AAF in serious danger of folding. UPDATE: AAF Suspends ALL Operations!

[RobbRiddick]

Jesus that's embarrassing. I watched numerous interviews with Ebersol before the league started and they seemed to have put in a good plan to sustain themselves. To not even last a season is just a very poor reflection on everyone involved.

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

49 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

Well, he’s about $70m in , not the $250m he pledged. Speculation was he wanted the gambling app technology they were building, and wanted it now,  was willing to pay the $70M to get it

 

...state by state sports gambling is a slow roll out process.... PA is .brutal....our company had to get licensed by PA Gaming Commission to do construction work in the casinos.....$12,000 application fee...had to go through TWO NYS Police and PA State Police background checks, fingerprinting, FBI background check and a one hour "face to face" interview with examiners as well as providing personal financial statement, etc.....NYS has nothing like that....not sure about other states......any company wanting to enter the sports gambling business in PA has to submit to these rigors......examiners are flying to Europe because companies there want entry into PA sports gaming market.....

[Kirby Jackson]

32 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

Different Sports.  

 

Not as much players on a Basketball court.

 

So a top flight NO 1 HS football recruit let say gets offered 1M a year to play in XFL while he waits for his three years removed from HS stuff.  HMMMM yeah they will go get that money.  Now lets say this new league has 10 teams to start and has a roster size of 53.  That is 530 PAID slots.  Now start looking at the top 100 HS Football recruits, say 30% jump to paid league year one (and grows).  Yeah that is a hell of a talent drop for the play for Free NCAA.  Dont transfer and dont sneeze you might get a NCAA Violation league

Won’t happen though, because the NCAA will just adjust if this ever happened. They’d start paying players or doing whatever was necessary. They have tons of money and power. No startup league could ever possibly compete with their might. 

[MAJBobby]

6 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Won’t happen though, because the NCAA will just adjust if this ever happened. They’d start paying players or doing whatever was necessary. They have tons of money and power. No startup league could ever possibly compete with their might. 

 

Then maybe the XFL should do exactly that. Shift the paradigm and see what happens to NCAA having to compete with actually paying their 110 player rosters a Salary. 

 

Lets see see if the NCAA and their Billion Dollar Schools want to open that door to paying football Players and see how that affects other sports. Not to mention the free movement without sitting a year. 

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

....lesson NOT learned??.........

WWE's Vince McMahon sells $272M in stock to fund XFL

By Thomas BarrabiPublished March 29, 2019SportsFOXBusiness

 

WWE chairman Opens a New Window. Vince McMahon sold shares of the wrestling company worth roughly $272 million to help fund the XFL’s relaunch Opens a New Window. in 2021, the company disclosed in an SEC filing on Friday.

 

McMahon sold more than 3.2 million shares of WWE’s Class A common stock at a price of $84.87 each. Proceeds from the stock sale will be used to fund initiatives for Alpha Entertainment, a McMahon-led offshoot that serves as XFL’s parent company.

[MAJBobby]

10 minutes ago, OldTimeAFLGuy said:

....lesson NOT learned??.........

WWE's Vince McMahon sells $272M in stock to fund XFL

By Thomas BarrabiPublished March 29, 2019SportsFOXBusiness

 

WWE chairman Opens a New Window. Vince McMahon sold shares of the wrestling company worth roughly $272 million to help fund the XFL’s relaunch Opens a New Window. in 2021, the company disclosed in an SEC filing on Friday.

 

McMahon sold more than 3.2 million shares of WWE’s Class A common stock at a price of $84.87 each. Proceeds from the stock sale will be used to fund initiatives for Alpha Entertainment, a McMahon-led offshoot that serves as XFL’s parent company.

 

I think Vince as said he would allow kids right out of HS to play. If so he won’t be needing NFLPA to allow younger NFL athletes to play for them like the AAF did. Yep he did. 

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.si.com/nfl/2019/01/08/xfl-eligibility-rules-nfl-restrctions-age-college-football-draft

Edited April 2, 2019 by MAJBobby

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

3 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

 

I think Vince as said he would allow kids right out of HS to play. If so he won’t be needing NFLPA to allow younger NFL athletes to play for them like the AAF did. Yep he did. 

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.si.com/nfl/2019/01/08/xfl-eligibility-rules-nfl-restrctions-age-college-football-draft

 

 

...hardly the key to league success.....if (and I'm NOT saying it) the AAF opinion is that you're watching practice guard type or less players and they're folding the tent, HS players won't draw flies..........

[MAJBobby]

15 minutes ago, OldTimeAFLGuy said:

 

 

...hardly the key to league success.....if (and I'm NOT saying it) the AAF opinion is that you're watching practice guard type or less players and they're folding the tent, HS players won't draw flies..........

 

So access to Clemson’s Phenom Fosh QB? AP as a Frost isn’t going to help the XFL?  That is laughable. 

 

AAF Hurt themselves with their Business Model of following the NFLPA and NFL recruitment rules I’m hoping for NFL buy in and why they started the league early trying to strike first. A miscalculation 

Edited April 2, 2019 by MAJBobby

[HOUSE]

Sleep tight sweet prince

Edited April 2, 2019 by HOUSE

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

5 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

 

So access to Clemson’s Phenom Fosh QB? AP as a Frost isn’t going to help the XFL?  That is laughable 

 

 

yup...pony up $262 mil because of ONE player?.......seriously?.....THAT is laughable...thank God you're not MY financial advisor......SMH..........

[/dev/null]

RIP AAF

 

[MAJBobby]

4 minutes ago, OldTimeAFLGuy said:

 

 

yup...pony up $262 mil because of ONE player?.......seriously?.....THAT is laughable...thank God you're not MY financial advisor......SMH..........

 

Ooo no he is using his money to fund his venture. Unthinkable. Guess he could be like theses Billionaire NFL Owners and use Taxpayers 

Edited April 2, 2019 by MAJBobby

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

Just now, /dev/null said:

RIP AAF

 

 

...join the crowd....USFL, NFLE. XFL I and soon to be XFL II.....no "David" has yet to beat "Goliath" other than the NFL-AFL 1970 merger.......

[Kirby Jackson]

57 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

 

Then maybe the XFL should do exactly that. Shift the paradigm and see what happens to NCAA having to compete with actually paying their 110 player rosters a Salary. 

 

Lets see see if the NCAA and their Billion Dollar Schools want to open that door to paying football Players and see how that affects other sports. Not to mention the free movement without sitting a year. 

Yeah, it certainly may negatively impact other sports but so be it. Football is the cash cow. Big 10 schools are getting $52M a piece, per year for the TV deal. The history and wealth of college football programs will never be competed with. The alumni and the TV networks will never allow that to happen. 

[Orlando Tim]

I am truly astounded at the fact that they did not have enough cash flow for at least one season. They had controlled cost from top to bottom at least for this year. I though was shocked when i saw the cost of tickets to the Apollos- some tickets were more $100 per seat which is more than UCF gets for same seats. 

[Foxx]

so... Johnny Football is unemployed again?

[GreggTX]

With the middle class all but gone by now, who's buying tickets to AAF games anyways? Maybe they should go over to China and try to start a league there.

Edited April 2, 2019 by GreggTX

[Kirby Jackson]

6 minutes ago, GreggTX said:

With the middle class all but gone by now, who's buying tickets to AAF games anyways? Maybe they should go over to China and try to start a league there.

That’s the kind of move that may make sense. Resurrecting the NFL Europe is an option too. You aren’t going to have success here with minor league football. These teams are NEVER going to be higher than the 2nd most popular team in a market and in some cases may be a 3rd or 4th option. If you are in Orlando for example you might like the Bucs, the Gators and UCF more than the Apollos. How are they supposed to compete? Who is paying for that? 

[/dev/null]

9 minutes ago, GreggTX said:

With the middle class all but gone by now

strange, everyone i know is sufficiently bourgeois

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

26 minutes ago, Buffalo Timmy said:

I am truly astounded at the fact that they did not have enough cash flow for at least one season. They had controlled cost from top to bottom at least for this year. I though was shocked when i saw the cost of tickets to the Apollos- some tickets were more $100 per seat which is more than UCF gets for same seats. 

 

 

...I'd fire whoever wrote that business plan in a nanosecond.......I'm a 43 year bean counter for multiple, successful companies and my sorry azz would be on the street for it....Jesus....

[TN-Bills]

Dick's Sporting Goods is selling AAF Gear. I went to all 4 Memphis Express home games.  It was a great game to watch in stadium.  

Edited April 2, 2019 by TN-Bills

[Rc2catch]

Sadly this was inevitable unless the NFL gave full blessing to get involved. 

Also sadly this gives Vince and the XFL a shot of at least surviving a season or two. 

I think the XFL might have a little better shot depending on the tv deal. Vince somehow got fox to sign his smack down show for a prime time slot which was a huge deal, so the tv deal for the XFL is key, along with what kind of talent they can attract and what kind of league they plan on running. 

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

5 minutes ago, Rc2catch said:

Sadly this was inevitable unless the NFL gave full blessing to get involved. 

Also sadly this gives Vince and the XFL a shot of at least surviving a season or two. 

I think the XFL might have a little better shot depending on the tv deal. Vince somehow got fox to sign his smack down show for a prime time slot which was a huge deal, so the tv deal for the XFL is key, along with what kind of talent they can attract and what kind of league they plan on running. 

 

 

....LMAO!...32 owners and "Roger The Puppet" do NOT approve of your message.....

[Augie]

26 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

That’s the kind of move that may make sense. Resurrecting the NFL Europe is an option too. You aren’t going to have success here with minor league football. These teams are NEVER going to be higher than the 2nd most popular team in a market and in some cases may be a 3rd or 4th option. If you are in Orlando for example you might like the Bucs, the Gators and UCF more than the Apollos. How are they supposed to compete? Who is paying for that? 

 

More wise words from Kirby. Right down the road from Jax, but they get no mention because we all know the Jags have no fans outside of London.  

[Mr. WEO]

2 hours ago, MAJBobby said:

Different Sports.  

 

Not as much players on a Basketball court.

 

So a top flight NO 1 HS football recruit let say gets offered 1M a year to play in XFL while he waits for his three years removed from HS stuff.  HMMMM yeah they will go get that money.  Now lets say this new league has 10 teams to start and has a roster size of 53.  That is 530 PAID slots.  Now start looking at the top 100 HS Football recruits, say 30% jump to paid league year one (and grows).  Yeah that is a hell of a talent drop for the play for Free NCAA.  Dont transfer and dont sneeze you might get a NCAA Violation league

 

A million a year??  For a league that won't last 2 years?  No...a 5 star recruit is going to go to a top NCAA program and then get drafted into the NFl--that will always be their thinking.  

 

So 30 guys get a million a year, then they have to pay the other 500 guys.  If they get only 250K a year, that means the league will have a player payroll of $155 million per year.  Plus all of their other expenses.  

 

Nope.  Let it go.  No one wants to watch anyway.  The ratings are non-existent.  They won't get better with HS grads getting the most money.  Who would ever watch that?  lol

1 hour ago, MAJBobby said:

 

So access to Clemson’s Phenom Fosh QB? AP as a Frost isn’t going to help the XFL?  That is laughable. 

 

AAF Hurt themselves with their Business Model of following the NFLPA and NFL recruitment rules I’m hoping for NFL buy in and why they started the league early trying to strike first. A miscalculation 

 

 

Stop!  There is no chance he would have been tempted to join a minor league football team.

 

You need to let it go.

[Kirby Jackson]

 

[PetermansRedemption]

This is absolutely nuts. How did this league not have the funding for an entire season? It is mind blowing to me. You had set costs, every player was on an 80k per year deal. You can accurately estimate travel costs. Where was the problem? How did you not have the exact figure, at least down to a very close amount. 

Edited April 3, 2019 by Bills2ref

[/dev/null]

25 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

 

 

Now that is a d*ck move

 

How long til somebody starts an AAF airfare GoFundMe

[Kirby Jackson]

5 minutes ago, Bills2ref said:

This is absolutely nuts. How did this league not have the funding for an entire season? It is mind blowing to me. You had set costs, every player was on an 80k per year deal. You can accurately estimate travel costs. Where was the problem? How did you not have the exact figure, at least down to a very close amount. 

It’s the revenue number that was an estimate. The expenses are/were pretty easy to define but the revenue numbers are a total projection. Obviously season tickets, groups, sponsorships, etc... are pretty stable but those variable revenues (single game tickets, concessions, etc..) are a crapshoot. 

[PetermansRedemption]

2 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

It’s the revenue number that was an estimate. The expenses are/were pretty easy to define but the revenue numbers are a total projection. Obviously season tickets, groups, sponsorships, etc... are pretty stable but those variable revenues (single game tickets, concessions, etc..) are a crapshoot. 

They should have figured out revenue as an absolute bare minimum. With a new league, they should have literally estimated $0. They clearly way overshot and paid the price. I don’t think the XFL was going to survive either, but this definitely increases their chances. If they had to compete against the NFL and split the lower level feeder league talent with the AAF the XFL would be dead in the water. 

Edited April 3, 2019 by Bills2ref

[Orlando Tim]

1 hour ago, OldTimeAFLGuy said:

 

 

...I'd fire whoever wrote that business plan in a nanosecond.......I'm a 43 year bean counter for multiple, successful companies and my sorry azz would be on the street for it....Jesus....

You do wonder what happened that caused this- what income did they expect that did not materialize? Or what was cost that suddenly shot up? I am dumbfounded. Also i have an in with the Apollos so expect a call shortly.

[Boca BIlls]

2 hours ago, OldTimeAFLGuy said:

 

 

...hardly the key to league success.....if (and I'm NOT saying it) the AAF opinion is that you're watching practice guard type or less players and they're folding the tent, HS players won't draw flies..........

Some of the best players come from poor backgrounds, I wouldn't doubt some might play XFL b/c of instant money. 

[That's No Moon]

9 hours ago, row_33 said:

 

they will have their union pride

 

and no jobs

 

 

AAF is suspending operations and exactly 0 NFLPA members will lose jobs because of it.

[Kirby Jackson]

1 minute ago, Bills2ref said:

They should have figured out revenue as an absolute bare minimum. With a new league, they should have literally estimated $0. They clearly way overshot and paid the price. I don’t think the XFL was going to survive either, but this definitely increases their chances. If they had to compete against the NFL and split the lower level feeder league talent with the AAF the XFL would be dead in the water. 

You can’t estimate $0 because they wouldn’t have been able to start the year. There is/was a bare minimum number to reach the expenses and they didn’t hit it (not surprising). 

 

One of my best friends is the COO of one of the AFL teams and I have the EXACT concern. He’s a smart guy and has a ton of experience but I have little to no faith that the league will work this time. I thought that it was a short-sighted and stupid decision on his part. 

[GoBills808]

It says they had to move their title game to Texas, in-season, because they didn't get a commitment from UNLV...that sounds amateurish. 

 

Didn't they have a deal with CBS to broadcast some games? 

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, /dev/null said:

 

Now that is a d*ck move

 

How long til somebody starts an AAF airfare GoFundMe

 

#BillsMafia to the rescue. If there's a good AAF free agent to grab, a little goodwill from #BillsMafia could go a long way.

2 hours ago, Buffalo Timmy said:

You do wonder what happened that caused this- what income did they expect that did not materialize? Or what was cost that suddenly shot up? I am dumbfounded. Also i have an in with the Apollos so expect a call shortly.

 

I would declare them the de facto champs. 7-1 record.

[LeGOATski]

7 hours ago, MAJBobby said:

If either of these development leagues WANT to succeed. Allow players right out of High School. If you force them to abide by the NFL rules of Three Years removed they go against the NFL and NFLPA. 

 

 

And are undercut by the NCAA.

 

I've been saying this from the start and was hoping it was in their plans. They needed to be an option for high schoolers to be paid right away and developed for the pros, instead of going to college and being developed for....college.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

10 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Why should they support it? The real players have ALWAYS come straight from the college ranks. The NFL has no reason to throw away money on trying to find a handful of players to play special teams. This league would be a complete waste of money for them. 

 

Additionally, no player worth $.10 is going to risk injury for $80K a year. Even a minor injury could knock these guys out of an NFL opportunity and 5-10X the money. There has never been and will never be a successful minor league for football. You will have college football on Saturdays and the NFL on Sundays. 

 

Because good players came out of NFL Europe and alot of good players dont get enough time to develop, especially QBs.

 

There could be a successful Minor League , the owners just have to do it and the teams need to be near by so the fans can go to the games.

 

I would be all about the Syracuse Slayers farm team of the Buffalo Bills.

 

 

[BuffBillsForLife]

1 hour ago, Buffalo Barbarian said:

Syracuse Slayers

 

Would Buffy be their QB? ?

 

I do think it's a shame the AAF couldn't even make it through one season though.  It makes me wonder if Vince McMahon will chicken out and cancel the XFL 2.0 after seeing how this ended.

 

 

[Buffalo Barbarian]

17 minutes ago, BuffBillsForLife said:

 

Would Buffy be their QB? ?

 

I do think it's a shame the AAF couldn't even make it through one season though.  It makes me wonder if Vince McMahon will chicken out and cancel the XFL 2.0 after seeing how this ended.

 

 

 

Who's buffy?

 

No , McMahon has a big ego and is still pissed over the last failure, he will at least make it through the year if not more.