AAF needed $250m emergency investment to make payroll

[Alphadawg7]

1 hour ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

 

" the Alliance of American Football, will kick off its inaugural regular season Feb. 9, 2019, and will include a modest broadcast deal with CBS, league executives announced Tuesday."

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/03/20/alliance-of-american-football-to-kick-off-after-super-bowl/?utm_term=.13bfc5944628

 

 

 

Lol, you just keep going down this path.  I love how you want to dispute they needed $250M after they said they did and went and got $250M.

 

https://xfl2k.com/news/aaf-not-making-any-money-on-tv-deals/

 

https://triblive.com/sports/aafs-officials-pleased-with-opening-weekend-tv-ratings-but-remain-cautious/

 

"Charlie Ebersol, founder of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) was making the rounds last week after their debut. With the ratings seemingly a success, we’ve since learned some new information about the type of TV deals the AAF has acquired. While speaking with the Alternative Press, Ebersol said “The league is not receiving rights fees from networks. Ebersol described the league’s relationships not as time-buys but as “partnerships that extend beyond just broadcasts.”

 

“What we are looking to do is create a structure that is equitable for the network,” Ebersol said. “People paying for media rights are losing money. In the modern tech world, you want to get people engaged in the product, and there is an enterprise value. CBS has been buying into technology companies, and Turner bought Bleacher Report a couple years ago.”

 

Like I said, they are NOT making revenue off the TV deal right now.  “Modest” doesn't mean revenue right now, or even revenue at all. Took 1 second to google that by the way, even though I didn't need to.  

 

 

 

 

Edited February 20, 2019 by Alphadawg7

[Mr. WEO]

4 hours ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

 

" the Alliance of American Football, will kick off its inaugural regular season Feb. 9, 2019, and will include a modest broadcast deal with CBS, league executives announced Tuesday."

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/03/20/alliance-of-american-football-to-kick-off-after-super-bowl/?utm_term=.13bfc5944628

 

 

 

 

Yeah the "deal" is.....we aren't paying to televise your games.  Some have speculated the the AAF is paying networks to show these games.

 

"The league is not receiving rights fees from networks. Ebersol described the league’s relationships not as time-buys but as “partnerships that extend beyond just broadcasts.”

[Fan in San Diego]

I'm surprised they didn't have more startup capital to last more than one week.

 

 

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

I said after week 1: not having northeast teams is suicide. Professional sports need Ny, phi or Boston. Or all 3. None is senseless. They almost didn’t even make it to week 2. Embarrassing. This isn’t college. You need the real sports cities. Most of them are up here.

[Alphadawg7]

46 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

Yeah the "deal" is.....we aren't paying to televise your games.  Some have speculated the the AAF is paying networks to show these games.

 

"The league is not receiving rights fees from networks. Ebersol described the league’s relationships not as time-buys but as “partnerships that extend beyond just broadcasts.”

 

Yeah, here is how these deals really work.

 

League will do a TV deal, usually 2 to 3 years (its in leagues best interest to do 2 years though) where its really a one year deal with an 2nd year option almost every time.  First year never has revenue, and year 2 usually does not either.  However the reason year 2 is an option is in case there is a fast start in popularity and the rights start to have early value, the league can opt out and negotiate a new deal that may include revenue with the same network or others.  

 

Thats highly unlikely though and what will most likely happen is the league will opt in year 2 (assuming they have an option) under same terms and then look to do a revenue generating TV deal after the term of this one where they have some leverage (assuming the league is succeeding and growing).

 

Someone has to pay for the production of the game, and that responsibility is on the league given its their product.  So the league can often get the production costs covered in the deal with the Network, but only on the games that Network airs.  This is about the best case scenario for a new league like this.  

 

Now, in some cases, you may have to buy the airtime too.  So the league may actually be paying the Networks to show their games.  In which case, they are paying the production costs and for the air time.  Given how sought after sports rights are as well as hard they are to get (most are tied up long term in huge deals) I doubt they have had to pay for the air time though.

 

Major League Rugby didn't even have to do that in the deals with CBS Sports, ESPN+, and ATT Streaming.  Their deal is a 2 year with 1 year option (the exercised second year) and CBS Sports pays for the production of the games that air there, MLR pays for the production of the games that air on the 2 streaming services.  But they do not pay for the air time nor do they generate revenue from it.  Their deal is up after this season and there are networks looking to bid on the rights now.  AAF is football, a bigger sport in this country, and has the relationship with the NFL.  

 

So its possible they are buying the airtime, but I seriously doubt they are...and if they did, they got a bad deal and should fire the guy negotiating the rights and hire me so I can get them a better deal season 2

 

NOTE:  People also commonly think that leagues make money over the season on TV revenue based on ratings and have money coming in over the season from it.  Not accurate, the deal is negotiated before the games are even played.  Ratings impact the future rates, not the current season and the rights fees are already paid before the first game is even paid.  

 

 

Edited February 20, 2019 by Alphadawg7

[Alphadawg7]

22 minutes ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

I said after week 1: not having northeast teams is suicide. Professional sports need Ny, phi or Boston. Or all 3. None is senseless. They almost didn’t even make it to week 2. Embarrassing. This isn’t college. You need the real sports cities. Most of them are up here.

 

Agreed, and it's likely they already have them in development.  First season are the teams/cities ready to play, but as they are building the league and as interest expands, they have new groups coming in to buy teams for other cities but won't have enough time to build a new team and be ready for first season.

 

For example, Major League Rugby launched with just 7 teams its inaugural season even though it had 10 teams in the league which included NY, DC, and Dallas too but came in too late to be ready for inaugural season.  Now there are 4 more teams not currently playing in season 2 but will be part of season 3 in January of 2020 because they came on during the offseason and need time to set the team up.  

 

So AAF almost certainly has more teams in their pipe I am sure, and I would expect it will be in some of those territories you mentioned because you are absolutely correct, they are high value locations.

[Mr. WEO]

50 minutes ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

I said after week 1: not having northeast teams is suicide. Professional sports need Ny, phi or Boston. Or all 3. None is senseless. They almost didn’t even make it to week 2. Embarrassing. This isn’t college. You need the real sports cities. Most of them are up here.

 

NYC metro area already has 2 bad football teams, 2 bad NBA teams, 1 bad and one pretty good  NHL team, 1 bad MLB team and another decent one.  They aren't hurting for a minor league football team to follow.

 

Boston has a perennial SB contender, a recent World Series winner and a good NHL team.  They wouldn't even notice that there was a minor league football in town.

 

35 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

 

 

.

So its possible they are buying the airtime, but I seriously doubt they are...and if they did, they got a bad deal and should fire the guy negotiating the rights and hire me so I can get them a better deal season 2

 

 

 

 

 

If that's the only deal they could get to have the games on TV, they have to sign that deal...

 

Maybe that's why they needed the 1/4 billion cash infusion.

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

1 hour ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

NYC metro area already has 2 bad football teams, 2 bad NBA teams, 1 bad and one pretty good  NHL team, 1 bad MLB team and another decent one.  They aren't hurting for a minor league football team to follow.

 

Boston has a perennial SB contender, a recent World Series winner and a good NHL team.  They wouldn't even notice that there was a minor league football in town.

 

 

 

If that's the only deal they could get to have the games on TV, they have to sign that deal...

 

Maybe that's why they needed the 1/4 billion cash infusion.

And despite the Knicks being terrible they sell out every game every year. You put the teams in places with the most people who care about sports. It’s the league that needs ny, not the city that needs the league.

[Mr. WEO]

2 hours ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

And despite the Knicks being terrible they sell out every game every year. You put the teams in places with the most people who care about sports. It’s the league that needs ny, not the city that needs the league.

 

 

Because generations of NYers have gown up with the Knicks.  No one will care about an AAF team in NYC.     Don't believe me?  Go to check out a Westchester Knicks game...

 

Plus, NYC is a baseball (or basketball, depending on where/when you grew up) first.  Football town last.

 

These minor league football teams belong where they are.

Edited February 21, 2019 by Mr. WEO

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

1 hour ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

Because generations of NYers have gown up with the Knicks.  No one will care about an AAF team in NYC.     Don't believe me?  Go to check out a Westchester Knicks game...

 

Plus, NYC is a baseball (or basketball, depending on where/when you grew up) first.  Football town last.

 

These minor league football teams belong where they are.

I live 50 mins from the city. I know what the attitude towards sports are around here. I live nowhere near Buffalo. 

[Mr. WEO]

11 minutes ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

I live 50 mins from the city. I know what the attitude towards sports are around here. I live nowhere near Buffalo. 

 

 

Then you know sports fans near you have no use for minor league football 

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

54 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

Then you know sports fans near you have no use for minor league football 

If you put a team in NYC it would work. Certainly better then the places the AAF picked. No doubt. There aren’t any football teams there and there are so many people in the area, you would have a good shot.

[BigDingus]

Wtf do they need an ADDITIONAL $250 million for?!

Their players get paid $250k over 3 years, so with only 8 teams of 52 players, that'd be $34.6 million a year. Assuming they've already been paid each week, that number would be even less to cover all the remaining contracts for the year.

Factor in coaching salaries, which we can pretend add up to half of that (which there's no way in hell, but just for laughs), that'd be $51.9 million. Even accounting for venue costs, operations, marketing, etc. that wouldn't come out to more than the player contracts, but let's throw another imaginary $34 million (again, there's no possible way with their size anything is costing nearly that much), and that would total $85.9 million for the entire year.

So assuming the players have been getting paid up until this point, and assuming they're not bringing in $0 dollars in revenue (no, not profit, just revenue), how could they possibly need $250 million, and an "EMERGENCY" $250 million at that!!???!

Another poster pointed out that in order to operate the entire NFL, running all 32 teams and paying all players & employees, it costs $180 million a week total. Yet this small startup with 8 teams, is going to just need $70 million more than that?! Even the XFL isn't going to require that much... Vince McMahon said it's going to cost $500 million over 3 years, which breaks down to $166 million per season. And you know damn well that's going to include a lot more marketing & spending than this league, so how did it just suddenly need $250 million out of nowhere? 

Did some regular fan just walk into a bank & say "hey, can you give me a blank check to start a football league?" without a dollar to his name, all while getting everything for free up until this point, and just suddenly realize "oops, I need to pay for things tomorrow!" Point is, I don't get the amount, or the "emergency" aspect of this.

[Dr.Sack]

If they can’t make payroll paying guys $80k Kaepernick was smart to ask for $20m. $50 this league folds in 2 years.

[Alphadawg7]

26 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

Wtf do they need an ADDITIONAL $250 million for?!

Their players get paid $250k over 3 years, so with only 8 teams of 52 players, that'd be $34.6 million a year. Assuming they've already been paid each week, that number would be even less to cover all the remaining contracts for the year.

Factor in coaching salaries, which we can pretend add up to half of that (which there's no way in hell, but just for laughs), that'd be $51.9 million. Even accounting for venue costs, operations, marketing, etc. that wouldn't come out to more than the player contracts, but let's throw another imaginary $34 million (again, there's no possible way with their size anything is costing nearly that much), and that would total $85.9 million for the entire year.

So assuming the players have been getting paid up until this point, and assuming they're not bringing in $0 dollars in revenue (no, not profit, just revenue), how could they possibly need $250 million, and an "EMERGENCY" $250 million at that!!???!

Another poster pointed out that in order to operate the entire NFL, running all 32 teams and paying all players & employees, it costs $180 million a week total. Yet this small startup with 8 teams, is going to just need $70 million more than that?! Even the XFL isn't going to require that much... Vince McMahon said it's going to cost $500 million over 3 years, which breaks down to $166 million per season. And you know damn well that's going to include a lot more marketing & spending than this league, so how did it just suddenly need $250 million out of nowhere? 

Did some regular fan just walk into a bank & say "hey, can you give me a blank check to start a football league?" without a dollar to his name, all while getting everything for free up until this point, and just suddenly realize "oops, I need to pay for things tomorrow!" Point is, I don't get the amount, or the "emergency" aspect of this.

 

It said they needed emergency capital, not $250m in emergency capital.  They needed some amount of capital urgently, but the exact amount that was urgent was not disclosed, only the total amount he put in.   

[Mr. WEO]

10 hours ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

If you put a team in NYC it would work. Certainly better then the places the AAF picked. No doubt. There aren’t any football teams there and there are so many people in the area, you would have a good shot.

 

 

Other than the Jets and the Giants?

 

Anyway, NYC isn't starving for minor league sports teams.  That really doesn't make sense.

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

...after reading several articles FWIW, it sounds like the original, major investor backed out and this guy stepped up with $250 mil which is actually long term capitalization.....

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

9 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

Other than the Jets and the Giants?

 

Anyway, NYC isn't starving for minor league sports teams.  That really doesn't make sense.

Neither of those teams play in nyc. You keep saying the city isn’t asking for the team. It’s not about that. The LEAGUE needs the north east markets. That’s exactly what I have been saying from the start here.

[Mr. WEO]

1 hour ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

Neither of those teams play in nyc. You keep saying the city isn’t asking for the team. It’s not about that. The LEAGUE needs the north east markets. That’s exactly what I have been saying from the start here.

 

 

Oh come on.   Those are NYC teams.  You’re attempt at claiming they are NJ teams does nothing to further your point.  If the AAF had a team playing....where in the city?? Icahn Stadium?  The meadow in Central Park?  It wouldn’t matter.  No one would come see them. 

 

I may NEED to be with Adriana Lima.  That doesn’t get me past her driveway, however....

 

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

6 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

Oh come on.   Those are NYC teams.  You’re attempt at claiming they are NJ teams does nothing to further your point.  If the AAF had a team playing....where in the city?? Icahn Stadium?  The meadow in Central Park?  It wouldn’t matter.  No one would come see them. 

 

I may NEED to be with Adriana Lima.  That doesn’t get me past her driveway, however....

 

I have no skin in the game here. The point has been missed 3 or 4 times. Without the north east sports markets the league will fail. That’s my point. NYC will be fine regardless. It’s turning into something it shouldn’t be. I barely care anyway. The league almost folded already. It won’t make it. The AAF needs teams in the north east. That’s my point. It will be the right one too.