Death of the Alliance of American Football

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

2 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

given how we’ve been conditioned to believe that MLS is growing in popularity and on its way to becoming entrenched in the North American sports landscape?

 

Just stepping in to mention that we believe this because it is objectively true. The values of MLS teams —  that is to say: the values of investor-operator shares of MLS — are skyrocketing, with the highest-valued MLS teams having surpassed the valuations of the lowest-valued NHL clubs.

[IceCap]

41 minutes ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

Just stepping in to mention that we believe this because it is objectively true. The values of MLS teams —  that is to say: the values of investor-operator shares of MLS — are skyrocketing, with the highest-valued MLS teams having surpassed the valuations of the lowest-valued NHL clubs.

I’m not denying that. 

 

What I’m saying is that if MLS is considered an up and coming league then the AAF’s ratings- which outdraw some MLS games- have to be taken as impressive. 

[Gothamite]

4 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

The AAF is outdrawing some MLS games. As in “the up and coming next great American sports league that can do no wrong” MLS.

 

That’s a pretty misleading metric.

 

You can find MLS games that outdraw the Chargers, does that mean that MLS is in better shape than the NFL?

[Gothamite]

36 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

What I’m saying is that if MLS is considered an up and coming league then the AAF’s ratings- which outdraw some MLS games- have to be taken as impressive. 

 

Again, that’s cherry-picking statistics.

 

Let’s see if they still have the ratings over an entire season - just about every TV show gets better ratings for its premiere episodes, as people check out the Next New Thing.

 

And we’d also have to ignore inconvenient facts such as that MLS clubs are at least sufficiently capitalized, and haven’t had to move practices across state lines in some insurance dodge, not to mention actual attendances at games, and many others. 

[dfwabel]

19 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

Hate to interrupt the pessimism parade but the tv ratings remain solid and steady...

 

https://awfulannouncing.com/league-networks/after-another-week-of-questions-about-their-finances-aaf-nfl-network-ratings-went-up.html

 

 

Their ratings need to be equal or greater than Week 3 for the next three weeks, then the NCAA tournament begins and they will be secondary to games on even TruTV. Two weeks if you use the ACC Championship game on Saturday night in Week 6.  Then the following week is The Masters,

[Red Comet]

27 minutes ago, dfwabel said:

Their ratings need to be equal or greater than Week 3 for the next three weeks, then the NCAA tournament begins and they will be secondary to games on even TruTV. Two weeks if you use the ACC Championship game on Saturday night in Week 6.  Then the following week is The Masters,

 

Quick question, how many goalposts are you going to move?

 

Yes. The league has problems. Everyone and their mother knows that. But, this is one step out of many many necessary in the right direction. It's a start.

[GDAWG]

Ratings remaining solid does increase the chances of a second year, but it's still not a certainty due to attendance issues.  Still a good sign though. 

[IceCap]

3 hours ago, Gothamite said:

 

That’s a pretty misleading metric.

 

You can find MLS games that outdraw the Chargers, does that mean that MLS is in better shape than the NFL?

It’s not touted as proof that MLS is in better shape than the NFL, and to be clear. I’m not saying the AAF is in better shape than MLS. 

 

I’m saying that if we hold MLS’ tv ratings up as a sign of the league’s relative strength then the AAF’s ratings are impressive. 

 

3 hours ago, Gothamite said:

 

Again, that’s cherry-picking statistics.

 

Let’s see if they still have the ratings over an entire season - just about every TV show gets better ratings for its premiere episodes, as people check out the Next New Thing.

The XFL was legenadary in how it declined on a week by week basis. The same doesn’t appear to be happening here. Week two and week three drew less than the curiosity-boosted week one, but they’ve remained steady, with week three even getting a bump. It’s not a case of a sudden drop-off. A good chunk of the tv audience seems to be sticking around. For now. 

 

Quote

And we’d also have to ignore inconvenient facts such as that MLS clubs are at least sufficiently capitalized, and haven’t had to move practices across state lines in some insurance dodge, not to mention actual attendances at games, and many others.

 

I’m not saying that the AAF is in better or equal shape compared to MLS. I’m saying if we consider MLS’ ratings strong than the AAF’s ratings are, well, strong. People are watching on tv is all I’m saying. I’m unsure how this is controversial. 

 

As for the MLS’ relative health? Of course it’s healthier. It’s been around longer. It’s survived a lot of the trials the AAF is currently facing (MLS almost went under at one point). 

They survived though, and they eventually thrived when they found their market. 

 

And what I’m saying is that the AAF has proven it has an audience that’s not insignificant. Again, we’re three weeks in and the XFL drop off hasn’t happened yet. There seems to be enough of a tv market to sustain this thing to the point that they can attempt to stabilize and find that niche. 

[Gothamite]

4 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

I’m not saying that the AAF is in better or equal shape compared to MLS. I’m saying if we consider MLS’ ratings strong than the AAF’s ratings are, well, strong. 

 

But nobody considers MLS’s ratings strong.

 

Television ratings are where the league is weakest and is something that MLS is desperately working to improve.  Few MLS clubs have good local TV deals, which is why LAFC and DCU are turning to streaming platforms for all their coverage.

 

Major League Soccer attendance is up, but TV ratings lag as U.S. Soccer mulls future

 

Major League Soccer’s Peculiar Viewing Trends

 

The Problem With Soccer on TV

 

if you’re using MLS ratings as the benchmark, then the AAF ratings are very concerning, if improving.  And that’s why I say it’s a curious metric.  

 

If the best thing we can say about the AAF is that it’s greatest strength is slightly better than MLS’s worst liability, then maybe we shouldn’t equate the two.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

3 hours ago, Gothamite said:

If the best thing you can say about the AAF is that it’s greatest strength is slightly better than MLS’s worst liability, then maybe we shouldn’t equate the two.

 

Well, I think that@Ice_Cap has said that the best thing about the AAF is that its ratings haven't continue to decline (after the inevitable drop-off from the first week on an over-the-air network). This is a good point. If this trend continues, then it would be a legitimately hopeful sign.

[Gothamite]

4 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

Well, I think that@Ice_Cap has said that the best thing about the AAF is that its ratings haven't continue to decline (after the inevitable drop-off from the first week on an over-the-air network). This is a good point. 

 

Yes.  That is a good point.

 

But these?  @Ice_Cap, you know I love ya, but these are not good points.   

 

16 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

The AAF is outdrawing some MLS games. As in “the up and coming next great American sports league that can do no wrong” MLS. 

 

Maybe that speaks to the overwhelming popularity of gridiron football over association football even at this stage, but given how we’ve been conditioned to believe that MLS is growing in popularity and on its way to becoming entrenched in the North American sports landscape? I have to think the AAF is in a good place tv-wise if they’re going toe-to-toe with it in the ratings. 

12 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

What I’m saying is that if MLS is considered an up and coming league then the AAF’s ratings- which outdraw some MLS games- have to be taken as impressive. 

 

[Sport]

23 hours ago, Armorbeast said:

The AAF has identities slapped together at the last moment

 

The only thing I really disagree with because I know this isn't true. They've had Joe Bosack and team plus some help from Fraser Davidson working on these for over a year and I believe you can tell. 

 

 

[GDAWG]

I still think it's too early:

 

 

[Sykotyk]

58 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

I still think it's too early:

 

 

Dayton? 

 

The only stadium in Dayton is 14,000 seat Welcome Stadium that is an oversized high school stadium. Whoever listed that is just making things up. Canton or Akron I could accept. But not Dayton. 

[Red Comet]

1 minute ago, Sykotyk said:

Dayton? 

 

The only stadium in Dayton is 14,000 seat Welcome Stadium that is an oversized high school stadium. Whoever listed that is just making things up. Canton or Akron I could accept. But not Dayton. 

 

That might actually be the right size for this league. 

[Sykotyk]

 

Not exactly a stadium suitable for a professional league. 

 

Also its 11k not 14k like I thought 

[GDAWG]

A professional football team playing in a stadium that includes a track in it doesn't look good.

[sc49erfan15]

27 minutes ago, Sykotyk said:

 

Not exactly a stadium suitable for a professional league. 

 

Also its 11k not 14k like I thought 

 

Good lord... can you imagine how hot that stadium gets in the summer? It's its own urban heat island!

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

18 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

A professional football team playing in a stadium that includes a track in it doesn't look good.

 

Both the Rams and Raiders dealt with this at the L.A. Coliseum.

 

[monkeypower]

Yeah it still looks weird with a track, but there's a slight difference between playing in an Olympic stadium versus playing in a high school stadium in a parking lot.