NFL gets bad news as another rival has come out firing
The NFL is coming off a stormy season in which countless star players were injured, the commissioner was under fire from the league’s most prominent owner, and divisive protests fed into a big decline in television ratings.
Fans across the country indicated they were fed up with the league’s arbitrary rule enforcement, inconsistent officiating and support of national anthem protests that they view as disrespectful to troops and veterans.
The conditions seem ripe for a challenge to the NFL’s monopoly on North American professional football — and it didn’t take long for a challenger to emerge.
In January, pro wrestling mogul Vince McMahon announced the return of the XFL.
In the new league, McMahon said, rules will be simplified, commercial timeouts will be reduced, and every player will stand for the national anthem.
“We’re going to give football back to the fans,” he said.
The new XFL is scheduled for a 2020 debut.
The original XFL launched in 2001 and lasted just one season, but it was a wild ride that was captured in the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary “This Was the XFL.” The film was directed by Charlie Ebersol and discussed the friendship between his father, longtime NBC executive Dick Ebersol, and McMahon, and how they brought the XFL to life.
Now Charlie Ebersol is following in their footsteps and launching his own pro football league — one that will challenge McMahon’s.
On Tuesday, Ebersol announced the Alliance of American Football, an eight-team league that, like the XFL, will play its games in the spring.
Its co-founder is former Bills and Colts GM Bill Polian, and three former NFL stars — Troy Polamalu, Jared Allen and Hines Ward — will serve as player-relations executives. Dick Ebersol will be on the league’s board.
The AAF will beat the new XFL out of the gate by one year: Its first season is set to begin Feb. 9, 2019, the week after Super Bowl LIII.
The league, whose financial backers include the Peter Thiel-led Founders Fund and Barstool Sports investors the Chernin Group, already has a broadcast deal with CBS Sports.
Like the XFL, it will have eight teams playing a 10-week season, but it will have 50-man teams rather than the XFL’s 40.
The AAF’s cities — which will be announced in the next three months, along with coaches, on the league’s website — will start with a regional draft in the fall, protecting eligible players from nearby college or NFL teams.
“We believe fans and players are what’s most important, so our approach is simple — we’ve created an Alliance where fans and players share in the success of their teams,” said Ebersol.
Players will benefit from safety measures and profit participation, he said, and fans will get free live-streaming of games and integrated fantasy sports elements.
Like McMahon, Ebersol is promising fewer commercials, streamlined play and good football.
“There are 28,000 Division I football players,” he said. “Only 1,700 have NFL jobs. We’re looking for those Kurt Warners working in grocery stores, and we think we will find them.”
There was no formal announcement on whether the AAF will allow players to protest during the national anthem. However, the New York Daily News said it was told by a source that the league will “require all players who choose to be on the field during the national anthem to stand.”
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