What’s so great about the Alliance of American Football?
Sydney Taylor – Staff Writer
photo courtesy of unslpash.com
Football season was supposed to have ended with the Superbowl, but a new league has come up that started on February 9.
The Alliance of American football (AAF) was founded by television producer Charlie Ebersol and Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Bill Polian. This new spring league is focused on the ideas of high-quality play, fan engagement and player safety and development.
The AAF shared how it plans to pick players to sign and give players opportunities based on where they played collegiate or professional football.
Players will first be looked at and placed by where they played college football. If a player is unable to be placed based on where they competed at the collegiate level, the player will be chosen based on their most recent NFL or CFL team. So if a player did not play in the NFL or CFL, the player is free to sign with any of the teams that offers a contract.
This new league is looking to put its main focus on the safety and well-being of each of the athletes.
AAF announced recently that players will sign 3-year contracts, with a minimum base salary of $250,000. Money is big when it comes to performers, which is what these athletes are. So Alliance also plans to give players added bonuses determined on wins, statistical milestones and fan engagement.
The AAF additionally plans to give its players scholarships to post-secondary education for every year that is played in the league. Post-football career planning and counseling will be available for players as well. Which is important for the guys to be able to have a plan after.
The Alliance will have a 10-game regular season schedule for each team, two semifinal games and a championship. With player safety being one of the top priorities of the makeup of the League, there will be some rule differences between the AAF and the NFL.
One of those differences is eliminating the kickoff after the opposing team scores. Instead of kicking off, each team will receive the ball at their own 25-yard line. Also, the traditional extra point that teams kick for, will be eliminated which is forcing each team to go for two-point conversions.
To add to the fan-friendliness of the league, the AAF plans to implement shorter play clocks and reduce the number of TV timeouts. This will keep people more engaged and give less reason to stop watching.
Alliance is not trying to rival the NFL by making the game different with the safety changes, but add to it instead.
“I think one of the main ideas in terms of this league certainly is not to compete with the NFL, but to be an addendum to the league for those players who are not quite developed from a technique or fundamental standpoint,” Phil Savage, General Manager of Alliance Phoenix told Sports360AZ.com.
The names of the eight teams in the league are the Arizona Hotshots, Atlanta Legends, Birmingham Iron, Memphis Express, Orlando Apollos, Salt Lake Stallions, San Antonia Commanders and San Diego Fleet.
Sources: Alliance of American Football
