2019 AAF Season Thread

[MMC]

It starts next week, I don't know how many here are actually going to pay attention to it, but I like a lot of the team concepts.

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[SouthGeorge]

I'm in until Boston finds a way to delegitimize this league too.

 

[DanielPlainview]

Don't have a team yet, I'm just glad there will be shorter off-season for football

 

[Roboturner913]

I'm all in on the Memphis Express

 

[DanielPlainview]

AAF kicks off without kickoffs, but with SkyJudge

...when the eight-team AAF kicks off this weekend, there will be no kickoffs as a nod to player safety and one of many twists to make games faster...

...[there]will be a ninth member of the officiating crew, called a SkyJudge who will be in the press box and can instantly correct “obvious and egregious” officiating errors, like the one that marred the NFC championship game...

...Overtime will be different, too...In overtime, each team will get the ball once, first-and-goal from the 10. Teams have to score a touchdown and go for two points. Field goals aren’t allowed. The other team then gets a series and can either match the other team or win.

...There will still be a coin toss, with the winner deciding whether to receive or defer. The team that gets the ball will simply send out its offense to start from its 25...

...Also gone are onside kicks and point-after kicks. When teams score touchdowns, they must try a two-point conversion. Field goals are still OK, except in overtime. The play clock will be reduced from 40 seconds to 35 seconds...rather than trying an onside kick, a team must convert a fourth-and-12 from its 28 in order to keep the ball...

...The AAF will also go back to the original NFL replay scheme of giving each team two challenges, and that’s it. That means no time-consuming video reviews for turnovers and touchdowns...

 

[GKJ]

Never understood what was so criminal about a point after touchdown kick, but if that's the way you're going to do it, would rather be the 1-point option in lieu of the kick or 'having to go for 2'

 

[John Price]

There should always be football in spring and summer. Football is a year round game.

The fact that football at times was only from August to February was stupid.

 

[DanielPlainview]

The issue ultimately comes down to people's passion for football.

People watch HS football because it's their kids and community. People watch college football because of alumni status, regional allegiance, and the next round of NFL talent. People watch pro football to watch the elite play. Where does that leave leagues like the XFL and AAF, that are made up of guys who have fallen put of the NFL? From where do they draw their allegiance?How many people are willing to go watch this level of talent?

In the past, pro football league succeeded when they brought new markets and/or a high level of talent. The AFL forced a merger. The USFL poached quality players. But that was a time when NFL salaries were much smaller. Today, it would take a guy like Bill Gates unleashing his entire multi-billion dollar fortune to get a new league off the ground to compete with the NFL.

About 20 years ago we had the XFL. It had a nice TV deal and averaged around 20k a game. But it was full of gimmicks and corny WWF intrusions. Can we really use it to gauge how things will go this time around? I don't know. The sports entertainment landscape is much different today and has more outside competition. Back then, even the Arena Football League was getting good crowds. Both capitalized on the passion for football and the desire for a cheaper product (ticket prices). Is there a passion for football today like there was in the early 2000s? Will people who have been priced out of the NFL or whose city does not have a team latch on to these leagues? It's really tough to say. Based on rumblings from the AAF ticket sales early on were not terrific, but we'll see. The marketing for the league had been kind of lackluster until recently.

 

[GKJ]

By the time the Super Bowl gets here, people are done with football. I'm actually really done with it on Conference Championship Sunday, because then it's basically the off-season anyways because the Super Bowl doesn't take up an entire day. I may put this on to see if it catches my interest though, but won't take precedence over, say, Hockey Night in Canada, now that we're getting right up to the trade deadline.

 

[shmglsky]

To be perfectly honest, and I'm usually am, I'm hoping Americans ignore this in droves so we can see McMahon lose his pants with the XFL (if the AAF is a success the XFL won't get off the ground).

 

[GKJ]

The XFL is definitely going to start because Vince hired football people and they're going to get a TV deal that's very likely going to surprise people. But he's already acknowledged that he thinks he's losing $100M in Year 1

 

[DanielPlainview]

They announced today their hiring of Bob Stoops to coach the Dallas team so there's that

 

[John Price]

They announced today their hiring of Bob Stoops to coach the Dallas team so there's that

That is XFL if I'm not mistaken

 

[DanielPlainview]

Yep. AAF starts play tomorrow and doesn't even have a team in Dallas

 

[kingsholygrail]

Does AAF have a TV deal at all or streaming? I'm willing to give it a chance.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

So apparently, each teams are assigned 4 NFL teams and 1 CFL team, and colleges in their region, which they have rights to sign players from.

 

[John Price]

Does AAF have a TV deal at all or streaming? I'm willing to give it a chance.

The first game is on CBS tomorrow and NFL Network will stream games as well as TNT and CBS sports network

The AAF has strong tie ins to the NFL too so it is less likely to fail with NFL backing.

 

[DanielPlainview]

Does AAF have a TV deal at all or streaming? I'm willing to give it a chance.

They have TV deals with CBS and the NFL Network. They launched an app yesterday that has some interactive features and is supposed to have available free streaming for all the games.

 

[John Price]

I'm sold

Everything you need to know about the Alliance of American Football

• The most notable one is no kickoffs, which is something Polian insisted on if he was going to be involved. They did this because data they collected said the kickoff was largely a non-dynamic play where the largest number of injuries occurred. Also, fans and players dislike the kickoff on the whole, and it affects overall game time. Instead, the ball starts on the 25-yard line after each score or at the start of the game.
• Instead of an onside kick, if a team is trailing by 17 points or there's five minutes or less left in the fourth quarter, a team can attempt an onside conversion. They get the ball on their own 28-yard line and have to convert a fourth-and-12. If they do, they keep the ball and keep going. Don't convert, and the opponent takes over from the point at which they stop them.
• There are no extra point kicks, so a team is going for two after every touchdown.
• Overtime rules have the ball starting on the 10-yard line with four downs and a two-point extra point if a team scores (field goals are not allowed).
• There's also a significant change in pass-rushing rules for defenses. Teams can rush only five players and can't blitz players from the secondary. If you have five men on the line of scrimmage on defense, those are the only players who can rush. "With less than a month to get our teams ready to play, the hardest part to get cohesiveness in is the offensive line," Polian said. "So if we came with all the exotic blitzes that we see, which is basically coming out of the secondary, they couldn't pick it up and we're going to get quarterbacks hurt, and it's not much of a game, honestly. Nobody wants to see the quarterback sacked repeatedly."
• With replays, officials won't have to go under the hood or watch a tablet. Instead, the official will have an earpiece to communicate directly on the field with the replay official in real time. All of this is designed to help shorten game times. The hope is for games to be two and a half hours or less.

 

[DanielPlainview]

I wish a league would just play a full regular quarter for OT and if it's tied at the end, it's tied. I hate changing up the format of the game for OT.

 

[Hoverhand]

Just over 7 hours until kick off and I haven't picked a team yet.

Although the Orlando Apollos with former Packers legend Ladarius Gunter might be fun for the memes.

The new rules I'm a big fan of too, 2 point conversions are underrated in terms of excitement.

 

[robertmac43]

Don't think I'll be tuning in. This time of year is reserve for other sports plus I don't need football to tied me over as the CF start is just around the corner. Would still be cool if this league finds some success though.

 

[MMC]

Wonder if we’ll see any standouts get picked up by NFL teams

 

[DanielPlainview]

I imagine a few will get camp invites. Doubt you see any outright handed contracts

 

[Blitzkrug]

I'm gonna give it a look. Unlike the XFL, the AAF is actually attempting to be a legitimate alternative league/development pipeline and not make a sideshow of itself.

It has some legit names/minds behind it too.