Let’s Be Real — Was the AAF Really Going to Succeed?
The AAF opening weekend had millions of viewers and even out rated the NBA. The Alliance of American Football promised to give the world more of the sport it loved; football. With a slew of former NFL players and newcomers, the league was meant to be the NFL minor leagues.
But over saturation and under performance were just parts of the fall of the AAF. Just a couple weeks in, Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon had to bail out the AAF by investing $250 million. This was the first big sign that the league was in trouble. And week by week the interest dwindled and the crowd’s vanished.
For the exception of San Antonio Commodores games, no one bothered to show up to the games. And who can blame them? The football was subpar at best with every quarterback in the league throwing except one throwing an interception in the first game. The running game was nowhere to be seen, yet surprisingly the kickers were the ones that performed best. Though, the AAF did have some unique rules that put a smile on football fan’s faces. No kickoffs or onside kicks, no extra points, shorter playclocks, etc. The games were rather quick compared to NFL games which was nice. But in a developmental league, wouldn’t you want to give players more time?
The Good, The Bad, and The Oh So Ugly
Starting just a week after the Super Bowl, it gave fans more football. But nowhere near even half the quality of the NFL. This league thrived for a week and that’s really about it. The interest faded faster than a fake tattoo. With no support and no momentum, surely this league wasn’t going to survive on the CBS networks come March. Not even football could compete with March Madness. But what makes this situation worse is what the now former players must endure.
More on the #AAF collapse:
+Players in Memphis came back to their hotels after news came down, and had their personal items waiting in the lobby. Kicked out of their lodgings.
+Amount of money owed to vendors, venues, etc. in San Antonio for training camp is over $4 Million
— Rich Ohrnberger (@ohrnberger) April 4, 2019
+Reserve/Injured players, “will be left in the cold.” They will be paying for their own rehab/medical expenses.
+High level staff at the team level received email from “The Board” no one received a termination notice from an actual person.
— Rich Ohrnberger (@ohrnberger) April 4, 2019
+Team level staff members were asked to stay behind in markets to clean out office spaces (without pay)… and handle “refunds” …no clarity who will be receiving those refunds.
This is a complete mess…
— Rich Ohrnberger (@ohrnberger) April 4, 2019
Termination letter sent to #AAF staff.
No one signed the letter… sent from generic company email address.…hell of a way to be let go. pic.twitter.com/EZp1rnTJYN
— Rich Ohrnberger (@ohrnberger) April 4, 2019
The AAF essentially just told it players, oh well not our problem. This is going to be quite the disaster that will talked about for years. But this may not even be the worst part of it.
Prevailing thought that AAF owner Tom Dundon shut down the league to strip it of its assets, mainly the tech piece, is interesting, but sources say it would likely be illegal https://t.co/UTvHbKsAZ5
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 2, 2019
Did Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon strip the AAF so that he could have the leagues resources? According to Darren Rovell, Dundon tried to speed up relations between the NFL and the AAF. Essentially, he was trying to take over. It even got to the point where if the league were to fold, it would be Dundon’s decision. But why would an NHL owner want to try and stick his nose into AAF or NFL business? Is he trying to take a stronghold on NHL owners? Is he trying to get involved in the NFL himself? One thing we do know is that this is going to be a nasty breakup with a lot of lawsuits and everyone’s true colors will be shown soon.