Death of the Alliance of American Football

[GDAWG]

 

[FiddySicks]

The more I read about the way this league ended, the more it feels like when Braniff Airlines went belly up. it happened pretty much overnight and they stranded a whole grip of their employees in random cities and made them get home on their own dime. 

[CrimsonBull9584]

Well, now that it's all over, and the final check is coming, I suppose we can turn this into an AMA and I can answer any questions you guys have about the Alliance. 

 

I will first say that I had an amazing time! I loved every minute of this job and the people I worked for, but job I ever got paid for. And if I could do it again, I would. I have no ill will towards the Alliance, players, coaches, or staff. I don't have any problems with Polian or Charlie. I do have an intense hatred for Dundon. He is to the AAF what Donald Trump was to the USFL. He is the person I blame for all of this. 

 

So yeah, that being said, any questions you have for the former Assistant Video Director of the Atlanta Legends, please feel free to ask. I may not have an answer for everything, but I can, and will, provide you with my insights.

[FiddySicks]

How did you find out this was happening? Did someone within the club inform everyone what was happening, or did you learn via social media like we all did? 

 

What are are you gonna do now? 

[CrimsonBull9584]

5 minutes ago, Bucfan56 said:

How did you find out this was happening? Did someone within the club inform everyone what was happening, or did you learn via social media like we all did? 

 

What are are you gonna do now? 

 

We found out on the 2nd. My colleagues on other teams said that they had been informed that league was "over for now". Then our GM called an emergency meeting stating that we were suspending operations, pending a conference from the higher ups. The announcement of the suspension came before it was on social media, to the best of my knowledge. Frankly, we were blindsided. It was business as usual until that moment.

 

Now? Looking for a job in college or NFL for the fall. Also looking at the XFL.

[dfwabel]

3 minutes ago, CrimsonBull9584 said:

Well, now that it's all over, and the final check is coming, I suppose we can turn this into an AMA and I can answer any questions you guys have about the Alliance. 

 

I will first say that I had an amazing time! I loved every minute of this job and the people I worked for, but job I ever got paid for. And if I could do it again, I would. I have no ill will towards the Alliance, players, coaches, or staff. I don't have any problems with Polian or Charlie. I do have an intense hatred for Dundon. He is to the AAF what Donald Trump was to the USFL. He is the person I blame for all of this. 

 

So yeah, that being said, any questions you have for the former Assistant Video Director of the Atlanta Legends, please feel free to ask. I may not have an answer for everything, but I can, and will, provide you with my insights.

Were you interviewed or spent any time with last week by Daniel Popper of The Athletic who spent the day with the team and released his story yesterday?  If not, did you notice him embedded with the team?

 

And as for your USFL comment, Dundon is/was much more like David Dixon who had a plan to curb spending as opposed to Trump since the USFL was already hemorrhaging money before Trump bought the Generals from J. Walker Duncan.  Dundon is the reverse Dixon as Dixon was original then sold his stake after things went off the rails.

[CrimsonBull9584]

Just now, dfwabel said:

Were you interviewed or spent any time with last week by Daniel Popper of The Athletic who spent the day with the team and released his story yesterday?  If not, did you notice him embedded with the team?

 

And as for your USFL comment, Dundon is/was much more like David Dixon who had a plan to curb spending as opposed to Trump since the USFL was already hemorrhaging money before Trump bought the Generals from J. Walker Duncan.  Dundon is the reverse Dixon as Dixon was original then sold his stake after things went off the rails.

 

I've spent the week packing stuff up from our offices and  doing the work of two men in since the last game (my boss was away for the birth of his first child). So if someone was around interviewing, they never came back to my office and I never saw them.

[dfwabel]

Tonight, Polian was on Sirius/XM NFL Radio..

 

Again, those injured and eligible to receive Workers Comp will receive it as Workers Comp has nothing to do with one's medical insurance/coverage.*

 

*-That is if Ebersol and Polian actually paid that bill upfront as SBJ/SBD reported in January. 

[Gothamite]

Yeah, I'll believe that when the players announce they've been fully reimbursed.  Because if the league wanted to pay the bill, they could have just paid the bill.

[Gothamite]

7 hours ago, CrimsonBull9584 said:

Well, now that it's all over, and the final check is coming, I suppose we can turn this into an AMA and I can answer any questions you guys have about the Alliance. 

 

First of all, I'm sorry that you lost your job.  That sucks, and it's a shame it had to happen.

 

But...

 

7 hours ago, CrimsonBull9584 said:

I have no ill will towards the Alliance, players, coaches, or staff. I don't have any problems with Polian or Charlie. I do have an intense hatred for Dundon. He is to the AAF what Donald Trump was to the USFL. He is the person I blame for all of this. 

 

Okay, but since you said AMA, how do you feel about the lies Polian and Ebersol told about the league before Dundon, including their outright lie about "payroll service glitch" trying to cover for a lack of financing?

[CrimsonBull9584]

3 hours ago, Gothamite said:

 

First of all, I'm sorry that you lost your job.  That sucks, and it's a shame it had to happen.

 

But...

 

 

Okay, but since you said AMA, how do you feel about the lies Polian and Ebersol told about the league before Dundon, including their outright lie about "payroll service glitch" trying to cover for a lack of financing?

 

As I stated before the payroll glitch did not effect me at all. I never missed a paycheck and was always paid on time. What happened with the glitch was with the players and coaches. They switched from Sequoia to Paycor. Now my understanding is that Sequoia dropped the players and coaches. Why? I'm not 100% sure. But what I can tell you is that it was not because of a lack of funds. They indeed had a problem switching services. Now, it's entirely possible that something was happening behind the scenes that I was not aware of, but tha's what I was told Week 2 and that's what I was told this week.

[GDAWG]

 

[Maroon]

12 hours ago, CrimsonBull9584 said:

Well, now that it's all over, and the final check is coming, I suppose we can turn this into an AMA and I can answer any questions you guys have about the Alliance. 

 

I will first say that I had an amazing time! I loved every minute of this job and the people I worked for, but job I ever got paid for. And if I could do it again, I would. I have no ill will towards the Alliance, players, coaches, or staff. I don't have any problems with Polian or Charlie. I do have an intense hatred for Dundon. He is to the AAF what Donald Trump was to the USFL. He is the person I blame for all of this. 

 

So yeah, that being said, any questions you have for the former Assistant Video Director of the Atlanta Legends, please feel free to ask. I may not have an answer for everything, but I can, and will, provide you with my insights.

First off, I'm glad you enjoyed your time with the AAF and I'm sorry that it ended. And while I settled on the Express to root for, the Legends had my favorite uniforms/brand identity, with the Commanders coming in a close second.

 

It's also really classy of you to be so positive about this and to be willing to talk about it, considering this was your employment that just ended. Not everyone would be as gracious. So here's my questions for you, some of which you may be able to answer, others you may not, but I figure I'd throw them out there:

 

1. What sticks with me about this whole thing is the funding/investment. I know that a funder backed out on the founders, which is what necessitated another investor (enter Dundon). Do you have a feeling for whether the AAF rushed itself into existence without properly securing the investment necessary to thrive long-term? Or was this just bad happenstance for a brand new league that could have succeeded if everything went according to plan?
2. Did you hear anything from players in terms of how they felt about fan support through the season? Did they think it was cool to watch people come out and support a brand new team? Were they discouraged by the fact that stadiums looked mostly empty?

3. You were in a unique situation, because all the other teams were in cities without NFL teams, but Atlanta was the one market with both NFL and an AAF team. Do you think this helped or harmed the Legends in terms of fan support locally?

4. I found it interesting how each team essentially had territories in which they drew from, depending on where players came from in college or had played in the NFL previously. I know the Express emphasized a few times the number of players they had that had played in Memphis or Tennessee based colleges. Did you notice if there was any special camaraderie between the players because of this, especially if they were from the same colleges?

Thanks for your time and good like finding a job with another football team!

[GDAWG]

Were the Legends hurt by the start of Atlanta United FC's MLS season as defending MLS Cup Champions?

[Red Comet]

If you were to travel back in time knowing what you know now to when the AAF was announced and you had the ear of Bill Polian and Charlie Ebersol, what would you tell them wrt the AAF?

[CrimsonBull9584]

1 hour ago, Maroon said:

First off, I'm glad you enjoyed your time with the AAF and I'm sorry that it ended. And while I settled on the Express to root for, the Legends had my favorite uniforms/brand identity, with the Commanders coming in a close second.

 

It's also really classy of you to be so positive about this and to be willing to talk about it, considering this was your employment that just ended. Not everyone would be as gracious. So here's my questions for you, some of which you may be able to answer, others you may not, but I figure I'd throw them out there:

 

1. What sticks with me about this whole thing is the funding/investment. I know that a funder backed out on the founders, which is what necessitated another investor (enter Dundon). Do you have a feeling for whether the AAF rushed itself into existence without properly securing the investment necessary to thrive long-term? Or was this just bad happenstance for a brand new league that could have succeeded if everything went according to plan?
2. Did you hear anything from players in terms of how they felt about fan support through the season? Did they think it was cool to watch people come out and support a brand new team? Were they discouraged by the fact that stadiums looked mostly empty?

3. You were in a unique situation, because all the other teams were in cities without NFL teams, but Atlanta was the one market with both NFL and an AAF team. Do you think this helped or harmed the Legends in terms of fan support locally?

4. I found it interesting how each team essentially had territories in which they drew from, depending on where players came from in college or had played in the NFL previously. I know the Express emphasized a few times the number of players they had that had played in Memphis or Tennessee based colleges. Did you notice if there was any special camaraderie between the players because of this, especially if they were from the same colleges?

Thanks for your time and good like finding a job with another football team!

 

1. From my point of view, it seemed like the funding was all there and I didn't feel anything was rushed. If anything, the league spent more than it had to in a number of places. So, I don't think it was a matter of a lack of funds, but rather spending more on thins than was called for. I think that if Dundon hadn't taken over, we might be strapped for cash in some areas, but we'd be playing the rest of the season. The league wanted to finish out the season, but because Dundon nixed it, well... here we are.

2. I think we all, players, coaches, and staff included, mocked our lack of fans. I was impressed by the number of people who showed up to games in San Diego and Orlando, but was confused why Arizona and Atlanta didn't have many fans. As far as Atlanta's home fans, we really enjoyed them and the guys were always happy to interact with them. I don't think anyone was discouraged, because we all knew that the product was new and it would take time, and wins, to build a fan base. 

3. What hurt us was the lack of traditional marketing. TV spots, radio spots, billboards, newspaper ads, things of that nature. Sure we had Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but what we really needed was a billboard on I-85 for people to look at during traffic. I think more could have been done to market the team. If you recall, the commercials were for the league, not for the teams in the individual markets. And word of mouth wasn't really working. I don't think being in Town with the Falcons hurt us.

4. We had at least 3 Louisville guys who all got along real well, and they got along with me, because that's where I'm from. Otherwise there were not issues with the team, everyone got along great and I never noticed any friction or anything of that nature. 

[CrimsonBull9584]

2 hours ago, GDAWG said:

Were the Legends hurt by the start of Atlanta United FC's MLS season as defending MLS Cup Champions?

 

I don't know how much we were hurt, but having the United play at or an hour before our game didn't help. I don't know who made the schedule, but having our games on the same day, I think, was a mistake. 

[CrimsonBull9584]

1 hour ago, Red Comet said:

If you were to travel back in time knowing what you know now to when the AAF was announced and you had the ear of Bill Polian and Charlie Ebersol, what would you tell them wrt the AAF?

 

I'd tell them to stay away from Dundon and don't spend so much money. Scale back some of the purchases.

[Maroon]

18 minutes ago, CrimsonBull9584 said:

 

1. From my point of view, it seemed like the funding was all there and I didn't feel anything was rushed. If anything, the league spent more than it had to in a number of places. So, I don't think it was a matter of a lack of funds, but rather spending more on thins than was called for. I think that if Dundon hadn't taken over, we might be strapped for cash in some areas, but we'd be playing the rest of the season. The league wanted to finish out the season, but because Dundon nixed it, well... here we are.

2. I think we all, players, coaches, and staff included, mocked our lack of fans. I was impressed by the number of people who showed up to games in San Diego and Orlando, but was confused why Arizona and Atlanta didn't have many fans. As far as Atlanta's home fans, we really enjoyed them and the guys were always happy to interact with them. I don't think anyone was discouraged, because we all knew that the product was new and it would take time, and wins, to build a fan base. 

3. What hurt us was the lack of traditional marketing. TV spots, radio spots, billboards, newspaper ads, things of that nature. Sure we had Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but what we really needed was a billboard on I-85 for people to look at during traffic. I think more could have been done to market the team. If you recall, the commercials were for the league, not for the teams in the individual markets. And word of mouth wasn't really working. I don't think being in Town with the Falcons hurt us.

4. We had at least 3 Louisville guys who all got along real well, and they got along with me, because that's where I'm from. Otherwise there were not issues with the team, everyone got along great and I never noticed any friction or anything of that nature. 

 

Going to your answer on Q3, why do you think that was? It seems interesting the AAF didn't do more to market at the local level, when ticket sales would be one of the initial ways to make money considering the TV deal wasn't bringing in income. Why do you think the focus was on the national AAF brand rather than marketing teams to locals?

[Gothamite]

4 hours ago, CrimsonBull9584 said:

As I stated before the payroll glitch did not effect me at all. I never missed a paycheck and was always paid on time. What happened with the glitch was with the players and coaches. They switched from Sequoia to Paycor. Now my understanding is that Sequoia dropped the players and coaches. Why? I'm not 100% sure. But what I can tell you is that it was not because of a lack of funds. They indeed had a problem switching services. Now, it's entirely possible that something was happening behind the scenes that I was not aware of, but tha's what I was told Week 2 and that's what I was told this week.

 

I didn't ask if it affected you, because we know it didn't affect the staff.  But it did affect the players and coaches, and Ebersol lied about it.  Unless you also believe that he gave away control of his league for an influx of cash that he didn't actually need?