Spring Football

[raysox]

I doubt this is a good idea, but I thought this mightbe a good discussion thread.

How would the CCSLC do a spring football league?

So give share your outline for a 5 year plan. Initial franchises, stadium sizes, branding, expansion, tv deals, players etc. I just know I've read a lot of people critisize the A11 league, and rightfully so. But if they came to you before they announced anything, what would you do?

I would have 4 or 6 teams the first year. Start small, because teams would be better cause the talent pool wouldn't be diluted yet. I would have a team in Los Angeles for sure, try to take that market. Then places where a football fan base is established, but not fulfilled by the NFL. San Antonio would be a good candidate I think. Orlando too if they had a stadium. Maybe a Birmingham, or Memphis. I would have one person brand every team, but remain uniquely different. Build up the brand, no recycled names. Try to get a tv deal, whether it's Fox Sports, or ESPN. Maybe even scout the big name non-drafted college players, cut training camp players, or Arena players. Try to establish the league as a way to get back to the big leagues. Run the league from March to June. If the league is successful, get it to 8 teams in 2 years, then cap it there until a profit is made. The only exception would be, say, the Raiders move to LA, either move the LA team to Oakland, or have an expansion team help the fans recover. Establish the league, rivalries, and players. And lastly, do not compete with the NFL at any time. That's never going to go well.

I ask for one rule in this thread. No shooting down other people's ideas based on your own. Just say why they wouldn't work instead of starting a flame war. That's never fun. If you think spring football won't work, then say that, and why.

I'd love to hear you guys' plans not scattered amoung A11 threads.

[JackieMoon]

I would go for a TV deal on one of the major networks. If ESPN were to grab ahold of this, I would definitely air it on ABC. This would generate a lot of attention. Hard to believe, but a lot of people do not have cable anymore, with all the streaming devices.

As for league structure, I think 6 would be a good number to start off with. It would be ran just like the NFL Europe did (10 games over 10 weeks). Each team would play all other teams twice, once at home and once away. The top two teams would play in a Championship Game. I would test the waters for say five years this way. After that I would expand to 8 and do the same for another 5 years. If it got really big 10 would be the limit.

Like you mentioned, I would put teams in cities that do not have NFL teams. I would try to spread these teams out. The first six teams that I would have would be: 1. Orlando, 2. Birmingham, 3. Memphis, 4. San Antonio, 5. Los Angeles, 6. Portland. If it got bigger #7 would be Las Vegas, #8 would be Salt Lake City. The final two franchises if it got that far would be 9. Columbus and 10. Hartford

[sc49erfan15]

Regional is definitely the way to go, IMO. I'm not saying the NBDL was/is the epitome of how an upstart league should be, but I think a lot of people forget that it started very regionally. Off the top of my head, Asheville, Charleston (SC), Roanoke, Columbus (GA), Greenville (SC), Mobile, Huntsville, and Fayetteville were where the first teams were located.

Look at areas where there isn't a whole lot of competition for the entertainment dollar. If LA didn't have so many people, I'd ignore it altogether... and even then, I honestly think Angelenos want NFL or bust, I don't see them "settling" for a spring or minor league. I'd ignore Florida altogether, except maybe Tallahassee and Gainesville. Look for cities and areas that want to be considered "big time"... think George Shinn and Charlotte in the late 1980s. I'm just thinking out loud (and also because you rarely see these areas mentioned in threads like this) but given the success of Spokane in Arena/af2 (and Boise State), the Pacific Northwest/Rocky Mountains might even work - Spokane, Boise, Missoula, Butte, Bozeman, Billings, Idaho Falls, Great Falls, SLC, maybe even Reno although it's a little more distant geographically from the others. Do I see a spring football league based in the Rocky Mountains receiving national attention? Absolutely not - but it might attract a solid enough fan base (as in, people who actually go to the games) to provide a starting point. If not there, "minor league" cities in Texas or in the Southeast (like the NBDL) might be a better place to start.

[DaytonBlue]

I'd have it end a few weeks before NFL training camp so players who are "stars" in the spring league could get looks by NFL teams.

I'd keep the season short (8 games and two weeks of playoffs) so those said stars would not be too fatigued to go to NFL camp. I figure these players would be end of roster NFL players at best so playing a few downs on special teams in the NFL isn't impossible after a spring season.

I think any TV deal with this league would be negligible revenue wise so I would focus on being in cities where I could fill the stands. I'd still get a TV deal for exposure but I wouldn't expect much income out of it.

I'd also choose stadiums with smaller capacities of 40K or less (possibly even MLS stadiums but I know some teams wouldn't want a gridiron football team tearing up the field, even if it was only four or five home games).

I'd only use previous names if their was a relatively strong sentiment for it in a particular city.

Possible locations:

Sacramento (Sacramento State)

Portland (Jeld-Wen)

Orlando (Bright House Stadium)

Cincinnati (Nipper Stadium)

Omaha...if they could work around the CWS and Creighton baseball, which wouldn't be easy

Memphis...Liberty Bowl much larger than 40K, but a possibility

Louisville...Cardinal Stadium is quite large too

Akron/Canton: at U. of Akron, Rubber Bowl, or Fawcett Stadium

Hartford (Rentschler)

Charlotte (Memorial Stadium)

Chicago (possibly North Central College where the Fire used to play if it could be expanded again)

Dallas (one of the high schools if they'd allow beer sales or TCU in Fort Worth)

San Antonio (Alamodome with upper deck curtained off like what is done at BC Place)

To start, I would pick eight teams in two divisions. All the teams in one division would be driving distance. You would play your division twice and two teams from the other division once. This would result in only one plane trip for the season unless you make it to the championship. Top two in each division meet in playoffs. Division winners play in the Poland Spring Bowl or something silly like that.

[buzzcut]

If I formed a spring league, I'd first sign a deal with Turner for TV coverage, avoiding the Big 4 networks completely.

For the cities, I'd start with 6 teams, all located within reasonable proximity of each other, and none of whom will be in an NFL market(I'm excluding Los Angeles for this). For an eastern league, cities like Norfolk, Raleigh, Hartford, Syracuse, Columbus, Orlando, Chattanooga(a stretch?), Louisville, Lexington and Mobile would work. For a western league; Las Vegas, Portland, Fresno, Sacramento, Spokane, Salt Lake City, Tucson, Albuquerque, San Antonio, El Paso, Tulsa and Wichita would be considered. For a central league, you could have Wichita, Tulsa, San Antonio, Shreveport, Mobile, Omaha, Des Moines, Grand Rapids, Columbus, Lexington and Chattanooga as host cities.

The schedule would be simple, everyone plays twice. Top two teams would play in the American Bowl. It would start in mid-April and end just before NFL camps open.

I'd use the NFL rules, but with a few twists: Like having only one foot inbounds to make a catch; allowing multiple men in motion; stopping the clock on all plays that lose yardage; field goals worth 4 points if made beyond 50-yards; etc.

Rosters would be 48 players, 40 of whom can suit up on gameday, with an 8-man practice squad.

[crashcarson15]

I'm not sure exactly how I'd do it, but I'd certainly look to place teams in Omaha and Sacramento—those two markets were pretty successful in drawing fans for the UFL.

[BBTV]

Throw millions at underclassmen who aren't eligible for the NFL draft to get them to leave school and join the league. The only way a league will work is with well-known talent. Money is a way to get that talent. There's plenty of good freshmen and sophomores who would take a big check for a couple of years instead of playing out their eligibility and risk getting hurt before the NFL calls.

[raysox]

Actually, a league that had like Raleigh, Norfolk, Memphis, Birmingham, Orlando, Louisville, or Hartford wouldn't be that bad regionally. Grow out when the league gets settled. SLC, San Antonio, Omaha, Portland, LA and Las Vegas could all be expansion at some point. Regionally would be a great move if they pace themselves.

I liked the post mentioning Turner. Get on TBS before baseball and get eyes that are watching the NBA playoffs on TNT.

:censored:, put a team in Canton.

[LAWeaver]

put a team in Canton.

I'm all for a team in Canton. Let the sport get back to its roots

[Soarindude]

Could this "concept" league allow sophmores and freshman and even high school graduates to play in the league? If the UFL had done this, we could've easily seen Johnny Manziel, among others, playing in this "minor league" system. There's plenty of big time athletes that would rather play two years in a minor league system to get paid and then move to the NFL, versus playing college.

I'm not sure if there is a rule on this however. I can imagine that there has to be one restriction on this, or else the UFL would've done it.

[sc49erfan15]

Could this "concept" league allow sophmores and freshman and even high school graduates to play in the league? If the UFL had done this, we could've easily seen Johnny Manziel, among others, playing in this "minor league" system. There's plenty of big time athletes that would rather play two years in a minor league system to get paid and then move to the NFL, versus playing college.

I'm not sure if there is a rule on this however. I can imagine that there has to be one restriction on this, or else the UFL would've done it.

I'm relatively certain that the rule is only an NFL one. Not sure about the CFL, Arena, or any of the other indoor leagues, but I don't think there's such an age requirement in place for any other league. 18 year olds can enter almost any other type of workforce at age 18, I don't see why football is any different.

There's no way Manziel or others would flock to such a league so quickly. You don't see anybody forgoing their college years to get paid in Arena football or the CFL (assuming there's no such age requirement), why would they do the same for an outdoor minor league? The NCAA offers substantial publicity for future NFL players and players who will never play another down of football past college. They're the big man on campus for 2-4 years. They routinely play in packed-house stadiums, are all over TV/radio/other media, and even if they blow it in the NFL (or never get drafted in the first place), they've still got "played football at ________" pedigree that has to be worth something amongst crazed SEC (and other conferences) fanbases. And, you know, the whole money for autographs thing. Manziel probably made more off that than he would have in salary playing minor-league football.

You're Johnny Manziel (or Jadeveon Clowney or any other elite name that could've realistically been drafted out of HS if the rules allowed). Which is a better economic option - a minor league (where you're making, what, $50k/yr, absolute max) or the NCAA? Easy pick.