AAFL On the Outs?

[HappyCurmudgeon]

Unfortunately nothing public, just a bit churning around the rumor mill. Apparently the AAFL is either close to or seriously considering shutting down shop before it started. Might be something coming after the weekend.

For those of you around or working in AAFL markets, I know they've been getting some decent ink. Had anything new come out about the league recently? I know they did some radio deals but were looking at good TV deals.

 

[Mahoney]

As of earlier this week, I was told the franchise near me had sold around a thousand tickets. It's an incredibly stupid idea and always has been, so it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

It was an idiotic idea from the start.

Thankfully, this might prevent newspapers from getting the "Why ain't you doin' writeups on the AAFL?" phone calls.

 

[forever_town]

I never thought it had a chance.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

The what?

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

For those of you around or working in AAFL markets, I know they've been getting some decent ink. Had anything new come out about the league recently? I know they did some radio deals but were looking at good TV deals.

Erasable ink, or perhaps water-soluble. Have heard of no deals, no franchise nicknames, nothing.

 

[JayFarrar]

I was assigned to do a freelance mag piece on the AAFL.
Crappity crap, if the league dies, I wonder if I'll still get paid for the work I've done on the story.
I do know that while the AAFL is running ads, they aren't paying for them. They are swapping tickets and player appearances for the ads. That doesn't seem to be a good sign.

 

[JR]

Who were the main financial backers?

I read that players would make about $100,000 a year.

Still, kinda dumb.

 

[dixiehack]

Good. At least it will put a stop to the cheesy-ass radio commercials informing me I have to get my tickets now, since with "millions of fans and only a limited number of seats" I somehow couldn't find a way to get inside our local 60,000-seat abortion of a stadium deep in the heart of the hood.

 

[mustangj17]

I applied for a job with the AAFL and never got a call back. That's like not getting a call back from the local grocery store.

 

[statrat]

What is the AAFL?

 

[JR]

What is the AAFL?

Mr. Statrat, meet Google.

All American Football League.

 

[statrat]

I just wasted the effort typing "AAFL" into google and clicking on the website. Farewell league that never really existed to begin with.

 

[Batman]

I remember about 10 years ago there was a similar concept called the Regional Football League. Teams in football hotbeds using players from colleges in that state or region to draw up interest. There were teams in Jackson (Miss.), Mobile, New Orleans, maybe Chicago and a few others. It was an 8 or 10 team league, and basically seemed to group a bunch of existing semi-pro teams into a coherent mass. I know for sure the Jackson team was an old semi-pro team. The most recognizable name in the league was Sherman Williams, the former Alabama RB who had a cup of coffee in the NFL as Emmitt Smith's backup with the Cowboys.

The league lasted one season. The biggest crowds were 7,000 or 8,000 people, and most probably numbered in the hundreds. Management and financial backing counts for a lot, but when I heard about the AAFL I couldn't help but think it was a rehash of the RFL with better publicists.

 

[nafselon]

If you look at their "Board of Directors" that's a lot of egos to be on one administrative group. My guess is they met for a day, didn't agree on anything and spent the of the week playing golf and comparing payrolls from their SEC football days.

 

[slappy4428]

Good. At least it will put a stop to the cheesy-ass radio commercials informing me I have to get my tickets now, since with "millions of fans and only a limited number of seats" I somehow couldn't find a way to get inside our local 60,000-seat abortion of a stadium deep in the heart of the hood.

Let us not forget the excitement is growing and a memorable draft it was...

 

[cranberry]

What is the AAFL?

Mr. Statrat, meet Google.

All American Football League.

Thanks. I wasn't aware there was such a thing, either. Monster truck rallies held 'em off, eh?

 

[sportsnut]

Who knew this was not going to happen???

 

[Bill Brasky]

The most recognizable name in the league was Sherman Williams, the former Alabama RB who had a cup of coffee in the NFL as Emmitt Smith's backup with the Cowboys.

The league lasted one season. The biggest crowds were 7,000 or 8,000 people, and most probably numbered in the hundreds. Management and financial backing counts for a lot, but when I heard about the AAFL I couldn't help but think it was a rehash of the RFL with better publicists.

"Hundreds" may be generous. I was living around Mobile at the time and I remember seeing game highlights on TV. Stadium was damn near empty.

 

[kingcreole]

There was a minor league basketball experiment a couple years ago called the All American Professional Basketball League.

A month after the league was annouced, it folded. A team was to play in our city, and we celebrated that night.