The AAF has gone belly-up
- Thread starter Drebin
- Start date
How poorly planned was this league? Had to get bailed out after 2 weeks and then still couldn't make it through the season. If getting NFL players were that important to your survival, how could you have not cleared that little item with the NFLPA before you started?
Vince McMahon is putting some serious cash into the new XFL, so it will at least make it through a full season. Not even getting through a full season before folding is a complete embarrassment. What kind of businessmen are these people?
He's putting roughly the same amount of cash into it that the AAF guy put into that league just a month ago.
The Showboats experience was awesome. Wish that would have lasted longer than it did. The USFL had real potential.
He legitimately thinks he can do no wrong and doesn’t see any reason why it won’t work, even thought it’s already failed once and there are a million reasons that suggest it will fail again. Also, his company isn’t hurting for cash, they’re getting paid a fortune by the Saudi Arabian government to put on shows there and basically promote Saudi propaganda.
Something interesting about WWE and McMahon in general is that while Raw/Smackdown viewership ratings have absolutely tanked over the last decade, WWE’s stock price has quadrupled in recent years.
We can all say what we want about the man, but McMahon knows business. I honestly thought his network was going to be a massive failure, but that along with WWE’s global expansion is taking the company to new heights
We can all say what we want about the man, but McMahon knows business. I honestly thought his network was going to be a massive failure, but that along with WWE’s global expansion is taking the company to new heights
The way I understand it that total was a series of investments, it wasn’t a lump sum. This is part of the reason he’s closing shop, so he won’t lose anywhere close to that amount of money.
Edited to add Vince had already sold 100 million of stock a while ago to fund the league, now he has sold roughly 250 million more.
Edited to add Vince had already sold 100 million of stock a while ago to fund the league, now he has sold roughly 250 million more.
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Maybe so, but as an unashamed rasslin' fan, I can't bring myself to watch the **** they are putting out these days. It's horrid.
I miss the good ol' days. The good thing about his network is you can go back and watch content from the good ol' days. It's much more interesting than anything they're doing now, even if you've seen it before.
WWE is thriving because of the television deals. The network, Saudi Arabia, all of that is chump change compared to what they are getting from USA and now FOX starting in October.
I can't see another football league surviving unless it is part of the NFL.
The NFL isn't going to spend time/money on a developmental league when they have CFB for free.
The NFL isn't going to spend time/money on a developmental league when they have CFB for free.
I do not see why this is so difficult for both the NFL and the entrepreneurs to understand. One developmental league, in small cities throughout the country, for players under 23 or whatever, is the way to go. Anybody can try out. You can get paid to play football, avoid college classes, and are not going up against NFL veterans who would hurt you. If you sign with a school, wait until you turn 21. If you play JUCO, you can still try out. Very similar to MLB, except there aren't 3 divisions, and once you are above a certain age, you are ineligible. Either you've made an NFL roster spot by that time or you're history, and you cannot go back to the NCAA afterwards. You have a one year grace period after college to be put in this league, between 22-23, as some may not be 100% ready to jump to the NFL. Two years if you jump as a junior.
It solves every problem. Players get paid, amateurism gets maintained, and the league still has some tribalism which ultimately leads to fandom. That last part is what Vince McMahon does not understand. It is not wholly about the spectacle of the sport alone. Fans need to relate emotionally to the game.
Meant to mention earlier, this would definitely be affiliated with the NFL. It seems as if the NFL would not want to spend this money, but they would also make money. Fans would love it, it would be a more interesting minor league.
It solves every problem. Players get paid, amateurism gets maintained, and the league still has some tribalism which ultimately leads to fandom. That last part is what Vince McMahon does not understand. It is not wholly about the spectacle of the sport alone. Fans need to relate emotionally to the game.
Meant to mention earlier, this would definitely be affiliated with the NFL. It seems as if the NFL would not want to spend this money, but they would also make money. Fans would love it, it would be a more interesting minor league.
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The NFL would spend much more money than they would make.
Like I said earlier, why would the NFL spend money on a minor league when they already have a free one in College Football.
I had a Showboats Team Poster that had all the Players Autographs including Reggie White and Larry Pfohl who later became known as “Lex Luger” in WWE...
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Oh, I fully agree. I just sat down last night to try to watch the last Raw before WM which is usually on fire, but I couldn't make it through 20 minutes. It's absolute trash, and if I'm being completely honest, this women's movement that they are shoving down everyone's throats is just awful. I'm all for giving them a chance to show the world what they can do besides looking hot, but main eventing WM is just ridiculous at this juncture.
They have plenty of talent nowadays but the writing is just awful. There’s little storyline continuity, a bunch of overly scripted promos that are bland and don’t even sound like normal people talking, and just some flat out awful ideas in general. This has led to them being unable to create new stars because they make guys like Lesnar and Reigns invincible and therefore it makes everyone else look weak by comparison.
Seriously, who is the last big star they’ve created? Cena? He’s been a part time guy for several years now, and half the fans hated him in his prime anyway.
With all the pot they been smoking in my hotel in bhm, I’m surprised the iron players have any money at all.
None of the characters are interesting, with the exception of a couple. The worst thing that ever happened to the product involved Linda McMahon deciding she wanted to get into politics. That's when they made everything rated PG and killed it.
We're supposed to buy into PG-rated badasses, formulaic ring psychology, poorly gimmicked stunts, atrocious story lines, too much airtime for chick wrestling, and horrid announcing. It's really a ****** product these days.
Agree on the chick wrestling. Put them in a tub of jello and let Lawler do the color commentary. Then do a battle royal and let Kurt Angle maim everyone in the match. Then finally, give us a main event we can buy into....and let the guys blade themselves to death to give some drama to the match. Then maybe it will be a little more interesting.
And of course, Spurrier claims another championship. I heard he called Rick Neuheisel to congratulate him on finishing second in the league.
https://www.cbssports.com/aaf/news/...s-operations-founders-were-not-very-truthful/
[h=1]Steve Spurrier on AAF after it suspends operations: founders were 'not very truthful'[/h][h=2]Spurrier also thinks his Apollos should be crowned de facto champions[/h]
The Alliance of American Football's future has been cast into turmoil with the news that the league has indefinitely suspended operations and may be on the cusp of folding. While that obviously is bad news for the fans of the league, it also casts a cloud of uncertainty over those participating in it.
Orlando Apollos coach Steve Spurrier bemoaned status of the league on Tuesday after the news broke.
"Everybody wanted to play out the season and everybody is disappointed," Spurrier said, per the Orlando Sun-Sentinel. "Everyone was led to believe that the Alliance was well-funded and we could play three years without making any money and this, that and the other. Obviously, everything that was said was not very truthful."
"When the new owner came in, we thought we had financial backing and we'd be able to at least play out the season," he added. "We never thought it would end like this."
If it is ending, it's hard to argue Spurrier's squad didn't go out on top.
"On the other side, we gotta be the champs right?" he said, per WFTV's Christian Bruey. "We're 7-1, and the next teams are 5-3."
The Apollos were runaway favorites to win the inaugural championship, as they were dominant throughout most of the year. According to Spurrier, nothing is "official," but the team has already said its goodbyes if it comes to that.
[h=5]AAF Power Rankings[/h]
https://www.cbssports.com/aaf/news/...s-operations-founders-were-not-very-truthful/
[h=1]Steve Spurrier on AAF after it suspends operations: founders were 'not very truthful'[/h][h=2]Spurrier also thinks his Apollos should be crowned de facto champions[/h]
-
- by Kevin Skiver
- @skiverK9
- 16 hrs ago • 1 min read
The Alliance of American Football's future has been cast into turmoil with the news that the league has indefinitely suspended operations and may be on the cusp of folding. While that obviously is bad news for the fans of the league, it also casts a cloud of uncertainty over those participating in it.
Orlando Apollos coach Steve Spurrier bemoaned status of the league on Tuesday after the news broke.
"Everybody wanted to play out the season and everybody is disappointed," Spurrier said, per the Orlando Sun-Sentinel. "Everyone was led to believe that the Alliance was well-funded and we could play three years without making any money and this, that and the other. Obviously, everything that was said was not very truthful."
"When the new owner came in, we thought we had financial backing and we'd be able to at least play out the season," he added. "We never thought it would end like this."
If it is ending, it's hard to argue Spurrier's squad didn't go out on top.
"On the other side, we gotta be the champs right?" he said, per WFTV's Christian Bruey. "We're 7-1, and the next teams are 5-3."
The Apollos were runaway favorites to win the inaugural championship, as they were dominant throughout most of the year. According to Spurrier, nothing is "official," but the team has already said its goodbyes if it comes to that.
[h=5]AAF Power Rankings[/h]
- Check out the latest power rankingsfor the new Alliance of American Football League.
Yeah, and fifteen billion PPVs every year make it really difficult to build any kind of genuine feud. For the last 4-5 years, I’ve mostly enjoyed the time between the rumble and WM, but there’s been minimal build even for WM this year. I’m not sure that there’s a match on the card aside from Rollins/Lesnar that I care about, and even that has the potential to be pretty awful
It went PG when Steph got involved and got tired of hearing all the jokes about her tits they had in the storylines and the **** they put on her and the other women. WWE went to **** when it went PG in 2008.
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