"Chargers GM: AAF could be feeder league for NFL"
That would be the most sustainable and least interesting path I suppose.
That would be the most sustainable and least interesting path I suppose.
What ex-college football coach is next to join Alliance of American Football League?
- Thread starter Bazza
- Start date
If you end up being right we will certainly give you the credit...
No one starts a professional football league just to undercut competition that may be out there. The NFL is not an investor - it's some hedge funds, football people, and gambling interests - none of these folks are in this to lose money. I case you haven't noticed it's becoming apparent the only way to make money in television is to have live reality programming - sports programming especially. Why do you think American Ninja Warrior is so popular? The AFF is trying to tap into the same underdog vein of people trying to fulfill a dream. And they have set the league to not challenge the NFL but to compliment it. Their real goal is to gut the CFL and bring that talent and those dollars back stateside. And so what if this league gives the NFL practice squad guys a chance to play and work on their craft when it doesn't interfere with the season. A guy like Bo Scarborough could get a lot of playing this league.
If anything you might see the AAF and the XFL merge to have more franchises spread across the country. If you maintain real football on the field but mix with WWE marketing savvy you actually could have a pretty entertaining product. Also, there will always be Trent's and Blake's trying to get a chance to fulfill their dream. The next Kurt Warner is more likely to come from AAF than the Arena League.
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Do you think the USFL billionaires were in it to lose money? Of course not, no one starts out thinking wow this is a bad idea. I don't know if the NFL is a silent partner or in some way encouraging this or not, but it would make their actions make a lot more sense.
It's just incredibly difficult, and for a lot of reasons. Just one of those would be the fact that American fans have trouble showing up in large numbers to watch minor league anything. The best attendance numbers to my knowledge that have been sustained for any period of time would be the CFL with 20K+, the NFL Europe which was at 20K+ when the NFL decided it was losing too much money to keep going, and the USFL which was just above 20K despite signing players to contracts worth millions (in the early 80s!). It's going to be a real hard sell to keep people engaged in the states, heck the XFL opened with a 10 rating and went out with a whimper, for comparison's sake the Alliance opened with a 2 and followed it up with a .4 on cable. No matter the business model, it's going to be hard to generate enthusiasm if they have empty seats and low ratings.
You can't make a ton of money on this stuff if no one watches, so no matter who is footing the bill, or why, they have to figure out how to really get people engaged. That's the magic, that's the trick, and I won't predict how they can do that because I honestly am not sure how. I said before may be the NFL ends up footing the bill, or may be a streaming giant comes in and massively overpays, but football teams are expensive, betting on minor leagues, or a reality show won't keep the lights on.
It isn't that I want them to fail, it's just that is the most likely outcome because it hasn't gone any different since the 60s. I'll just leave this here:
"The UFL primarily consisted of players who had at one time or another played for an NFL team. Although the league had no connection with the NFL, and had never intended to foster any such connection, some speculated that it could have become a minor or "developmental" league for the NFL"
Sound familiar? This stuff just isn't easy.
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I think the NFL needs to get behind this and start up a minor league system like baseball. Minor League baseball is worth watching and typically does well in the A, AA and AAA systems now. I'd even say the Barons and Biscuits would even be more popular if they had a local tv deal too, and now goes the same for the Trash Pandas too. Where else could you pay $10 to sit a couple of rows behind the plate and enjoy the game? Crap I spent $14 to sit 3 rows behind the plate in Pensacola when they faced Mobile a couple of years ago and sat one row behind Bubba Watson (the majority owner of Pensacola Blue Wahoos) and the head honcho of PING Golf. I would have went back regardless and would watch the Barons more if I wasn't over an hour out.
Start a farm system where the teams get local talent out of college who doesn't make rosters and the NFL can pick up who they want and if they're optioned back down (kinda like the baseball minors) then anyone can sign them. Baseball they're owned by the MLB team pretty much, but at least these guys could play for a job every week and the general public could be involved more because their local team would be made up of old talent. Imagine the Birmingham Iron with Bama and barners playing week in and week out on one team with the smaller schools mixed in as well as other SEC players from nearby states. I would pay more to see some of our older players who wasn't quite as good yet to make the NFL but after 2-3 years work their way up to the NFL. It would produce a lot of jobs, the lower tier players could still make money with playing and endorsements (say a popular player like Prothro could once play again after he healed, just using TP as an example, not saying he could play) and even go up to the top like Topps making cards of the lower tiers like they do with Minor League Baseball as well which again keeps people at work. Even the G-League or whatever it's called now could be a LOT better if the NBA really supported it like they could but like someone said earlier in the thread, college basketball is pretty much the NBA's farm teams now.
Instead of trying to compete with the big boys these leagues should be competing to join the big boys like Minor League Baseball does. There are a TON of teams in MiLB yet they are still being watched on t.v. and in person. There is a reason all of them are building new parks again and/or moving to new towns like the old Bay Bears/Trash Pandas. I can still remember the Huntsville A's when I was a kid.
Start a farm system where the teams get local talent out of college who doesn't make rosters and the NFL can pick up who they want and if they're optioned back down (kinda like the baseball minors) then anyone can sign them. Baseball they're owned by the MLB team pretty much, but at least these guys could play for a job every week and the general public could be involved more because their local team would be made up of old talent. Imagine the Birmingham Iron with Bama and barners playing week in and week out on one team with the smaller schools mixed in as well as other SEC players from nearby states. I would pay more to see some of our older players who wasn't quite as good yet to make the NFL but after 2-3 years work their way up to the NFL. It would produce a lot of jobs, the lower tier players could still make money with playing and endorsements (say a popular player like Prothro could once play again after he healed, just using TP as an example, not saying he could play) and even go up to the top like Topps making cards of the lower tiers like they do with Minor League Baseball as well which again keeps people at work. Even the G-League or whatever it's called now could be a LOT better if the NBA really supported it like they could but like someone said earlier in the thread, college basketball is pretty much the NBA's farm teams now.
Instead of trying to compete with the big boys these leagues should be competing to join the big boys like Minor League Baseball does. There are a TON of teams in MiLB yet they are still being watched on t.v. and in person. There is a reason all of them are building new parks again and/or moving to new towns like the old Bay Bears/Trash Pandas. I can still remember the Huntsville A's when I was a kid.
The truth is from the seats it is difficult to see a talent difference between the Birmingham Iron and NFL teams and as you say there can be much more local interest in the players. I tend to be an avid supporter of the league and believe it will make the NFL better as well.
Watching the HSV A's play years ago I recall a shortstop playing for Orlando who may have been the best fielder I have ever seen. There are a lot of great baseball players who never quite make it into the major leagues.
I've been to a few Rome Braves' games, and I enjoyed those. Small stadium, smaller atmosphere, and to me more fun. I would go see the Iron, but not crazy about going to Birmingham and Legion Field. I'd never go see the Falcons. You can't pay me enough to go to downtown ATL.
In the event that the AAF survives until 2021 and does reasonably well in the meantime, I wonder if the move to the new stadium downtown might serve to provide a further boost. I know that the expectation is that the stadium is supposed to be ready for the World Games that summer, but is there a chance that construction might be finished in time for the Iron's 3rd season to be played there? If the team is doing well, would that even be enough of an impetus for the city to expedite the construction finish date?
I absolutely HATE Atlanta traffic. I live less than an hour from Atlanta, and I couldn't tell you the last time I went there. Maybe 7 or 8 years?
We stay near the Braves field for work, I totally agree.
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Uh................have you been there lately? "Lately", in terms of some members of the extended family, means in the last 30 years.
http://www.espn.com/watch/player?bucketId=5342&id=26011797
Tebow is an obvious fit for Orlando, and one thing he said was interesting, "it was an awesome offer". This makes it seem like they're not capped at the set amount for three years, because no way Tebow would view a 250K offer for three years as awesome.
Also, the fact that Tebow and his level of popularity exists, speaks to the special advantageous role that college football plays. A minor league would be incapable of producing someone as popular as Tebow...
Tebow is an obvious fit for Orlando, and one thing he said was interesting, "it was an awesome offer". This makes it seem like they're not capped at the set amount for three years, because no way Tebow would view a 250K offer for three years as awesome.
Also, the fact that Tebow and his level of popularity exists, speaks to the special advantageous role that college football plays. A minor league would be incapable of producing someone as popular as Tebow...
Tebow is under an mlb minor contract why would he try to be a minor league football stint at the same time? I think it speaks more about him having a better job with better medical benefits going on at the same time more than anything
He wouldn't, that's why he said no, but he's worth millions in the right situation. He's hugely popular, so if you have a franchise in Florida, just by signing him you get a ton of press, sell jerseys, tickets, etc... It's not about why Tebow would do it, it's why a league desperate for relevance would love to have him, and clearly they would or else they wouldn't keep calling.
Also, I'd point out you said minor a few times. That's the predicament that kind of labeling yourself as a minor league (feeder league in particular) puts you in. It begs the question of why someone with a decent career would go there. A league without such shackles, be it pay or perception is free to offer someone like that a hefty salary, although based on what he said they might have done just that.
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Tebow has just about as a good career as Trent so I don’t think Tebow being in the league is that much of an upgrade. Maybe a few extra jerseys and a few extra butts but let’s not act like Tebow is a game changer for the league. Ask yourself, “ did Jordan change the Barons tremendously in ticket sales and viewership ?”
But to the bigger question, “ will the AAF survive?” Who knows... Orlando,San Antonio, and Birmingham probably are the most excited to have a team the others are pretty your typical minor league franchise supporters. The key is going to be what it always has been from the start and that is whether or not the NFL gets involved. Which I think they will.
Yeah and that’s the point. Once they see why he isn’t in the NFL the league would go back to status quo. It’s like Michael Jordan going to the Barons, yeah it got a weekend or two of good attendances but once you saw why he wasn’t on the White Sox you really saw the Barons attendance going back to normal.
The only player I can see that totally changes the league who isn’t in the NFL now is Kapernick. That’s because he is actually a great player with a name. But he isn’t risking his body for 250k
The AAF is going to either die or survive off the NFL’s involvement. I just don’t see them getting the consistent ratings and attendance for a spring league like the USFL. I could be wrong but I think only 3-4 cities are going to be super excited to go to games come Year 2-3. So I think this needs backing from the NFL.
Maybe my memory fails me but I can't recall the dip in attendance. i thought the Barons achieved a season average not seen since the 1940's or 50's.
Tim Tebow boosted attendance significantly, in baseball! His jersey became the third highest selling baseball jersey! That's in all of baseball! Even on the road Tebow, in his second sport, he was drawing 2,500 extra fans per game (a number I might add that is capped by the maximum capacity of some of these stadiums, they can't sell more tickets than seats). You can easily enough figure out that value based on ticket sales alone, but that's obviously not the only source of revenue. The dude is massively popular.
Your comparison of Trent to Tim Tebow represents a huge blind spot in terms of understanding the promotional aspects of a product. Tebow has outsold Trent merchandise by a magnitude of... well there's no comparison. Comparing the marketability of the two is like comparing Coca-Cola to RC Cola. Yeah it might taste about the same, but they don't sell the same.
Your Jordan comparison also overlooks some key stuff. Jordan helped the Barons break both team and league records in attendance (once again, they couldn't exceed the number of seats they had, or else attendance would have been even higher). He had them on SportsCenter for almost every single game he played, he made them the most famous team in the minor leagues.
The Birmingham Barons attendance went from 277,096 in 1993 to 467,868 in 1994.
So umm, the answer to your question is a resounding yes. If you want to exceed the confines and the doldrums of a minor league offering, sports stars whose popularity registers on a national level are of tremendous value.
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Yes a side show freak draws a crowd for a small amount of time, but once everyone has seen it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be they sit a home.
Point is after everyone sees Tebow is the 5th best QB in the AAF they will stop coming and buying jerseys. My bigger point is a guy like Tim Tebow couldn’t save the league even if he honored a 3 year deal. People won’t follow a guy that doesn’t light up a scoreboard even if he is a great celebrity athlete.
So no I’m not overlooking anything about Tebow. He would be a single season marketing success that blows away as quick as his starting football career did in the NFL. Year 2 and 3 would be “ Is Tebow even better that Christian Hackenburg?” Instead of “Yayy Tebow”. It would take someone who was actually good professionally at a sport to single handily carry a league not someone who isn’t.
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