Death of the Alliance of American Football

[tp49]

3 minutes ago, Cosmic said:

The players really need to get a judge to slap the AAF down. The CFL doesn't want to become a defendant, and I can't really blame them.

 

Also, kudos for using DEFCON properly.

I'm sure some player will be the "test case" and then the floodgates will open wide.  I also don't think the AAF would have much of a case against the CFL if they did sign someone. If the AAF wanted to argue something like interference with contractual relations there would be very strong arguments in favor of the players and CFL.

[Cosmic]

9 minutes ago, tp49 said:

I'm sure some player will be the "test case" and then the floodgates will open wide.  I also don't think the AAF would have much of a case against the CFL if they did sign someone. If the AAF wanted to argue something like interference with contractual relations there would be very strong arguments in favor of the players and CFL.

It doesn't always matter who's right. Some a-holes are just really good at dragging people into court. Then it becomes an expense, a liability, and a huge PITA for the CFL.

[monkeypower]

2 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

Really? Wow. I thought it did. When Charlie Finley in late 1974 failed to make a payment on an annuity that was part of Catfish Hunter's contract, an arbitrator ruled that this act breached the contract, and that Hunter was a free agent, even though Finley was still paying Hunter his salary. I suppose that I assumed that this was more or less a general principle now, and also that the failure to pay the salary would surely be enough to consider the contract breached.

 

Interesting. Well, I can understand if a breached contracts remains in force to the extent of imposing certain duties on the party that breached it. But what seems bizarre to me is the idea that the breaching party can continue to benefit from the value of this contract.

 

2 hours ago, tp49 said:

Considering that non-payment by the league materially breaches the contract the players would not be required to perform their end of the agreement.  Combine that with the fact that since the league's now ceased operations it would be impossible for the players to perform their end of the agreement.  The contracts between the league and the players for all intents and purposes are done as the AAF can't be unjustly enriched from their breach.  Now if the AAF wants to pay out those contracts or negotiate individual buyouts with each player then it's a different story but since they don't have any money...

 

All I'm trying to say is that we don't know how the AAF contracts are written. It very well may be the case, like in Ferdinand's Catfish Hunter example, that an arbitrator or an adjudicator or whoever has to rule the players can't perform their end of the agreement because the AAF isn't paying them.

 

If what Schefter tweeted about potential bankruptcy proceedings is true/comes to fruition and the contracts are still valid, they are the AAF's assets and can be sold off for money to pay creditors. The breaching party, the AAF, isn't really continuing to benefit from any value of the contracts, they are just assets they already own that they can sell off.

 

It's not a great thought because this is directly affecting the potential earnings of the players, but just think about the contracts like any other sort of business asset. If my store is going bankrupt and I close it, I still own the physical store building and can sell it to somebody for money to pay creditors, just like the AAF may still own the contracts.

 

Again, all speculation based off a single Schefter tweet and I'm not a lawyer nor do I work in bankruptcy (but my dad does which is how I sort of know this stuff) so I could just be ill-informed.

[GDAWG]

2 hours ago, Cosmic said:

The players really need to get a judge to slap the AAF down. The CFL doesn't want to become a defendant, and I can't really blame them.

 

Also, kudos for using DEFCON properly.

 

Also the CFL has issues of their own: the Alouettes ownership situation, CBA talks which have been delayed until the end of the month and the uncertainty over the Atlantic Schooners as the stadium deal isn't done.  But the CFL will still be around 5-10 years from now, despite their issues.  The AAF didn't even finish their season. 

[tp49]

 

 

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23 minutes ago, monkeypower said:

 

All I'm trying to say is that we don't know how the AAF contracts are written. It very well may be the case, like in Ferdinand's Catfish Hunter example, that an arbitrator or an adjudicator or whoever has to rule the players can't perform their end of the agreement because the AAF isn't paying them.

 

If what Schefter tweeted about potential bankruptcy proceedings is true/comes to fruition and the contracts are still valid, they are the AAF's assets and can be sold off for money to pay creditors. The breaching party, the AAF, isn't really continuing to benefit from any value of the contracts, they are just assets they already own that they can sell off.

 

It's not a great thought because this is directly affecting the potential earnings of the players, but just think about the contracts like any other sort of business asset. If my store is going bankrupt and I close it, I still own the physical store building and can sell it to somebody for money to pay creditors, just like the AAF may still own the contracts.

 

Again, all speculation based off a single Schefter tweet and I'm not a lawyer nor do I work in bankruptcy (but my dad does which is how I sort of know this stuff) so I could just be ill-informed.

You're right in that we don't know how the standard AAF player contract is worded.  I don't think the comparison of labor contracts is the same as that of a physical asset i.e. the physical store building in your example.  Without seeing the agreement I think the more apt comparison would be if you are the store that goes bankrupt and you're leasing the building where you don't have the capital to pay the rent.  The landlord would be well within their rights under that scenario to initiate an eviction on your store and it would also be advantageous for you to do what is necessary to mitigate your potential damages by trying to get out of the lease. 

 

In bankruptcy generally, the issue becomes whether the bankruptcy trustee will assume or reject the employment contracts as part of the bankruptcy estate.  For the trustee to be able to assume the contracts as part of the estate, they would have to cure the breaches of the player agreements by paying the players what they are owed to that point.  If they rejected the player contracts as part of the bankruptcy estate the employees would be able to seek damages the same as if they could before bankruptcy.  The difference being if the contracts are rejected then the employees could seek damages equal to one year on their agreement (in this case year of the three-year agreement) plus any unpaid wages they are owed to that point.  It would probably be cheaper for the trustee to cure the breach and mutually terminate the agreements with the players and allow them to freely move on to the CFL, XFL or wherever they can find employment.

[dfwabel]

Daryl Johnston did a long interview.  One note was the championship game may have been moved a second time...to the Alamodome

 

And they owe a San Antonio school district nearly $50K

[Red Comet]

 

So Urinatingtree did a video on the demise of the AAF. Harder on Polian and Ebersol than a lot of others had been.

[NYC Cosmos]

Player contracts are always considered assets and hence for tax purposes they depreciate over a 3-year period – the given "life" of an NFL player. However, it depends on the language in the standard player's contract. Are they bound until the league releases them? On n the face of it, if the AAF is not allowing NFL/CFL teams to sign players, is that not restraint of trade? They would have to be paid as per their contracts to be bound to a club. If they are not paid, then the contract is null and void, right?

 

I really, truly feel badly for all those who gave their passion to the league to make it something. I think the a**holes who did this to the league sold people 5 lbs of fertilizer is a 1 lb bag. Did anyone plan for a doomsday scenario? No. of course not. Was DumDum vetted? No, of course not. If he was, the would have known about his dealings with Banco Santander. 

 

I thought the games were going well. I saw more and varied advertising. The NFL had bought into it (not monetarily of course). And Polian should have known better after going through this with the Chicaho Blitz. And I feel bad for Hines Ward, Jared Allen, etc. 

[MJWalker45]

9 hours ago, dfwabel said:

Daryl Johnston did a long interview.  One note was the championship game may have been moved a second time...to the Alamodome

 

And they owe a San Antonio school district nearly $50K

They owe a combined $4 million for training camp expenses. There's 2 other school districts that are included in that as well as UIW, 2 private schools and STAR Soccer Complex. 

 

Had they moved the championship to San Antonio instead of Dallas the warning lights wouldn't have come on so soon. 

[dfwabel]

Sporttechie spoke with two former AAF engineers about the IP in question

 

Quote

The usability of that gaming platform in the future, however, may be limited, according to two senior members of the AAF engineering team who agreed to speak to SportTechie on condition of anonymity.

“The big joke about the ‘who owns the IP’ thing is that the IP is mostly in the heads of the team, none of whom work for the Alliance anymore,” the first AAF engineer said. “Basically you’re buying the playbook. They own the source code, but basically you’re buying the playbook of the New England Patriots, but not hiring [Bill] Belichick or the coaches or any of the players.”

The tech arm of the AAF started its work under the name Alliance Digital nearly two years before football games began in February. The gaming app launched at the start of the season with new features added each week.

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And here's another large cost they took on:

Quote

According to the second engineer, the AAF didn’t use any of the existing network infrastructure in its eight league stadiums, opting instead to lay original wiring. That engineer added that the league collaborated with AT&T on establishing clean, direct lines from stadiums to the internet. The driving force was to reduce latency as much as possible with an eye toward powering in-play sports betting.

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[Sec19Row53]

18 hours ago, NYC Cosmos said:

Player contracts are always considered assets and hence for tax purposes they depreciate over a 3-year period – the given "life" of an NFL player. However, it depends on the language in the standard player's contract. Are they bound until the league releases them? On n the face of it, if the AAF is not allowing NFL/CFL teams to sign players, is that not restraint of trade? They would have to be paid as per their contracts to be bound to a club. If they are not paid, then the contract is null and void, right?

 

I really, truly feel badly for all those who gave their passion to the league to make it something. I think the a**holes who did this to the league sold people 5 lbs of fertilizer is a 1 lb bag. Did anyone plan for a doomsday scenario? No. of course not. Was DumDum vetted? No, of course not. If he was, the would have known about his dealings with Banco Santander. 

 

I thought the games were going well. I saw more and varied advertising. The NFL had bought into it (not monetarily of course). And Polian should have known better after going through this with the Chicaho Blitz. And I feel bad for Hines Ward, Jared Allen, etc. 

They are allowed to sign with NFL (haven't you been following along with all the signings in this here thread?), but not the CFL. Don't know why - it makes no sense to me.

[GDAWG]

There have been so many recent signings from the AAF to the NFL, I have stopped keeping track. 

 

I did get a laugh so hard when the AAF fans on Reddit talked expansion for year 2 after week one. 

[MJWalker45]

4 hours ago, dfwabel said:

Sporttechie spoke with two former AAF engineers about the IP in question

 

And here's another large cost they took on:

 

Explains why Alamodome's wireless network worked so much better! 

2 hours ago, GDAWG said:

There have been so many recent signings from the AAF to the NFL, I have stopped keeping track. 

 

I did get a laugh so hard when the AAF fans on Reddit talked expansion for year 2 after week one. 

It's the same thing that happened with XFL 1. Everyone was surprised to see such big numbers and were ready to say spring football was back. Then when people saw how bad the play was the talk died pretty quickly. 

[MJWalker45]

https://www.sasentinel.com/commanders-unite-city-even-after-dissolution

[dfwabel]

Today, AAF (Legendary Field Exhibitions, LLC) has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

 

Quote

- In the filings, the league claims assets of $11.3 million and liabilities of $48.3 million.

 

- According to the documents, the league has $536,160.68 in cash.

https://mobile.twitter.com/frntofficesport

[Red Comet]

20 minutes ago, dfwabel said:

Today, AAF (Legendary Field Exhibitions, LLC) has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. 

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/frntofficesport

 

So it has 10.7 million in non-liquid assets. What else besides the app is even worth a cent?

[dfwabel]

2 minutes ago, Red Comet said:

 

So it has 10.7 million in non-liquid assets. What else besides the app is even worth a cent?

Team equipment

[dfwabel]

CBS is owed over $5M!  There was no partnership as Ebersol claimed in an interview with the AP published on February 13.

Ebersol:

Quote

The league is not receiving rights fees from networks. Ebersol described the league’s relationships not as time-buys, but as “partnerships that extend beyond just broadcasts.”

 

These were entirely time buys!

 

When first announced, CBS Sports president Sean McManus was really taken by Ebersol's scam, mainly because they were to PAID to air it.

Quote

“Ithink the fact they are so well funded,” CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus told me at the recent NFL owners meetings in Orlando.

“And the fact they have a really good plan for utilizing the hundreds of good athletes coming out of college who don’t have necessarily an immediate NFL career but are still really, really good football players.”

 

McManus also liked “the fact they don’t have a two or three or five year plan. They have a plan for the next 20 years.”

 

“The fact that Charlie Ebersol is involved and the fact Bill Polian is involved we think is important,” McManus said. “We don’t look at it as competitive in any way with the NFL. We look at it as good, solid programming. Of all the spring leagues that have been tried over the years, this one has a really good shot of making it. So we’re excited about it.”

 

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He was excited to be receiving the checks as opposed to writing them.

[dfwabel]

More details:

Quote

According to court documents first obtained by Front Office Sports, the league’s creditors who have claims secured by property include MGM Resorts International for $7,000,000, Aramark Sports for $1,831,648 and Silicon Valley Bank for $810,523.

 

Other parties with unsecured claims include CBS ($5,190,153), CAA ($30,000), Mike Pereira ($60,497.81) and Dean Blandino ($45,000).

 

Additional creditors range from universities (Arizona State University: $1,237,793.82) to cities (San Antonio, via the Alamodome: $169,619.13; City of San Diego, SDCCU: $225,555.99) to private businesses (Rosemary’s Catering, a local San Antonio business: $203,000.81).

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Aramark Sports ran the online store.

 

Dundon's $250M might have run out during their 2020 training camp.

[GDAWG]

Dean Blandino and Mike Pereira were involved in the AAF?  Did they serve as rules analysts?