There Is A New Football League Launching Called "Alliance of American Football" With No Kickers
ESPN - While Vince McMahon promises to bring back a revamped XFL in 2020, the son of McMahon’s partner in the previous doomed XFL venture, Dick Ebersol, said his football league will come first. And some big NFL names will be involved.
In New York City on Tuesday, Charlie Ebersol, who directed a documentary on the XFL that aired last year as part of ESPN’s “30 for 30″ series, announced that his league, called the Alliance of American Football, plans to debut on Feb. 9, 2019, the week after Super Bowl LIII. The season will run 10 weeks and will have 50-man teams.
To help him steer the league, Ebersol brought on former NFL general manager Bill Polian, currently an analyst for ESPN. The player side will be overseen by former Pro Bowl Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu, while the team side will be guided by former USC standout and executive J.K. McKay.
Unlike McMahon, whose announcement came without a media plan, Charlie Ebersol said that his league, made up of players who didn’t make the cut for the NFL, will have the initial contest and the championship game on CBS and one game a week on CBS Sports Network. Other games will be available on the league’s app, which Ebersol said promises to integrate live fantasy play into the broadcasts.
Besides good football and names the local market knows, Ebersol says a hallmark of the league will be no TV time outs and 60 percent fewer commercial, as well as an innovative approach to broadcasting the games.
There also will be no kickoffs (ball will be placed automatically at the 25-yard line) and no on-side kicks. The losing team will just start on their own 35-yard-line with fourth-and-10. Play clocks are 30 seconds and every touchdown has to be followed by a two-point conversion attempt.
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Oh hell yeah. Another new football league. Because the new XFL wasn’t enough, we are getting another new football league, coming next Spring, right after the Super Bowl. And you can watch it on…the league’s app! Perfect. Because who doesn’t love watching guys not good enough to play in the NFL, nevermind guys who aren’t good enough to play in the NFL on their 5 inch phone screen?
But don’t fret, Charlie Ebersol has promised “good football”. Well shit. That’s where every other league that has tried to compete with the NFL has screwed up. They forgot to promise “good football”. Hopefully the XFL remembers to do that.
Obviously they are doing the things everyone wants- fewer timeouts and commercials. And then the huge new rule, which is #BadForTheBrand – no kickers. The ball is placed on the 25 yard line, no on-side kicks, and no extra points. 2 point conversions are mandatory. No word yet on how they feel about punters or standing for the National Anthem.
I don’t want to make a bold statement, but nobody will fucking care about this league and it’ll be another failure. Then the XFL will debut the next season, and we’ll have basically a cripple fight between two dog shit leagues while the NFL stays king and plucks the few good players from the two competing leagues. It’s possible this new one will try to leverage themselves to be a sort of “minor league” for the NFL, but that’s yet to be seen.
Good luck, new league, you’re gonna need it.