Adam A. Ghiloni
Dr. King
6-21-07
Will a new football league ever be able to survive?
For years people have been trying to start another football league that in essence will compete with the NFL (National Football League), and many leagues have failed such as the XFL and USFL. The newest football league that is trying to break the long history of not being able to sustain a league is the AAFL (All American Football League) this league has a new concept that hopes to blow the fans out of the water and gain instant attention.
Former NCAA President Cedric Dempsey will head off the new proposed league. It will start out with eight teams and have a college-based atmosphere. The AAFL will play in the springtime starting in mid-April ending an approximately ten-week season with a two round, four-team playoff system. The teams will play on college campuses that have an extremely well know fan based including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina State, Tennessee, and Texas. The main catch to the AAFL is that a player must have a four-year college degree and exhausted all four years of their NCAA eligibility. This one requirement will hope to gain fans that remember some of their college hero’s that didn’t make it to the professional level. Having a diploma will at least guarantee a solid paycheck of approximately $100,000 a season and be a good start to lead into another career.
The start of the AAFL has been pushed back one year and is set to kickoff in April of 2008. There are still many implications that could hold the league back such as having enough big money sponsors to put down 2-3 million dollars to buy franchise rights, or also being able to nail down a good size TV contract to help bring in extra revenue. One way that the team will be able to reduce cost is that players and coaches will be paid by the league and not the individual team to keep salary levels at a constant rate.
Many of you may be wondering why colleges would let professional teams play in their arena, and in some circumstances the same name as the college and even the same mascot. Because the AAFL will be playing in the spring where college football stadiums are not in use can bring a potential $5 million per game to the college. The “affiliated schools will receive $3 million in stadium rent and be permitted to keep revenue from parking and concessions.” (Wieberg). With this additional revenue coming into these colleges they will be able to provide more programs to both the students and the athletes.
As for this league actually working and staying around for the long run is up for question, but this paper will discuss the cost and benefits to the players, owners, fans, and universities that will be involved in these future endeavors.
With the formation of this league upwards of four hundred more players will be able to extend their football career beyond college with only eight new teams and potentially more to come. This league is a perfect match for excellent athletes to play football after college that were not able to make it to the NFL. Also if this league were to succeed it would be the perfect make up for an excellent minor league football system.
The owners of the eight new teams will have a risky investment of 2-3 million dollars, but the potential return on their investment has the possibility of being larger than ever. History shows that professional sports leagues are very unstable in the early years and eventually fold due to a lack of monetary funds. The owners of these first eight teams will have much to struggle with, and may even take a little faith, some extra cash, and a grain of salt to get them through the first few seasons.
A major reason that this league is being set up is that many people feel that there is a larger demand for football than the current supply. Fans will be able to see good quality football in the off-season. With ticket prices at approximately 30 dollars each it will be a fun activity for a family, or for those football fanatics that are bored with professional basketball tournament, and even more bored with having to sit through an entire baseball game. This new league set up will also get many college football fans involved in professional football by seeing college favorites playing together on the same team and against arch rivals.
Universities will have the most potential for financial gain in this entire endeavor. To have a ten week season, with five home games and stadium rent being three million and the ability to keep all proceeds from parking and concessions could earn them up to 25 million a season when their football stadiums are not even being used. “University educators and athletic department officials are quite hopeful that this policy will have a very positive impact on universities' NCAA Graduation Success Rate and their Academic Progress Rate”(aafl website). For years universities have struggled when trying to increase their graduation rate to keep it up to par with the rest of the university’s students and when athletes have to have a college degree to move on to the next level of their professional career they are going to take their classes much more serious. The one negative possibility for the Universities hosting professional teams is that it will look to take away from the main purpose of colleges and universities, education.
The vision of the All American Football League is "To harness the fans’ passion for football, foster academic success and be the professional football league for which graduating players want to play and with which every Division I university wants to affiliate." Only time will tell if this new league will be able to uphold this vision and have a successful league for player, owners, fans, and universities.