Whether you like the NFL or don't like the NFL and are a college fan, you are still a fan of football. What a time it is to be a fan of football because two new premier leagues have been announced: The AAF (Alliance of American Football) and the XFL (X-treme Football league). The AAF is scheduled to start in late February of 2019 and the XFL is slated to begin in late February of 2020. In a time where NFL viewership and attendance are at an all time low due to a multitude of reasons that range from political to rule changes, there is no better time than now to start your own professional football league. Now, what are these leagues?
The Alliance of American Football is a football league started by Charlie Ebersol and will be over seen by Bill Polien, who is a former NFL General Manager, Troy Polamalu and executive J.K. McKay. Hines Ward and Justin Tuck will also be used as advisors in this endeavor. The AAF announced that it will have eight teams and play a ten week regular season with a playoff that will consist of the two best teams in each conference. A championship will then be played between the winners of the two playoff games. The eight teams are the Orlando Apollos, Birmingham Iron, Salt Lake Stallions, Arizona Hotshots, San Diego Fleet, San Antonio Commanders, Memphis Express and Atlanta Legends. There are definitely some pretty unique host cities in this inaugural group. The AAF has also already had a QB draft this year to prepare itself for its upcoming season. QBs that you may remember who have been drafted by this league are Trevor Knight, Zach Mettenberger, Christian Hackenberg, Aaron Murray and Josh Johnson. Even NFL Hall of Famer Kurt Warner has gotten into this company by being the draft pick analyst for the AAF QB Draft. The major differences I have noticed for this league as compared to the NFL is that it will not have television timeouts and 60% fewer commercials. There will be NO KICKING. When a team scores, they must go for two. Teams will no longer kick off; they will just start at their own 25-yard line. If a team were to want to perform an "onside kick," they would start at their own 35-yard line and must complete a play that at least gets to their own 45-yard line (at least 10 yards to be successful). The play clock will be thirty seconds. Also, no game can end in a tie; there must be a winner.
The XFL (X-treme Football League) is a football league started by Vince McMahon, who you may know as the billionaire genius behind WWE. McMahon has appointed Oliver Luck (Andrew Luck's father) as the commissioner of the XFL. The XFL is going with the motto "Less stall, more ball" meaning that they envision a football game that doesn't take over two hours and is fast paced. They say there will be no gimmicks in this league and that they are finding ways to use the elements of football we all love and grew up with while still keeping their players safe. Last week they announced that they are going for a late February 2020 launch date and announced their eight inaugural teams: St. Louis, Los Angeles, New York, Tampa, Houston, Dallas,Washington D.C. and Seattle. No team names or logos have been released at this time. Some of these teams will be playing in existing NFL stadiums, which is a good move. One thing the XFL is trying to accomplish is an entirely new XFL that stands alone; they are saying it will not be like the first XFL. New rules that distinguish this league from the NFL are you can not have a criminal record; the rosters will be "decriminalized" and if a player commits a crime while being in the XFL, they will be cut. Also, there will be a rule making ALL players and staff stand for the National Anthem before the game. If you quit tuning into the NFL because of anthem protests, you now have an alternative to the NFL. The XFL has also stated that they are a spring league and will not be a competitor of the NFL as they will begin their season after the Super Bowl. They say to think of the XFL as a compliment.
I have seen a lot of hate on both these leagues from football fans, which I honestly don't get. These leagues give players that might not have gotten a shot in the NFL a chance to play professional football. They give fans more professional football. There is a lull period for sports after the Super Bowl, and many people quit watching sports all together until the college and NFL season rolls around again. People complain that they wish the NFL was back for months before the season begins; well, now you have an appetizer during some of those months. This isn't arena league; this is professional football at its finest. What I suspect we will see is guys from schools like Iowa State, UNI, Iowa, etc., that don't get the look they deserve from the NFL, can now not only prolong their playing careers, but can play at a high level of professional football. I also expect to see some players eventually leaving the NFL for these other leagues. The XFL announced they are going for salaries competitive with the NFL; if this is the case, NFL players would be dumb to not take the large sums of money for a shorter season. This would not only save their bodies, but would also give them more years to play.
The new league formation is a good thing. Variety is always good. The one thing these leagues shouldn't shoot for is to go into direct competition with each other. The XFL has the bigger markets and Vince McMahon's money, so I think the XFL would probably win that battle. It will be interesting to see what happens with these two leagues; eventually I do think it will turn into a competition as they do play at the same time. Maybe we will see fans take sides, which would be really fun. I am going to watch both leagues and form my own opinion on which impresses me more. Chances are, though, I will still watch both leagues even if I like one more that the other because national football is national football and more football is great.
Comments