News Article: Dundon New Chairman of AAF

[Anton Dubinchuk]

The article is paywall, sorry. Still worth mentioning.

NHL owner rescues fledgling AAF with much-needed cash infusion
NHL owner rescues fledgling AAF with much-needed cash...


That’s a $250 million investment and a new position as the chairman of an entire league.

When he said he wants to put processes in place and then pull back, he wasn’t kidding. On to bigger things.

Click to read more...

 

[A Star is Burns]

That is rather interesting.

 

[DaveG]

... wait what?

 

[A Star is Burns]

Think there aren't any owners in that league, so he kinda like owns them all now (not really but close enough).

 

[A Star is Burns]

So THAT'S where the $58K of t-shirt sales will go.

 

[Wolfpuck]

Dundon knows how to hustle. Money never sleeps.

 

[Lempo]

Dundon knows how to hustle. Money never sleeps.

Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.

 

[FreshSeabass]

I'm guessing his role is much less involved there than it will be here. Fwiw we may get another sports team in Raleigh.

 

[Canes]

Pretty weird and risky investment.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

I'm guessing his role is much less involved there than it will be here. Fwiw we may get another sports team in Raleigh.

Diluting his own market...

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Pretty weird and risky investment.

I agree, but ever since they won the draft lottery, started celebrating after home wins, and traded for Nino it's seemed like it might end up working out for him.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Has he lost his f***ing mind?

 

[Navin R Slavin]

I mean, this means that any TV revenue, which continues to be a big deal for any live sporting event, basically now goes directly into his pocket. But who is gonna give a shit about this league? I don't get it.

 

[cptjeff]

I mean, this means that any TV revenue, which continues to be a big deal for any live sporting event, basically now goes directly into his pocket. But who is gonna give a **** about this league? I don't get it.

High school football gets tens of thousands of people in crowds in some places. And how many D1 college teams can pack 80k in? I don't think football is such a bad investment, there's demand out there for football that goes far beyond NFL fandoms. Something in between college and the NFL seems like it could be a viable niche.

 

[MinJaBen]

I wonder if this means he won’t be buying out Karmanos fully? The money is about the same to complete Karmanos’ buyout as to rescue this league.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I agree Hank, I don't get it either. This seems like an odd move for him. Maybe he feels he can do like he's done with Carolina and bring marketing, in game experience, media attention, etc.. to build the brand and then hope the NFL or someone else pays him more for it at a later date?

That's a gamble. WWE and NBC each lost a big chunk of their investment in the XFL way back when.

 

[The Faulker 27]

Don't have a clue if this is a good investment. On the surface it looks like a horrible use of 250M. For a guy who is reportedly worth 1.1B, he's spent ALOT of money in the past year. I'm sure there's all kinds of accountin' going on to buy 2 sports teams in a year, but this just seems a bit crazy when he has an NHL team just beginning show signs of a pulse again.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Does anyone have the true make-up of the deal? Is $250M really $250M in cash? Or is he assuming debt? or what?

Timing is odd also. "Hey North Carolina and PNC arena, I need a better lease deal or a downtown arena to make this work."

"Oh look, a sports league nobody watches and many people don't even know about, I'll plop down $250M for it, why not?"

 

[The Faulker 27]

According the article on The Athletic they had a successful opening weekend not just for arena attendance, but also 3.25M viewers on CBS. It sounds like there is certainly interest, but questionable money management has put them short on payroll in week 2.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

I think the goal is for it to be an NFL feeder league, and it sounds like it's done ok in its first few weeks.

There's gotta be something of interest about it in order to plop that kind of money down, no?

 

[GoldiFox]

I could barely get excited about the NFL this year. Much less some NFL D-league. I don't see who the target market could possibly be.

Does anyone have the true make-up of the deal? Is $250M really $250M in cash? Or is he assuming debt? or what?

Timing is odd also. "Hey North Carolina and PNC arena, I need a better lease deal or a downtown arena to make this work."

"Oh look, a sports league nobody watches and many people don't even know about, I'll plop down $250M for it, why not?"

That's the issue. Pretty much kills his good-will to complain about money if he is throwing $250M at a league that failed in the first 2 weeks.

 

[HisIceness]

I'm guessing his role is much less involved there than it will be here. Fwiw we may get another sports team in Raleigh.

I mean, it's possible but I don't think the AAF would do well here. MLS is a more likely option, and frankly I think Raleigh would support a franchise better than Charlotte.

 

[Svechhammer]

Yeah if I'm Dundon I'm already working with the NFL to set this league up as an official development league for the NFL, with the potential to offer kids an alternative to college where they can make some money after high school. If this works, it could turn into a quick buck for him.

 

[Drivebytrucker]

If he has 250 million dollars to flush down the toilet, why are we still a budget team?

 

[Svechhammer]

I mean, it's possible but I don't think the AAF would do well here. MLS is a more likely option, and frankly I think Raleigh would support a franchise better than Charlotte.

Raleigh doesn't have a prayer now that Tepper is going all in for the Independence in Charlotte. There's only room for 1 team in NC, and Malik seems to have given up hope for a bid.