Death of the Alliance of American Football

[Red Comet]

14 minutes ago, rams80 said:

 

The Saints had chances to win after that penalty.

 

I say the same thing to Cardinals fans that are still pissy about Don Denkinger. It was Game 6, the guy who was called "safe" didn't make it to home plate and there were two batters behind him.

 

Best fans in baseball, my ass.

[Red Wolf]

2 minutes ago, rams80 said:

 

Adam Archuleta as in "led with his helmet on all of his tackles Adam Archuleta?"  Surprised he's capable of multisyllabic speech.

 

If cartoons are to be believed, hits to the head will actually awaken people to reality or even make them smarter. This is also the NFL's defense in CTE suits.

[dfwabel]

3 hours ago, Gothamite said:

 

Dundon is the very model of a vulture capitalist.  He bought the league not for its own sake, not because he believed in it or wanted it to survive, but so he could strip it of its valuable asset(s?) and walk away, leaving the employees and creditors high and dry.  Not to mention the fans.  Will he refund the balance of season ticket accounts, or force them to sue for whatever meager scraps they can scavenge?

 

He didn’t care about the AAF, only about getting his claws into its intellectual property. No matter what.

 

It’s almost a parody of amoral capitalism run amok.  Except it happened, as it too often does. 

SI's Michael McCann wrote about some of the legal aspects of Tuesday's action.

[Cosmic]

It's a shame; there was a path forward, even if they were too focused on their nonfunctional app to see it. They weren't paying the players a ton, and they were pulling in solid ratings. TV contracts next year could have gone a long way towards making the whole thing solvent.

[dfwabel]

53 minutes ago, Cosmic said:

It's a shame; there was a path forward, even if they were too focused on their nonfunctional app to see it. They weren't paying the players a ton, and they were pulling in solid ratings. TV contracts next year could have gone a long way towards making the whole thing solvent.

I'm not sure about that. The agreements were multi-year contracts (Turner was) and if I were paying little to zero, unless there was language which forced a look-in and renegotiation of terns, I wouldn't.

[Cosmic]

2 hours ago, dfwabel said:

I'm not sure about that. The agreements were multi-year contracts (Turner was) and if I were paying little to zero, unless there was language which forced a look-in and renegotiation of terns, I wouldn't.

I could definitely see it being possible that the AAF had to basically give things away for a couple of years to get their foot in the door, but we don't know the terms of the deal. A mutual option for Year 2 lets you call it a multiyear deal with no effort or risk.

 

At the very least, I will agree with the poster above that this helps the XFL, showing that there's a TV market for spring football in the current media environment. If Vince were smart enough*, there's a lot of lessons to learn from the AAF. 

*He's probably not.

[Cosmic]

@dfwabelAt the very least, we know none of the AAF TV deals were exclusive. That is a fact that would have given hope for revenue in a hypothetical second season.

[Red Comet]

At this point, the XFL is the league I'm looking to to scratch that post-Super Bowl itch. If it actually kinda works, it would be the first spring football league to do so, but I'd have to ignore history and economics to think that spring football can ever be implemented properly. But goddammit if there won't be a parade of fools who think it can.

[dfwabel]

2 hours ago, Cosmic said:

@dfwabelAt the very least, we know none of the AAF TV deals were exclusive. That is a fact that would have given hope for revenue in a hypothetical second season.

Well, as AdAge explained this morning, the lack of commercials was basically a fatal flaw in the AAF's media strategy.  Networks weren't really making money either.

Quote

CBS will also miss out on hosting the early AAF playoff game on Sunday, April 21, and what would have been the league's first-ever title showdown on Saturday, April 27. The erasure of these future broadcasts won't have much of a financial impact on CBS; AAF ad inventory is limited to around 14 national split-screen spots per game, or well shy of the 85 full-screen units that air over the course of a typical NFL broadcast.

Also scrambling to fill a few upcoming hours of airtime are TNT, which had signed on to carry the second AAF playoff tilt, and NFL Network, which will punt away its last four scheduled regular-season telecasts

 

 

[dfwabel]

 

[bosrs1]

3 hours ago, Red Comet said:

At this point, the XFL is the league I'm looking to to scratch that post-Super Bowl itch. If it actually kinda works, it would be the first spring football league to do so, but I'd have to ignore history and economics to think that spring football can ever be implemented properly. But goddammit if there won't be a parade of fools who think it can.

 

Assuming they don’t fold before they’ve blown too much money. The writing is on the wall... spring 2nd rate football is not something any reasonable percentage of people want.

[GDAWG]

3 hours ago, Red Comet said:

At this point, the XFL is the league I'm looking to to scratch that post-Super Bowl itch. If it actually kinda works, it would be the first spring football league to do so, but I'd have to ignore history and economics to think that spring football can ever be implemented properly. But goddammit if there won't be a parade of fools who think it can.

 

Based on how Vince McMahon has booked this year's WrestleMania, I am not optimistic that the XFL is going to work.  Yes he has Oliver Luck doing the day to day stuff, but if the league doesn't start off red hot right off the shoot, Vince is going to get antsy and meddle in the XFL. 

[kmccarthy27]

49 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

Based on how Vince McMahon has booked this year's WrestleMania, I am not optimistic that the XFL is going to work.  Yes he has Oliver Luck doing the day to day stuff, but if the league doesn't start off red hot right off the shoot, Vince is going to get antsy and meddle in the XFL. 

It has less to do with that. VKM has an issue with getting in his own way of things. I think if he just lets Oliver Luck handle everything, they can survive. Its when Week 3 and Week 4 ratings come out and they are lower than what Vince wants them to be, he will get involved heavily and the XFL 2.0 will end up the same way 1.0 did.  

 

I can even see Luck leaving after the first season, just because VKM just got overly hands on with the production as the season went on. 

[FiddySicks]

The only thing I’ll truly miss is the Arizona Hotshots branding. That’s one of my favorite logo packages of all time. The rest I’m cool with going by the wayside. 

 

No chance I even bother wasting a second of my time with the new XFL, either. 

[Cosmic]

3 hours ago, dfwabel said:

Well, as AdAge explained this morning, the lack of commercials was basically a fatal flaw in the AAF's media strategy.  Networks weren't really making money either.

 

Nobody thought things would be perfect this year, except Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian. They did have people watching, though, and that is the beginning of TV shows making money.

[mkg74]

Eagerly awaiting logos and uniforms. I’ll forgive them for a stupid nickname maybe 2 and an ugly identity or 2. However if the league is full of both then I’m not so sure I’ll follow it. 

[pmoehrin]

46 minutes ago, bosrs1 said:

Assuming they don’t fold before they’ve blown too much money. The writing is on the wall... spring 2nd rate football is not something any reasonable percentage of people want.

 

 

I think there is a fanbase to be found that likes football but doesn't care for either NFL, NCAA or High School.

 

But the only way to reach that group is to be radically different from any of the three organizations described, and with both the AAF and the XFL, all I see is NFL-lite.

 

If it were me, I would try to have a league look as much like a video game as possible. No game is going for more than two hours. I'm eliminating kicking. I'm probably going to eight on eight, possibly flag. I wouldn't just allow, but encourage players to be on social media during the game. Allow guys to cut wrestling style promos if they want. Encourage over the top celebrations. I would probably shoot the thing in a studio rather than going across the whole country.

 

Above all else, a new league like that needs marketable stars to attract viewers. I would focus on that first, then figure out how it plays into building fan loyalty for specific teams.

 

A lot of that sounds like arena football, and that it wouldn't be far off from the model I would want. You have to be doing something right to survive for three decades, and I think the key to their success is they don't try to emulate the NFL.

 

To me, that's the only avenue of success a potential league like that can have. A traditional football league with the same presentation and feel of the NFL and the same rules in place is simply not going to work.

[Red Comet]

24 minutes ago, pmoehrin said:

 

I think there is a fanbase to be found that likes football but doesn't care for either NFL, NCAA or High School.

 

But the only way to reach that group is to be radically different from any of the three organizations described, and with both the AAF and the XFL, all I see is NFL-lite.

 

If it were me, I would try to have a league look as much like a video game as possible. No game is going for more than two hours. I'm eliminating kicking. I'm probably going to eight on eight, possibly flag. I wouldn't just allow, but encourage players to be on social media during the game. Allow guys to cut wrestling style promos if they want. Encourage over the top celebrations. I would probably shoot the thing in a studio rather than going across the whole country.

 

Above all else, a new league like that needs marketable stars to attract viewers. I would focus on that first, then figure out how it plays into building fan loyalty for specific teams.

 

A lot of that sounds like arena football, and that it wouldn't be far off from the model I would want. You have to be doing something right to survive for three decades, and I think the key to their success is they don't try to emulate the NFL.

 

To me, that's the only avenue of success a potential league like that can have. A traditional football league with the same presentation and feel of the NFL and the same rules in place is simply not going to work.

 

I vote for having overtime be decided by a giant robot fight.

[CaliforniaGlowin]

I'm bummed but not surprised.  I've seen too many of these leagues come and go.  Glad I didn't spend money on any gear.  I got a whole box of gear from XFL, UFL, Kronum and WLAF.  I don't need more.
 

 

 

[neo_prankster]

4 hours ago, dfwabel said:

Well, as AdAge explained this morning, the lack of commercials was basically a fatal flaw in the AAF's media strategy.  Networks weren't really making money either.

 

 

So basically that proves the NFL right as far as the number of commercials per telecast? Ugh.

 

54 minutes ago, Bucfan56 said:

The only thing I’ll truly miss is the Arizona Hotshots branding. That’s one of my favorite logo packages of all time. The rest I’m cool with going by the wayside. 

 

No chance I even bother wasting a second of my time with the new XFL, either. 

 

What's wrong with the XFL?

 

42 minutes ago, mkg74 said:

Eagerly awaiting logos and uniforms. I’ll forgive them for a stupid nickname maybe 2 and an ugly identity or 2. However if the league is full of both then I’m not so sure I’ll follow it. 

 

Where would you draw the line as far as "stupid" nicknames go. Do you just want bland nicknames like Hawks, Stallions, Bulls, etc?

 

37 minutes ago, pmoehrin said:

 

I think there is a fanbase to be found that likes football but doesn't care for either NFL, NCAA or High School.

 

But the only way to reach that group is to be radically different from any of the three organizations described, and with both the AAF and the XFL, all I see is NFL-lite.

 

If it were me, I would try to have a league look as much like a video game as possible. No game is going for more than two hours. I'm eliminating kicking. I'm probably going to eight on eight, possibly flag. I wouldn't just allow, but encourage players to be on social media during the game. Allow guys to cut wrestling style promos if they want. Encourage over the top celebrations. I would probably shoot the thing in a studio rather than going across the whole country.

 

Above all else, a new league like that needs marketable stars to attract viewers. I would focus on that first, then figure out how it plays into building fan loyalty for specific teams.

 

A lot of that sounds like arena football, and that it wouldn't be far off from the model I would want. You have to be doing something right to survive for three decades, and I think the key to their success is they don't try to emulate the NFL.

 

To me, that's the only avenue of success a potential league like that can have. A traditional football league with the same presentation and feel of the NFL and the same rules in place is simply not going to work.

 

Or...why not just invent a new sport?