Brian Out Loud
The Alliance of American Football, so wildly popular during its debut weekend that you’d think it was on track to replace the NFL – at least if you listened to some people talk – needed Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon to put $250 million on the table to help the start-up league avoid running out of money two weeks into its inaugural season.
If Dundon doesn’t step up, the league probably folds. Players aren’t going to play for free. Word has it that some players didn’t receive their paychecks last Friday because of an “administrative glitch.”
Dundon is now the chairman of the AAF in addition to its short-term savior because, let’s be real, the money he paid out is not a long-term solution.
The AAF isn’t trying to compete with the NFL. Its hope is to be its developmental league, sort of the way minor league baseball develops talent for the Majors.
The difference is minor league ball is backed by the MLB. The minor league teams are affiliates of Major League clubs and you know that when you go to a minor league game you are probably seeing a handful of players who will one day see time in the big leagues. Some will become stars.
The odds just don’t seem that great that these AAF players are destined to make it in the NFL. One or two? Probably. Three our four? Maybe. A handful? It’s possible.
I’m all for athletes getting opportunities at various levels of their respective sport, even if it’s at the minor league level, but in the end, most will never play in the NFL.
It’s funny that all we heard before the AAF was launched was that it was set up to succeed. That its business model was different than leagues before it.
It had Hall of Fame Executive Bill Polian in its corner as well as TV Sports Industry leader Charlie Ebersol.
The league also had a lineup of coaches most fans recognize. Steve Spurrier, Mike Singletary, Dennis Erickson and Rick Neuheisel.
The league also had some innovation that the NFL may one day use, including the elimination of kickoffs and extra points, a shorter play clock and no television timeouts, which help speed up the pace of play.
Most people who watched also said the quality of football wasn’t bad either.
Some were quick to claim it as the next great sports league after it outdrew an NBA broadcast featuring Oklahoma City against Houston. But everyone knows ratings matter little in February for the NBA because the NBA doesn’t matter in February. The only time the NBA truly matters is the playoffs. And even then, sometimes not until the Finals.
And of course, the first week of anything is going to be popular. Curiosity is a factor. Fans at least want to see what the hype is about.
After that, fans watch it in passing when nothing else is on.
Attention spans, after all, are short-lived in this world.
And a $250 million life preserver thrown to a football league by the owner of a hockey team is a sure sign the AAF is going to be short-lived as well.