It was only a matter of time before we saw something like this. There are times in which I'm glad that I'm still a writer and that I still have this blog. This is one of those times. [hugs laptop]
According to a number of sources, as of this Tuesday, the Alliance of American Football, after only about eight weeks of play, has suspended their operations indefinitely.
Although starting out strong, and really grabbing the attention of current NFL fans and political patriots that are "boycotting" the league, finances and issues involving structure and investment have weighed down the league so quickling to the point of essentially hanging itself. Not only this, there were meant to be two more weeks of games, and then playoffs leading to a championship on April 27. However, with this suspension, this will not come to pass.
In fact, there are already reports filing in as early as a few hours ago that employees are being told that today is their last day in working with AAF. Basically, they're telling them in a nice way that the league is folding, and to take their ball and go home.[1] It's a pretty awful thing to witness, considering that they had a lot of promising talent in the league, and games were even being broadcast on NFL Network, almost in a sign of solidarity of the owner's efforts.
The AAF and NFL already had some striking differences in regard to rules. I liken it to NFL Blitz versus the current Madden games being churned out every year. For example, there are no extra point kicks after a touchdown; instead, every team must go for a two-point conversion after each touchdown. Not only that, player safety was judged by what was called a "sky judge," so based on all of the commotion with what a "roughing the passer" call was in the NFL this year, this was beyond refreshing to see.[2] For example, watch this. Now you know why heads turned toward the league.
Despite the fact that the gameplay was excellent, and the fact that there were people that actually did watch the games, it was accessibility, and of course, the root of all evil, money.
No matter how far along in a league you are, or how shrewd of a businessman you are, it has everything to do with how much money you have, where you got it from, and where it's ultimately going. Plus, it's always a smart thing to actually have full commitment from your owners and operators. In this case with the AAF, the right hand literally did not know what the left hand was doing. According to the Dallas News, Tom Dundon, a local billionaire to them, had recently become chairman and majority owner after pledging that he was going to be putting $250 million of his own money into the league. On one hand, he delivered $70 million of that upfront, but on the other hand, the rest of it was going to come in periodic payments to keep the league alive.[3]
Then it just wasn't happening.
Dundon obviously had the ability to pull funding, and boom goes the dynamite.
Supposedly, there were talks going on between the owners of AAF (well, mainly Dundon) and the NFLPA to make AAF a "launch pad," or in other words, a "minor league" that'll boost AAF players into earning a future deal with the NFL. In the reports that followed, Dundon had stated he considered "folding the league" if those plans did not come to fruition.[4] Pretty gutsy, but I'm sure that it wasn't just the whole idea of AAF being a "launch point," but that the business by itself wasn't ideal for him, and attaching to an even bigger business deal by the juggernaut that is the NFL where he would be more "hands off" would be more beneficial to a bigger-picture guy like Dundon. Think about it--in the business world, it's all about who you know, and it's all about how the bigger suits can help you in your own advancement. Do I think that Dundon was in it all for himself? Sure sounds like it. It's virtually being reported everywhere that Bill Polian, who was co-founder of the AAF and was head of football operations that he's "disappointed" with the announced suspension of the league, and in a decent way, admitted that he and Charlie Ebersol trusted Dundon with towing his end of the line, and it didn't happen. It doesn't particularly sound like blame, but it might as well be.
There's cutthroat business, but then there is also business where the pond is too small, and one fish got really big and fat to the point where nothing else fits into it. In that ideology, I can see where there are investors that think, "why bother," especially if they're investing into a junior version of a complete sports conglomerate that has been such a revenue machine in the last fifty years, despite hiccups here and there.
Is this a sign that the NFL is too big to really have competition going against it?
No. In fact, it has nothing to do with that.
The problem is, there shouldn't be competition for a sport that is considered a "Big 4 Sport." I understand the whole "let's make a minor league for it," but with how physically demanding American football is, it isn't the best decision at all for players to be competing for an NFL contract year-round. Now, if they did it like a promotion-relegation system like a number of European soccer leagues, which is what I had assumed the endgame was for the AAF, then it would be really effective. The schedule would vary slightly--they'd play on Friday or Saturday nights instead--and instead of having playoffs, they would fight for the top positions in the equivalents to the AFC and NFC. Lowest record teams in the NFL would be AAF teams the next season, and top qualifying AAF teams would challenge for the NFL.
Unfortunately, as awesome as that would sound, that would be reinventing the wheel in a business sense, because then you're not only adding more teams and more payroll to what's already a massive, multi-billion dollar business, you're also taking the reins of new investors and media markets, among other things. Imagine all of the TV space, advertising, and branding mayhem with the addition of another branch to the NFL. You would think that it would be too big to fail, but if the Titanic sunk on a tiny iceberg, even the smallest slip-up is going to send Roger Goodell to an early grave.
The saddest part of this whole thing is wondering what will become of the players that have established themselves in the league, and whether they're going to be heading anywhere else. Earning NFL tryouts in training camps are an option since the NFL draft is coming up soon, and training camps are going to start in June. Going to Canada sounds really good, too. However, this is most likely the opening that somebody like Vince McMahon is going to rip apart and drive his XFL wagon into. The XFL is officially returning next year, and considering that this isn't their first time at the rodeo, they're not willing to fail again, and they also have a heck of a lot more money, stock, and investment than ever before. WWE has become more of a global brand since the first XFL incarnation in 2001, so who knows how much momentum is going to be coming behind this returning branch out of the business? Thankfully, they aren't going to be making it a "sports entertainment" kind of deal, provided with characters and "He Hate Me" on a jersey like they did the first time.
In the case of the XFL, I have this slight feeling that they're going to try and be a direct competition to the NFL in a number of ways, not only in rules, but in business politics and investments. If they're smart, they're going to set themselves apart from mainstream football and go in a similar vein to the Arena Football League.
Yeah, they still exist. Strange, right? Starting this year, there will be six teams, as opposed to the four (!) that they've had in recent years. Baby steps, I guess, considering that they once had as many as 19 teams a little over ten years ago.
[How small is their league and budgets, exactly? There was a really awful rumor that when the Philadelphia Soul won ArenaBowl XXX, their championship parade was going to end in the parking lot of the IKEA in South Philly, where they'd have their rallies and speeches. Thankfully, this did not happen.]
However, the reason why something like the Arena Football League still exists is because of how it varies from it's big-time counterpart. The rules and the atmosphere are different. If you replicate something with intent to knock it down and be the big man on campus, you have to re-think your business practices. It has utmost content with being the alternative, and they are mindful of their target audiences and their media markets. That's smart, regardless of the fact that the league was virtually dying within this decade.
Hindsight is 20/20. Both Polian and Ebersol are likely to be learning from their mistakes already, but the sad part is, a lot of money has been lost, and a lot of players and personnel are now wondering, "what's next?"
I wish I had the answer to that question.
-- Stephanie
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Other articles referenced:
[1] AAF 2019: Shutdown nears, with many employees being told Wednesday would be their last day - CBS Sports - https://www.cbssports.com/aaf/news/aaf-2019-shutdown-nears-with-many-employees-being-told-wednesday-would-be-their-last-day/
[2] AAF Rules: What Is the Difference in NFL vs. the Alliance of American Football? - heavy. - https://heavy.com/sports/2019/02/aaf-rules-nfl-difference-explained/
[3] Alliance of American Football shuts down weeks after Dallas billionaire Tom Dundon committed $250 million - Dallas News - https://www.dallasnews.com/business/business/2019/04/02/alliance-american-football-shuts-weeks-after-dallas-billionaire-tom-dundons-250-million-investment
[4] The AAF Can Be 'Invaluable Launching Pad' To NFL, But Needs NFLPA Backing To Survive - Forbes - https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffarnold/2019/04/01/the-aaf-can-be-invaluable-launching-pad-to-nfl-but-needs-nflpa-backing-to-survive/#6ff058ab13c3
