WideRight Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 Welcome the HOUSTON APOLLOS to the AAFL, bringing the league to 3 franchises. Copperheads had seemed like the early frontrunner but apparently fans of the space program know how to work the final hours of a poll and the Apollos pull off the narrow victory. This makes 3 teams that have navy in their color scheme, which could make the AAFL the blue equivalent of the 2022 USFL with their red-heavy look. The new look for the club includes the ombre effect helmet seen earlier, from sky blue to deep navy blue, "space blue" we could say. the third color, orange, is used more sparingly. The jerseys feature shoulder yokes, navy on the sky blue home jersey and sky blue on the white road jersey. Offsetting cuffs, and a thin "horizon arc" separating the yoke from the body are two other prominent jerey features. The pants, both white and navy, feature a similar ombre effect to the helmets, with a thin tapered orange stripe on both and three small stars in the deep navy hip. So, with Houston on board, it is time to add our 4th city to the initial 8-team league. We have several NFL cities in the East that qualify for AAFL membership thanks to the presence of a “right-sized” stadiums in the region. So, let’s see what our elite committee of voters opts for. Again, all cities that lose in this round will reappear later on in our Wild Card round for the 7th and 8th team, as well as potentially as expansion clubs for the league’s 2nd season (10 teams), or 3rd season (12 teams). Here we go, again in the order of their metro area population: NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY Metro: 1st -- 19.5 million Stadium: Red Bull Arena (25,189) or Princeton Stadium (27,773) Positives: Two viable stadiums, huge metro area, solid support for USFL and decent for other leagues Negatives: Hard to crack media coverage, saturation with 2 teams in all 5 major sports, expensive market, early spring weather can be rough. My Take: I think the key here is to do as the USFL did and look at this as a New Jersey team. Both stadiums are in Jersey and having the team named NJ and not NY will at least provide some inroads to media within the Garden State while still drawing die hard football fans from the city and surrounding region. WASHINGTON, DC Metro: 6th – 6.37 million Stadium: Audi Field (20,000) Positives: A football market begging for an alternative, great support for XFL, decent spring weather Negatives: Stadium just barely qualifies with 20k, expensive market. My Take: I would never have seen DC as a solid market for alternative spring football due to competition from MLB, NHL, and NBA, but the XFL proved me wrong. I think the issues with the city’s NFL club makes a spring alternative very viable here. ATLANTA, GA Metro: 8th – 6.24 million Stadium: Georgia State Stadium (24,333) Positives: Good weather (at least until mid-summer), nicely sized stadium, could draw regionally. Negatives: Notoriously poor fan support for most of its pro teams, humidity in summer can be nasty. My Take: While Atlanta might not be my first choice for a southern team, it is the largest city in the region, has a decent stadium, and is a football-crazed state. Sign a ton of Bulldogs and you could do well here. MIAMI, FL Metro: 9th – 6.14 million Stadium: FIU Stadium (23,500) Positives: Great early spring weather, a bit hot in summer, but night games could help that, significant corporate and individual wealth. Could draw from other FL cities as well. Negatives: Midsummer temps could be an issue. Competition from NHL, NBA, MLB and MLS. My Take: I cheated a bit by using FIU’s stadium, but it is still the greater Miami region. Could be an issue if you really want Orlando in the league, especially at only 8 teams. Otherwise a very viable market. BOSTON, MA Metro: 11th – 4.9 million Stadium: Harvard Stadium (30,323) or Almuni Stadium at BC (44,500) Positives: Two viable stadiums, could brand as the city’s team to separate from Patriots. Good corporate & indiv. Wealth. Negatives: Spring weather is very dicey. Neither stadium is an ideal venue. No real history of supporting alternative football leagues. My Take: I see Boston as a potential surprise market, but I am not confident that a spring league playing in either of these facilities will do well if weather is bad initially and if the Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins are pulling fans away. NASHVILLE, TN Metro: 35th – 2.07 million Stadium: Geodis Park (30,000) Positives: No MLB in the region, solid spring weather and not too hot in summer, growing market with good corporate base. Negatives: Much smaller market than the ones above it on this list. Limited appeal for TV networks. My Take: Nashville could be a good southern market for attendance, no doubt, but can it bring viewers in from other parts of the South to make it a “regional” team? NEW ORLEANS, LA Metro: 57th – 972,000 residents Stadium: Yulman Stadium at Tulane (30,000) Positives: Perfectly sized stadium, good weather, strong football tradition, potential regional draw, no MLB or NHL team. Negatives: Very small market within Top 60, possible heat/humidity issues in mid-summer, lower corporate & indiv. Wealth in the region. My Take: I love the city, and I think they would embrace the AAFL as a spring sport, especially with no MLB club to compete with, but if we are targeting major markets, NOLA just doesn’t do much to move the needle. I see this city as a viable Wild Card option, but not perhaps as a big TV magnet market. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 1. Strong original Titans vibes, with orange swapped out for red. 2. I hope you revive that Copperheads idea. Loved it. 3. Miami. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dozap17 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 New York/New Jersey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fowler2 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Washington, DC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verbi Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 New orleans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny0930 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 1. Guess the people here really like navy blue. That is 3 teams with it. Apollos look good nevertheless. 2. DC will get my vote Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umreb90 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 New Orleans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willij Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 I vote for Boston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideRight Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 40 minutes ago, raz said: 1. Strong original Titans vibes, with orange swapped out for red. 2. I hope you revive that Copperheads idea. Loved it. 3. Miami. 1. Thanks, I see that too. 2. I hope to, we will see if another city in Copperhead country is chosen (I might have to swap out the state of Texas for another shape) 3. So far a lot of votes for different places. This could get interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dion Jones Jr. Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Apollos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueYankee26 Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 My home region of NY/NJ Quote trueyankee26.wordpress.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomba Tomba Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 4 hours ago, WideRight said: This makes 3 teams that have navy in their color scheme It isn't used much in the Rhinos, maybe you can replace it with black for them Quote If you read on the card you'll be cheating on your heart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalErnst Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 22 hours ago, Blindsay said: Why can’t anyone else change their vote? I thought that was heavily implied sarcasm. Apparently not. New Orleans Quote THE Xtreme Fantasy Football League Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCarp1231 Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 DC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blindsay Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Insane NY/NJ Bias Quote Im an isles,rangers,devils,Sabres,Yankees,Mets,Braves,hawks,knicks,nets,bills,giants,falcons,and jets fan. So? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoads82 Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 New Orleans, I see the NY market the same as the LA market. Very fickle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLEFAN94 Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 DC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian in Boston Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Boston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HobbesTHero Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Big Miami guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideRight Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 Let's check in on the early vote in this challenge of NFL cities: NY/NJ 3 DC 4 ATL 0 Miami 2 Boston 2 Nashville 0 NOLA 2 (NOPE, 4, SEE CORRECTION BELOW) An early but very slim lead for the DMV area, followed by the "real" Tri-State area, then a 3-way tie for 3rd with NOLA, Miami, and Boston. Cannot say I am surprised by Atlanta's lack of votes, since fan buy in has always been the issue with pro teams there. Nashville was also always a longshot. So, will the nation's capital get themselves a team, or will one of the other contenders surge ahead. I can tell you that I have designs already complete for DC and Boston, mostly there for NY/NJ and NOLA, and a few solid ideas for Miami as well. Trying to avoid navy blue, since we have 3 clubs that at least have it as a 2ndary color already. Voting open until Munday at 5pm. We will see who gets to join the AAFL from the Eastern mega-markets. CORRECTION; i miscounted at first. At the time of this count, New Orleans had 4 votes and was tied with DC in the lead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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