USA Today: How new pro football leagues could change the NFL and college game

BleedGopher

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per USA Today:

The longtime agent for NFL quarterback Tom Brady is starting a new pro football league next year in Southern California called Pacific Pro Football.

His name is Don Yee. And it might not be long before his league and other new pro football ventures disrupt and influence the lucrative worlds of college and pro football.

Take the case of Clemson star quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The rising sophomore is not eligible to play in the NFL until 2021, according to NFL rules that require first-year players to be at least three years removed from high school. But Yee’s new league won’t be bound by such rules.

Asked how much his league would be able to offer Lawrence, Yee told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday that “it would be a compelling and significant proposal.”

“He is a unique talent, and we'd simply want to give him a choice."

This is new territory for the elite levels of American football, and it’s about to open up even wider. Several new pro leagues are set to open shop this year and next, starting Saturday, six days after the Super Bowl. That's when the eight-team Alliance of American Football (AAF) will try to fill the NFL void, with plans to spend $500 million to $750 million in the next five years to get rolling.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...s-aaf-xfl-change-nfl-college-game/2800945002/

Go Gophers!!
 

Don't see any of these leagues really impacting the NFL all that much but could be an issue for college if lots of high end players decide to skip out on college and opt for one of these leagues instead. It would obviously be very attractive to a player that isn't yet eligible for the NFL to be able to get payed for a few years before taking his shot at that level.
 

Without knowing how deep their pockets are one has to wonder if they’ll last one, two, three seasons. A player could be left high and dry without any options when the leagues fold. That said, these second tier pro leagues (if their rules allow direct entry) could well attract those few that would normally go the JUCO route for academic reasons but have pro talent at a young age. Those are pretty rare. Have to think a lot of fringe NFLers and CFLers will end up filling the rosters.

Kickoff in about an hour. Should be interesting.
 

Are any former Gophers on any of these teams? I'm seeing a lot of guys from smaller schools that had good stats in college, but were just didn't make the NFL.
 

Are any former Gophers on any of these teams? I'm seeing a lot of guys from smaller schools that had good stats in college, but were just didn't make the NFL.

Cobb made a catch
 


Don't see any of these leagues really impacting the NFL all that much but could be an issue for college if lots of high end players decide to skip out on college and opt for one of these leagues instead. It would obviously be very attractive to a player that isn't yet eligible for the NFL to be able to get payed for a few years before taking his shot at that level.

Good point.
 

Are any former Gophers on any of these teams? I'm seeing a lot of guys from smaller schools that had good stats in college, but were just didn't make the NFL.

Stelter, Travis and Nelson all play for San Diego.
 

Where I could see this affecting the NFL is in new rules. The NFL could see how these rules work out before trying them for themselves.

Sent from my LG-Q710AL using Tapatalk
 

Are any former Gophers on any of these teams? I'm seeing a lot of guys from smaller schools that had good stats in college, but were just didn't make the NFL.

I saw Cobb, Stelter, Demarious Travis, and a LB who's name escapes me right now.
 



I wonder if these leagues will replace practice squads. The pay is comparable and I would think the opportunity to perform in games is more valuable than just playing in practice. Some baseball players will sign with independent leagues instead of minor league teams to get a better role so this could be similar.

For the first few years I don't see it having much of an impact on college football. There's a pretty decent risk that the leagues go under and you can't play the seasons you need to prove yourself to NFL teams. At most, maybe a few would-be juniors who already have high draft projections might skip their last year and play one year there where there's little risk. If these leagues show they are stable and will be around for a while, they could have a huge impact on college football. It could look similar to hockey where the CHL and NCAA are both viable options. Not only is money appealing but also the fact that you wouldn't need to go to classes and you could potentially start playing before finishing high school.

I'd love to see the NFL have competition but I doubt we'll ever see it. The XFL has the best shot but they probably won't come close.
 

I wonder if these leagues will replace practice squads. The pay is comparable and I would think the opportunity to perform in games is more valuable than just playing in practice. Some baseball players will sign with independent leagues instead of minor league teams to get a better role so this could be similar.

For the first few years I don't see it having much of an impact on college football. There's a pretty decent risk that the leagues go under and you can't play the seasons you need to prove yourself to NFL teams. At most, maybe a few would-be juniors who already have high draft projections might skip their last year and play one year there where there's little risk. If these leagues show they are stable and will be around for a while, they could have a huge impact on college football. It could look similar to hockey where the CHL and NCAA are both viable options. Not only is money appealing but also the fact that you wouldn't need to go to classes and you could potentially start playing before finishing high school.

I'd love to see the NFL have competition but I doubt we'll ever see it. The XFL has the best shot but they probably won't come close.

XFL is not trying to compete with the NFL - their mission is similar to AAF where it's intentionally minor league. I also think there is way more money behind AAF and the NFL is at least partly on board with the AAF (games are shown on NFL Network, for example). I think the XFL is going to struggle vs. the AAF because of that (and the one year head start AAF has plus their previous reputation), but it may take enough viewers away from AAF to make them financially less lucrative...

I have been waiting for years for one of these minor leagues to start going after top high school recruits. AAF is not currently doing that, which I think is a mistake on their part. Think about it - if you are a player who thinks you're going to make it to the NFL, you could openly get paid, get endorsement deals, not have to go to class and get coached by (mostly) former NFL coaches in the AAF. I can't believe most of those top kids wouldn't jump at that opportunity. Then you become the league of future NFL superstars, not just a random minor league of has beens and never will bes.
 

Philip Nelson played too for San Diego Fleet.

He was the backup QB, got put in after the other QB struggled, was 5 for 8 and threw an INT. He is the starter for their next game.
 

The one possibility that could impact college FB:

the NFL buys out the AAF and decides to use it as a true 'minor league.' Under this scenario, college players who want to leave school early could play for the AAF for 2 or 3 years to gain experience and wait for a shot at the NFL.

I'm not suggesting that tons of college players would bolt, but all it would take is for a few top-caliber players to jump to have an impact.

And, if I wanted to be cynical - when you have college players skipping bowl games to "prepare for the NFL," it's not that big of a leap to skip a college season to play in the AAF and prepare for the NFL that way.
 




The XFL IIRC had pretty massive hype, sold out stadiums, high ratings early on then crashed and burned. I’m skeptical these leagues will have staying power but I’ve been wrong before. The Alliance seems to have brought in a lot of heavyweight former pros to give it some gravitas, rather than going for the sex and violence approach of the XFL.

The game I watched last weekend - I was impressed by the quality of the play, but I was disappointedd they didn’t deliver the two things that would really help hook my attention:

The “command center” split screen window with constant stats updates. Two viewing angles on each play, and coach cams at all times.

Combine that approach with live mics on the coaches and QBs and officials during deliberations and it would be riveting television. Currently it’s way, way too much like the boring NFL broadcasts.
 


The one possibility that could impact college FB:

the NFL buys out the AAF and decides to use it as a true 'minor league.' Under this scenario, college players who want to leave school early could play for the AAF for 2 or 3 years to gain experience and wait for a shot at the NFL.

I'm not suggesting that tons of college players would bolt, but all it would take is for a few top-caliber players to jump to have an impact.

And, if I wanted to be cynical - when you have college players skipping bowl games to "prepare for the NFL," it's not that big of a leap to skip a college season to play in the AAF and prepare for the NFL that way.

The AAF is already a full partner with the NFL...and using it as a minor league...
 
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Im not quite sure why articles keep bringing up Trevor Lawrence. I read one last night where they said Lawrence could skip next year, and the join the other league thats starting up for one year. That sounds like the worst possible scenario for a highly touted QB prospect. A player of Lawrence's caliber wouldn't be the test subject to see if it ups a players value. Great way to generate clicks though by those websites.
 

From The Athletic

On​ Feb.​ 9,​ the Alliance of​ American​ Football​ (AAF) had a successful debut, drawing about 3.25​ million​ viewers​ on​ CBS,​​ a number that surprisingly exceeded those from a prominent NBA game (Thunder-Rockets) being played at the same time.

Less than a week later, multiple sources told The Athletic, the new league’s existence was in jeopardy.

According to the sources, there was one enormous problem, one that became obvious even before the AAF’s second weekend (Feb. 16-17) of games: The league was running short on cash, and quickly. Without new investors, there was a good chance it was going to miss payroll last Friday.

“Without a new, nine-figure investor, nobody is sure what would have happened,” one source said. “You can always tell people their checks are going to be a little late, but how many are going to show up on the weekend for games when they don’t see anything hit their bank accounts on Friday?”

On Tuesday, multiple sources told The Athletic, the AAF will announce that Carolina Hurricanes majority owner Tom Dundon, a self-made billionaire from Dallas, has become that nine-figure investor. Dundon will be introduced as the league’s new chairman after last week’s commitment of $250 million enabled the AAF to meet its obligations.
 

Other leagues will not change the NFL. It will change itself. College will not be affected enough to change our norm, at least not in a negative way.
 

From The Athletic

On​ Feb.​ 9,​ the Alliance of​ American​ Football​ (AAF) had a successful debut, drawing about 3.25​ million​ viewers​ on​ CBS,​​ a number that surprisingly exceeded those from a prominent NBA game (Thunder-Rockets) being played at the same time.

Less than a week later, multiple sources told The Athletic, the new league’s existence was in jeopardy.

According to the sources, there was one enormous problem, one that became obvious even before the AAF’s second weekend (Feb. 16-17) of games: The league was running short on cash, and quickly. Without new investors, there was a good chance it was going to miss payroll last Friday.

“Without a new, nine-figure investor, nobody is sure what would have happened,” one source said. “You can always tell people their checks are going to be a little late, but how many are going to show up on the weekend for games when they don’t see anything hit their bank accounts on Friday?”

On Tuesday, multiple sources told The Athletic, the AAF will announce that Carolina Hurricanes majority owner Tom Dundon, a self-made billionaire from Dallas, has become that nine-figure investor. Dundon will be introduced as the league’s new chairman after last week’s commitment of $250 million enabled the AAF to meet its obligations.

Good Lord, worse than I thought.
 


Good Lord, worse than I thought.

How is it physically possible to make schedules, make commitments, etc. for a whole season worth of games .... but only have money to do a week's worth of games?? Isn't that just called "lying" or "fraud" ??
 

Something doesn’t smell right. IIRC the stories leading up to the first game talked about how they were going to do it right, in it for the long haul, putting out a quality product yet they have cash flow problems before the first coin flip. As always the inner circle will get paid even if the various business entities fold and employees and associated vendors are left holding the bag. The investors may not be happy either.
 




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