The AAF may be all done already

divits

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The AAF is the 6th "Not Ready For Prime Time" football league that has been in Orlando since I've lived in Central Florida. That they would be a flash in the pan was never, ever in doubt.

My thoughts on these leagues has always been that they are fun to go to, not overly expensive and a great reason to get out and watch some guys running and throwing it around while drinking beer. I hope they last for a while but I'm a realist.
 

Swamp Donkey

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The AAF is the 6th "Not Ready For Prime Time" football league that has been in Orlando since I've lived in Central Florida. That they would be a flash in the pan was never, ever in doubt.

My thoughts on these leagues has always been that they are fun to go to, not overly expensive and a great reason to get out and watch some guys running and throwing it around while drinking beer. I hope they last for a while but I'm a realist.
The others didnt have Spurrier doe.

Wait, I guess the Bandits did.
 

Sec14Gator

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Sorry for the long response but this doesnt make any sense.

We believe anything we read it seems, but sorry, this story doesn’t add up. The AAF player salaries are widely reported this year at either 70k or 75k (inguaranteed for future years) I’ll use 75k. Combined the coaching salaries appear to be about $1 million for the whole staff, though it’s hard to tell if that is per season. I’ll assume it is. Then you have stadiums going unused that likely aren’t charging too much to get butts in seats, plus some modest TV revenue and respected investors and management (Ebersol).

Well, at 8 teams with 52 players, the entire seasons’ payroll is $31.2 million. Add the 8 coaching staffs, plus support staff (though stories suggest that is very minimal) and it adds up to around $40 million for the season or $4 million per week for the entire league with all assumptions being on the high end.

So, why would a $250 million investment be needed for $4 million of payroll (or even a few weeks or the entire season).

Something doesn’t make sense here. It almost seems like showboating by the NHL investor or a misreading and the investment was $250m. Often, a single, lower case m means thousands. A reporter f’ing that difference up would not be surprising at all. A 1/4 billion investment into a league that can’t pay payroll in week 1 is wholly unbelievable. To do so based on one week’s slightly higher than expected ratings? Come on.

I can’t beleive no one else is questioning this story here.

I feel like the Geico Facebook lady:

upload_2019-2-25_2-11-47.jpeg
 

Musclepug

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Anyone who has ever dreamed of taking a vacation with Steve Spurrier can finally have their wish come true.

The Orlando Apollos, the Alliance of American Football team Spurrier coaches, announced the Inaugural Steve Spurrier Cruise coming this summer. Yes, apparently this will happen more than once.

Fans can book a trip to the Bahamas on July 12-15 with Spurrier and his coaching staff. The cruise's website says fans can experience "Q&A sessions, welcome receptions with the coaches, private excursions, dining with fellow fans and coaches, beach olympics, photo and autograph sessions and plenty of time to schmooze with the Apollos coaches."

The group will travel to Nassau and Coco Bay in the Bahamas on the ms Mariner of the Seas. The ship has additional acitivities like glow-in-the-dark laser tag, a bungee trampoline with a VR experience, waterslides and multiple restaurants.

Can you imagine playing laser tag or going down a waterslide with Spurrier? Pack your best visor and book your trip today.
 

BMF

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Sorry for the long response but this doesnt make any sense.

We believe anything we read it seems, but sorry, this story doesn’t add up. The AAF player salaries are widely reported this year at either 70k or 75k (inguaranteed for future years) I’ll use 75k. Combined the coaching salaries appear to be about $1 million for the whole staff, though it’s hard to tell if that is per season. I’ll assume it is. Then you have stadiums going unused that likely aren’t charging too much to get butts in seats, plus some modest TV revenue and respected investors and management (Ebersol).

Well, at 8 teams with 52 players, the entire seasons’ payroll is $31.2 million. Add the 8 coaching staffs, plus support staff (though stories suggest that is very minimal) and it adds up to around $40 million for the season or $4 million per week for the entire league with all assumptions being on the high end.

So, why would a $250 million investment be needed for $4 million of payroll (or even a few weeks or the entire season).

Something doesn’t make sense here. It almost seems like showboating by the NHL investor or a misreading and the investment was $250m. Often, a single, lower case m means thousands. A reporter f’ing that difference up would not be surprising at all. A 1/4 billion investment into a league that can’t pay payroll in week 1 is wholly unbelievable. To do so based on one week’s slightly higher than expected ratings? Come on.

I can’t beleive no one else is questioning this story here.

I feel like the Geico Facebook lady:

14101

There's a good article on the $250 million investment by the NHL owner from SDS, basically the investment is for long-term sustainability. This breaks it down very well:

Why you shouldn’t jump to negative conclusions about the AAF after the week that was

“After that first week of games, we were at the height of our valuation and were able to dictate our future,” Ebersol said when asked by the Orlando Sentinel if the league was in a financial bind before Dundon bought in. “We are a start-up, and start-ups usually raise money in pieces — there’s a Series A piece, Series B, Series C, etc. After the success of the first week, we had a number of investors come to us and offer us all kinds of different investments. Tom Dundon showed up and said, ‘Do you want to continue to raise Series B, Series C and Series D or do you want to raise Series Infinity right now and be taken care of from now on?’ That was an offer I was not going to refuse.”
 

BMF

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The AAF is the 6th "Not Ready For Prime Time" football league that has been in Orlando since I've lived in Central Florida. That they would be a flash in the pan was never, ever in doubt.

My thoughts on these leagues has always been that they are fun to go to, not overly expensive and a great reason to get out and watch some guys running and throwing it around while drinking beer. I hope they last for a while but I'm a realist.

The biggest problem w/ these leagues is they are trying to make money. The NFL should dump $50 million/year into a league that is specifically for developmental purposes. Sure, they can play in cities and have fans and logos and cheerleaders, etc (similar to minor league baseball). With the NFL money guaranteed each team can have an operating budget and not have to worry about making money (and if they make money that's a bonus). But it's going to be hard to have a for-profit model that lasts. The XFL next year is really going to throw a kink into all of this (competing for talent, fans, viewers, etc).
 

Swamp Donkey

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ABC/ESPN has it on full ignore, of course.

Partnering w CBS was a poor choice IMO.

If they want it to survive, it has to be on tv.
 

ChiefGator

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Depending on the TV ratings this will either work or fail. Being on the NFL network is a big advantage. They also need to keep costs in line with their expectations, you won't be getting wealthy playing in this league.
 

NOLAGATOR

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IMO:

I think they should move the season to Summer (June July August)...Most football fans can't wait until Fall.

I would try and develop it as a minor or development league.

And I would try to draft those undrafted or cut from the NFL as an alternative to the Canadian League.
 

Sec14Gator

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There's a good article on the $250 million investment by the NHL owner from SDS, basically the investment is for long-term sustainability. This breaks it down very well:

Why you shouldn’t jump to negative conclusions about the AAF after the week that was

“After that first week of games, we were at the height of our valuation and were able to dictate our future,” Ebersol said when asked by the Orlando Sentinel if the league was in a financial bind before Dundon bought in. “We are a start-up, and start-ups usually raise money in pieces — there’s a Series A piece, Series B, Series C, etc. After the success of the first week, we had a number of investors come to us and offer us all kinds of different investments. Tom Dundon showed up and said, ‘Do you want to continue to raise Series B, Series C and Series D or do you want to raise Series Infinity right now and be taken care of from now on?’ That was an offer I was not going to refuse.”

This makes much more sense than the idea that $250,000,000 was infused to fund payroll.
 

rogdochar

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Anyone who has ever dreamed of taking a vacation with Steve Spurrier can finally have their wish come true.

The Orlando Apollos, the Alliance of American Football team Spurrier coaches, announced the Inaugural Steve Spurrier Cruise coming this summer. Yes, apparently this will happen more than once.

Fans can book a trip to the Bahamas on July 12-15 with Spurrier and his coaching staff. The cruise's website says fans can experience "Q&A sessions, welcome receptions with the coaches, private excursions, dining with fellow fans and coaches, beach olympics, photo and autograph sessions and plenty of time to schmooze with the Apollos coaches."

The group will travel to Nassau and Coco Bay in the Bahamas on the ms Mariner of the Seas. The ship has additional acitivities like glow-in-the-dark laser tag, a bungee trampoline with a VR experience, waterslides and multiple restaurants.

Can you imagine playing laser tag or going down a waterslide with Spurrier? Pack your best visor and book your trip today.

So the GatChat grapevine is implying that there's a cruise to the Bermuda Triangle in AAF's future?
 

ThreatMatrix

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The biggest problem w/ these leagues is they are trying to make money. The NFL should dump $50 million/year into a league that is specifically for developmental purposes. Sure, they can play in cities and have fans and logos and cheerleaders, etc (similar to minor league baseball). With the NFL money guaranteed each team can have an operating budget and not have to worry about making money (and if they make money that's a bonus). But it's going to be hard to have a for-profit model that lasts. The XFL next year is really going to throw a kink into all of this (competing for talent, fans, viewers, etc).

Unfortunately they don’t have cheerleaders. Which is yuge mistake in my opinion.
 

NVGator

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Apollos are the best team in AAF history. You heard it here first.
They just keep scoring more points than the other team. You score more points, you win the game. You play to win the game.
 

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