

 

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In a letter sent to NFL agents, the AAF’s player personnel department explains that the league “will consent to the player leaving The Alliance at the end of that Alliance season to play in the NFL.” The so-called “NFL Out” will be available from AAF’s championship game until December 1st of that same year.

That wrinkle instantly makes the AAF more attractive than the CFL, given that the CFL still insists on a firm two-year deal with no opportunity to exit prematurely. That may be changing, of course, given the CFL’s recent decision to let players in the final year of their CFL contracts to work out for NFL teams and agree to a contract that becomes effective after their CFL contract expires.

 

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Yeah, these are far from big developments.  The CFL's recent revisions to its "CFL-to-NFL" rules are more a product of the CFL's relationship with the NFL than they are a response to potential competition from AAF or XFL.  That's evidenced by the fact that they're not going to release those committed to the CFL so they can sign with an AAF or XFL team.

 

And if you think that (i) AAF is going to be viewed as the NFL's minor league, or (ii) this is going to impact the XFL's launch in any way, shape or form?  I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you.  AAF doesn't have a choice but to allow players to go to the NFL if they want to sign anybody worth signing.  The XFL will be in the same situation. 

 

In the 1980's the NFL was seen as a pinnacle of professional football, but signing a two or three year contract with a USFL team was seen as a means by which a player could make a (comparatively) decent salary, make a team's roster almost certainly, and most likely get significant playing time.  Going into 2020, the NFL is the ultimate behemoth of professional sports that pays even its lowest-level players staggering salaries... a Colossus of such grandeur that no player who even dreams of going into the NFL is going to make a multi-year commitment with a start-up venture unless he can get out of it on a season-by-season basis - just in case the call from an NFL team comes.

 

The CFL is different in the respect that most of its players are Canadian, they know they don't have real shots at making an NFL roster, and likely have little desire to go outside Canada to play anyway.  Meanwhile America is littered with tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, who are dumb enough to pay teams for the privilege of trying out for them, on the notion that "if these guys only see what I can do, they'll hire me."

 

So, in summation:

- The impacts of the AAF and XFL in terms of adding talent to the NFL are likely to be nominal.

- The negative impacts of the AAF and XFL in terms of subtracting talent from the CFL are likely to be nominal.

- The only leagues that will really be impacted are arena/indoor leagues, which are going to be decimated by comparison.  But they'll be fine as well, because again, there are tens of thousands of guys who've taken too many shots to the head to realize that their talent level isn't going to be good enough to get them above that level... but who think it will, "if these guys only see what I can do."

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I didn't know PFW still existed in any form.

 

 

http://www.profootballweekly.com/2018/07/27/pfw-exclusive-alliance-of-american-football-contracts-will-include-nfl-outs/a3721ku/

 

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Alliance of American Football founders Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian sent a letter to NFLPA-certified agents this week — a copy of which Pro Football Weekly has reviewed — which outlines a financial structure for player salaries and how the league plans to deal with players who receive NFL interest after joining.

 

Uniform player contracts will be for three years for a total of $250,000 — with annual salaries of  $70,000, $80,000, and $100,000 in the first, second, and third seasons, respectively.

 

There also, the Alliance document reveals, will be a unique bonus system in which players will receive additional money for:

* Winning games

* Being selected by fans of The Alliance to fantasy teams

* Social media engagement with fans (across social media platforms)

* Participation in marketing the league

* Sales of player’s merchandise (merchandise featuring the player’s name, likeness, and image)

* Sales of player’s team merchandise

 

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Alliance training camps all will be in a central location, PFW has learned. Players will receive travel stipends, per diems and all meals and lodging will be covered as well. There also will be health benefits, including post-football career planning and counseling.

 

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Makes sense to have the camps all together. Makes it easier to scrimmage and swap players prior to the season since they'll be able to see them all in one place and adjust as they go. 

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"a unique bonus system in which players will receive additional money for:  Winning games"

One wonders if this will lead to Bountygate type situations...

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On 7/16/2018 at 10:12 AM, WideRight said:

They have promised names and identities for all teams, but have not given us a timeline on that.  If they are going the "fan input" route, they would need to do it soon in order to make a choice and then have designs created and uniforms made.  I suspect they are already working on both identity and uniforms and they will hold a "guess the name" rather than a "choose the name" competition in the 8 cities.   Selfishly I wish they would come out with them already, but I suspect we are looking at Sept. or later before we start to learn the team identities. 

Polian said team names would be announced sometime in September, following the three combines. The Los Angeles combine is this weekend and still hasn't filled up, meanwhile the Houston and Atlanta dates are full.

 

But an interview with Polian this week tells me that their logistics are still fat behind.  He mentioned that local facilities haven't been secured.  

https://969thegame.iheart.com/content/2018-07-31-alliance-founder-bill-polian-were-not-trying-to-compete-with-the-nfl/

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On 7/23/2018 at 5:46 PM, Mac the Knife said:

 

I could see XFL in London.  I hadn't thought about it until you mentioned it, but I could absolutely see Vince McMahon doing it, just to be innovative.

 

The Columbus of 2020 could be a boom or bust market, with nothing in between.  The WLAF Ohio Glory were a complete bust, but the Crew demonstrated that a spring outdoor sport could work there.  And Columbus, generally speaking, is football nuts, albeit for OSU and seemingly only OSU.  But if they went into Mapquest Stadium (Maple?  Mapfre?  Mapquest?  Whatever the hell it's named), maybe they draw 20-25,000.

 

The AAF (no L, because it's not a league... it's an ALLIANCE!  Bwahahahahaha) hasn't blown it yet with respect to team identities.  Where they are blowing it seems to be virtually everywhere else.  There are active members of the CCSLC in every one of the eight AAF markets - since the team announcements, have you heard jack :censored: from these people?  Any information on season ticket prices (rather than reservations)?  Any full page ads in the local paper or a ticket sales ad blitz on the local radio or television stations?  Any announcement that your local AAF team will have its games air on WIND or KILL radio?  Any word that the teams are hiring front office staffers?  Have you called 411 and been able to get a simple phone number for their local office?  No?  That's where they're blowing it.

I realize it’s an old question, but since Orlando was announced I haven’t seen anything. No ads, no announcements, no mentions on the news, nothing.

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1 minute ago, Magic Dynasty said:

I realize it’s an old question, but since Orlando was announced I haven’t seen anything. No ads, no announcements, no mentions on the news, nothing.

 

ALLEGEDLY, per Bill Polian yesterday, Orlando...

1.  Was the league's "top priority" market, whatever that meant (and judging by your comment, it apparently means damned little), and

2.  Will have a team name "sometime in September, I think," giving you an idea just how on the ball these guys really are.

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