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Alliance of American Football (AAF) |OT|
- Thread starter RBH
- Start date
It's simple but really effective. I'm actually looking forward to supporting the Florida based players. And I'm already talking smack to some Georgia fans I know lol.
No games have even been played but I can see the seeds of rivalries.
It really is genius because it taps into pre-existing fandom of college sports. If they expand soon you have to think they'd want get two teams in the midwest that can appeal to the Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Nebraska and NFC North and AFC North fans.
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I'm actually pretty excited for this. We need another pro football league, I really hope it works and I think it will. I don't quite know how I feel about the ties to the NFL and desire for it to be a "developmental" league though. I would rather see a direct competitor. I think something like that has the potential to kill college football as we know it. Imagine if a league takes all the blue chip high school recruits and actually pays them for 3 years before the NFL. College football would be in trouble.
Some good info in here on the app and while it's taken such a long time to release. Hopefully it's not too terribly buggy https://lazyfansports.com/aaf-app-insider
Console app would be aces, and make me more likely to throw a game on.
yea man us Navy vets gotta pull for the Fleet!
...I was never stationed in San Diego but since there isn't a Norfolk team I got to do what I got to do.
I take it the app isn't live yet? Checked last night and I'm hoping it's not a scenario where I can't get it in the UK.
Will definitely give it a shot. Go Fleet.
Will definitely give it a shot. Go Fleet.
Just checked out the MLL page and wow, you weren't kidding
I'll definitely check it out. There's no team around me so I'm not super interested, but having the teams play in cities that don't have an NFL team is definitely a good idea.
I hope it does well. We've been needing a true American-based minor league to the NFL for a while. The CFL does well, but with NFL Europe and the UFL dead and the AFL on life support, something's gotta step up.
I just hope Vince McMahon is taking notes. The XFL looks like an absolute joke so far.
I hope it does well. We've been needing a true American-based minor league to the NFL for a while. The CFL does well, but with NFL Europe and the UFL dead and the AFL on life support, something's gotta step up.
I just hope Vince McMahon is taking notes. The XFL looks like an absolute joke so far.
Just FYI, MLL is a glorified beer league, semi-pro at best. It's bad enough that players are forming their own 6-team traveling league, the Premier Lacrosse League, starting up this summer. They haven't announced team branding yet, but I expect it'll suffer from the same designed-by-committee issue as these.
MLL is just the first thing that popped up in my search. I honestly didn't know that pro lacrosse was even a thing.
Hell, why not. I've always wanted to follow more american football but since I rarely have contact with it beyond the playoffs and the Superbowl, it gets hard to find a team, even harder when you have one that's so dominant and yet so shitty behind the scenes (Patriots).
Since this is basically new, why not give it a shot. I hope the matches aren't too late here.
Since this is basically new, why not give it a shot. I hope the matches aren't too late here.
Yeah, no problem, the PLL hasn't even played a game yet so it's not a surprise it didn't come up. What will blow your mind is that there are, not one, but two "pro" women's lax leagues (although they're both at a similar level as the MLL.)
Thought these betting odds were interesting. These are available via BetSDI.
Week 1 Odds
Atlanta Legends at Orlando Apollos (-5.5, 44.5)
San Diego Fleet at San Antonio Commanders (-5, 43.5)
Memphis Express at Birmingham Iron (-1, 40.5)
Salt Lake Stallions at Arizona Hotshots (-4.5, 42.5)
Odds to win AAF Championship (Las Vegas, April 2019)
Arizona Hotshots +250
Orlando Apollos +300
San Antonio Commanders +400
Salt Lake Stallions +500
Memphis Express +600
San Diego Fleet +600
Atlanta Legends +800
Birmingham Iron +1200
Orlando Apollos vs. Atlanta Legends AAF Opening Day attendance (according to CBS Sports)
Over 26,000 (-115)
Under 26,000 (-115)
San Antonio Commanders vs. San Diego Fleet AAF Opening Day attendance (according to CBS Sports)
Over 28,000 (-115)
Under 28,000 (-115)
Will any AAF player or team be investigated for match-fixing, wager-fixing, prop-fixing in 2019?
Yes +600
No -1000
AAF total years of existence (beginning in 2019)
Over 4.5 years (-140)
Under 4.5 years (+110)
Week 1 Odds
Atlanta Legends at Orlando Apollos (-5.5, 44.5)
San Diego Fleet at San Antonio Commanders (-5, 43.5)
Memphis Express at Birmingham Iron (-1, 40.5)
Salt Lake Stallions at Arizona Hotshots (-4.5, 42.5)
Odds to win AAF Championship (Las Vegas, April 2019)
Arizona Hotshots +250
Orlando Apollos +300
San Antonio Commanders +400
Salt Lake Stallions +500
Memphis Express +600
San Diego Fleet +600
Atlanta Legends +800
Birmingham Iron +1200
Orlando Apollos vs. Atlanta Legends AAF Opening Day attendance (according to CBS Sports)
Over 26,000 (-115)
Under 26,000 (-115)
San Antonio Commanders vs. San Diego Fleet AAF Opening Day attendance (according to CBS Sports)
Over 28,000 (-115)
Under 28,000 (-115)
Will any AAF player or team be investigated for match-fixing, wager-fixing, prop-fixing in 2019?
Yes +600
No -1000
AAF total years of existence (beginning in 2019)
Over 4.5 years (-140)
Under 4.5 years (+110)
I'm inclined to agree -- QB play will likely be ROUGH. The NFL can't even fill their rosters with enough able quarterbacks.
Yeah, I remember being so amped for the XFL back when it launched, like I was so ready for football, and then watched the first few days where neither team could pass nor catch ... and just thought ... oo boy. In college, you'd scheme up offenses to make up for that, but in the XFL, seemed like they didn't really have real coaches scheming and they wanted it to play like the NFL. And the result was really, really poor QB & WR play.
Yeah I'm taking the under on years of existence. American Football is incredibly expensive (as all sports are) and the United States historically has not shown up (either in person or in TV ratings) for minor league sports. You see some success in second-division hockey, baseball, and soccer leagues tbf but they mainly succeed on providing great in-person fan experiences. I'm skeptical that this will happen for a couple of reasons:
-The product on the field likely won't be impressive. They've had more time to prepare than the XFL did in 2000, but I think it's just the nature of American Football that a poor product reaches unwatchability very quickly. Mediocre hockey, soccer, baseball, can all still be pretty entertaining but American Football is so predicated upon different concepts that, when done poorly, build upon each other to break the flow of the game - I went to the University of Kansas, during my junior year they tried to run a pass-heavy system with a quarterback who was inaccurate and receivers who couldn't catch. Every drive was like three incomplete passes and then a punt. Boring as hell. That's some of what I predict from this league.
-The fan engagement likely won't be long lasting. Fans are understandably cynical of how minor-league football tends to fare. If you know anything about the XFL, USFL, WLAF, and UFL, you know they've failed. Even the Arena League's on its last legs and the few successful indoor leagues are very localized and run on relatively tight budgets. I assume the first weekend will have decent attendance, (I mean, hell, I'll show up to that first game in San Diego just to see what its like) but fans are gonna be naturally wary of forming emotional bonds with their team.
-The strategy of getting college players to play on local teams I could see going either way. Some people might treat it as a novelty, buy a ticket just to support a local hero like Aaron Murray in Atlanta or Trent Richardson in Birmingham, but I feel like that sort of thing might not lead to engaged customers.
-There's also the frustrating paradox that pervades minor league sports, that your fans can't form connections with your best players because, ideally, your best players will get called-up for NFL rosters. That happened with San Diego's team, their quarterback signed a contract to be a third stringer with an NFL team after signing with the Fleet. Minor league fans in baseball, hockey, and soccer seem to understand this for the most part and that works well for them, so we'll see if fans of the AAF can grow into this mindset as well.
Add to that a few curious things - The Birmingham, Memphis, and San Diego teams are playing in old, decrepit stadiums, the logos and colors are all kinda generic, and for the most part the talent that's just under the level of breaking into the NFL goes to Canada and plays anyway, and... well, I don't know. It'll be interesting to watch this season but I'm not lashing my horse to this cart.
-The product on the field likely won't be impressive. They've had more time to prepare than the XFL did in 2000, but I think it's just the nature of American Football that a poor product reaches unwatchability very quickly. Mediocre hockey, soccer, baseball, can all still be pretty entertaining but American Football is so predicated upon different concepts that, when done poorly, build upon each other to break the flow of the game - I went to the University of Kansas, during my junior year they tried to run a pass-heavy system with a quarterback who was inaccurate and receivers who couldn't catch. Every drive was like three incomplete passes and then a punt. Boring as hell. That's some of what I predict from this league.
-The fan engagement likely won't be long lasting. Fans are understandably cynical of how minor-league football tends to fare. If you know anything about the XFL, USFL, WLAF, and UFL, you know they've failed. Even the Arena League's on its last legs and the few successful indoor leagues are very localized and run on relatively tight budgets. I assume the first weekend will have decent attendance, (I mean, hell, I'll show up to that first game in San Diego just to see what its like) but fans are gonna be naturally wary of forming emotional bonds with their team.
-The strategy of getting college players to play on local teams I could see going either way. Some people might treat it as a novelty, buy a ticket just to support a local hero like Aaron Murray in Atlanta or Trent Richardson in Birmingham, but I feel like that sort of thing might not lead to engaged customers.
-There's also the frustrating paradox that pervades minor league sports, that your fans can't form connections with your best players because, ideally, your best players will get called-up for NFL rosters. That happened with San Diego's team, their quarterback signed a contract to be a third stringer with an NFL team after signing with the Fleet. Minor league fans in baseball, hockey, and soccer seem to understand this for the most part and that works well for them, so we'll see if fans of the AAF can grow into this mindset as well.
Add to that a few curious things - The Birmingham, Memphis, and San Diego teams are playing in old, decrepit stadiums, the logos and colors are all kinda generic, and for the most part the talent that's just under the level of breaking into the NFL goes to Canada and plays anyway, and... well, I don't know. It'll be interesting to watch this season but I'm not lashing my horse to this cart.
How did Omaha not get a team for this? We consistently sold out (not just sold tickets for, but SOLD OUT) our home games in the UFL. We have a rabid football fanbase here and we would be a natural feeder for Kansas City, whose affiliated team is in San Antonio? Really...
Every Fleet game is available on something I currently get and don't have to start a new account or buy a new channel for, I am all in for every week friends <3
They're not. CBS is going to be showing both as a doubleheader like ESPN always gets 2 NFL MNF games back to back as a doubleheader to start their season of programming. The special program airing of it starts at 8PM Eastern Saturday
Sweet! I was about to say the same thing about the games airing at the same time. I want to watch all of them...so them being double-headers is great!
Oh, OK! At least I can watch both then. Still wish they started at 4.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Iron The Iron are affiliated with the Pats and the Tide, and they have Trent Truck...I've found my rival...
Props to the guy trying to fucking tackle him while shit explodes behind them. That's a competitor.After week one...
I'm right between Memphis and B'ham. Can't decide on who I want to watch play more. Big fan of the Birmingham Marketing, colors, ect. But Memphis has more players I like.
Think I'll try to catch a game at the Liberty Bowl between the two in March.
Think I'll try to catch a game at the Liberty Bowl between the two in March.
Power Rankings:
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...-week-1-of-new-alliance-of-american-football/
Card Fans....rejoice.
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...-week-1-of-new-alliance-of-american-football/
Card Fans....rejoice.