Yep, I thought the same thing from the very start. The goal of this venture was to sell it to the NFL from the get go. This wasn't intended to be a long term, self sustaining league.
AAF may fold
- Thread starter crimsonaudio
- Start date
Looks like the Iron skipped town owing half of Birmingham money.
https://trib.al/dh0gGgU
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
https://trib.al/dh0gGgU
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
There's an article out on ESPN about the AAF. It paints a pretty clear picture, which doesn't show so much evil doing as people who were far too optimistic (of course the media has been hyping for years that just talented players playing the game was worth so much money, but the article attest to the fact that it is not that simple).
I thought this part was the most telling: "Dundon's team calculated the league's total revenue in a year of existence at around $12 million".
Just let that sink in a bit. The entire league was basically earning no money at all. This coincides with the earlier revelation that the entirety of bets on the league were about 2% of the bets made on Alabama alone (or something alone those lines). At the end of the day they made a league for the NFL that the NFL didn't want, and a league for fans that fans didn't support. All the finger pointing in the world won't change that.
This is also a telling exchange:
"If we can operate this league at $50 million, we'll have a league and a business," Dundon said."I recognize that, but we can't," Polian said. "We'd have to cut the players' salary."
This is a recognition that even the relatively modest AAF pay was unsustainable.
Anyway, here's the article: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/26957796/inside-short-unhappy-life-alliance-american-football
I thought this part was the most telling: "Dundon's team calculated the league's total revenue in a year of existence at around $12 million".
Just let that sink in a bit. The entire league was basically earning no money at all. This coincides with the earlier revelation that the entirety of bets on the league were about 2% of the bets made on Alabama alone (or something alone those lines). At the end of the day they made a league for the NFL that the NFL didn't want, and a league for fans that fans didn't support. All the finger pointing in the world won't change that.
This is also a telling exchange:
"If we can operate this league at $50 million, we'll have a league and a business," Dundon said."I recognize that, but we can't," Polian said. "We'd have to cut the players' salary."
This is a recognition that even the relatively modest AAF pay was unsustainable.
Anyway, here's the article: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/26957796/inside-short-unhappy-life-alliance-american-football
Last edited:
This is what ended the Arena Football League after a great run that was very profitable. Eventually the players and coaches demanded higher salaries, and the teams immediately found themselves losing money.
There is a place for a league like this, but not with high salaries for players or coaches. It has to be a developmental league or a league for players who just want to keep the dream alive. It cannot be a league where the players and coaches earn high salaries.
This is yet another head scratcher; why do people think another pro football league will make it? A new league relies on second or third tier talent, played in the regular football offseason, and ownership is always undercapitalized. I am sure there will be another attempt at this after a 3-4 year layoff.
Fact #1: Dundon is an evil piece of human garbage
Fact #2: Little Ebersol was a hopeless optimistic that believed handshake deals are binding, and that people would just pour money into a sinking product in tiers.
Probably because football is the most popular sport in America, and has been for a very long time. And the original arena league proved that it can work for everyone involved, so long as no one gets too greedy.
That was a good article from ESPN. Really answered a lot of questions I had. I think in the end, it was a poorly executed plan with some great ideas. Somehow I think the XFL is going to work because of the failure of the AAF.
I looked it up and the Arena League has been around since the late 80's. It seems to be the only league that has stuck around. It only saw a sharp decline when the 2008 recession hit. It is still around with fewer teams, but is still around. As you said as long as no one gets too greedy it should work.
So in other words, the McDonalds of professional sports.
What was it Clint Eastwood said, "A man's got to know his limitations?"
It is around, but it was totally shut down after a collapse because of the weight of the contracts that I described. There are now only a handful of teams. There used to be nearly 20. It may grow back to what it once was. Time will tell. There are hard rules around what teams can pay players and coaches to avoid the same problem from recurring.
Not necessarily. There are hundreds of great players who would love to try to hang on for even the smallest chance at another shot at the NFL. The arena league put enough players through to the NFL to keep attracting talent even when the pay was slight. Guys like Gruden and Warner played in that league.
The AFL actually tanked and the AFL2 bought the naming rights and reformed a year later. I used to love the AFL but it pulled a CFL and overextended itself in an effort to go mainstream. Then a recession hit...
The recession had nothing to do with their failure. Literally went from a league in which almost every team was making money to one in which even the best teams were losing money when the players demanded more money. It all fell apart within a few years.
The original AFL was built on a similar model as the XFL - understanding that the quality of play would never be NFL level, so you need to ensure that your customers are entertained every minute that they are in the arena to keep them coming back. Get the fans engaged. Make sure that they have fun. They didn't want the fans to be folks coming just to watch the game - they wanted folks to feel involved. It worked, and fans were disappointed when the league failed. They still loved their teams, but there was no model in which they players could get paid what they wanted, even with the TV deals in place at the time.
I was big into the AFL around 2004/2006. New Orleans had the VooDoo and there were a lot of house hold names in the league. Just prior to that the AFL2 had put three teams alone in Louisiana and they all folded pretty quickly. I remember a concerted effort to break into the mainstream but it didn't materialize. By 2008 the AFL was on hiatus with the AFL2 still going. They reorganized as a single league and became more regional league. Many of the more successful teams jump to other leagues before dissolving or moving back. I don't have the time to definitively argue whether the recession impacted the league, but I do know that they fell off right about then. I just assumed they were another casualty of folks not having the excess funds to go watch the games. I loved the concept and wish it had worked far more than any spring league. Imagine Basketball like football with heavy interaction from fans! What a game!
My opinion is probably biased since I personally know 4 of the previous owners and 3 of the previous head coaches.
:cheers2:
For all of you who follow failed professional football leagues. Just an update.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...-been-found-and-is-safe/ar-AAD4NTr?li=BBnba9I
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...-been-found-and-is-safe/ar-AAD4NTr?li=BBnba9I
It was a cool concept in theory but I never could get into it. There is something offensive to me about a man moving in motion towards the line of scrimmage prior to the snap. Or multiple men in motion at the same time, like the CFL. It's balderdash. JMO, of course.
All of the rules were skewed to favor the offenses, but the best defensive team still won the Arena championship every year.
We lived in Iowa for five years in the early 2000s, and watching the Quad City Steamwheelers was entertaining.
Last edited:
Latest threads
-
Chattanooga VW Plant Union Vote- Started by 92tide
- Replies: 0
-
-
-
Political Meme - Cartoon/Joke Thread...Part XX- Started by Bazza
- Replies: 9
-
US Army replacing 5.56mm rifle with a 6.8mm for infantry- Started by Tidewater
- Replies: 6
-