On Tuesday, April 2, news broke that the Alliance of American Football, commonly known as the AAF, suspended operations and is likely headed towards folding completely.
According to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk, while the league has not officially folded, “it’s heading that way.”
“All The AAF football operations will be suspended in the next few hours, per source with knowledge of situation [sic]. League is not folding, yet. But it’s heading that way,” the tweet read.
The Alliance of American Football, founded by NFL legends Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian, began their inaugural season on February 9, 2019 — just six days after the Super Bowl.
Consisting of eight teams — Atlanta Legends, Birmingham Iron, Memphis Express, Orlando Apollos, Arizona Hotshots, Salt Lake Stallions, San Antonio Commanders, and the San Diego Fleet — while the AAF initially had some novelty and ironic appeal, the viewership has since fallen off a cliff, leading to the league’s current precarious financial predicament.
According to Darren Rovell of The Action Network, the decision to suspend all operations was made by new owner Tom Dundon “against” the wishes of league co-founders Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian. Rovell reports that Dundon will lose approximately $70 million on his investment in AAF after investing $250 million in late February.
The Alliance of American Football league, which featured some formerly highly-touted NFL prospects such as Johnny Manziel, Christian Hackenberg, and Trent Richardson, was originally envisioned as a developmental for “fringe” NFL talent during the traditional football offseason.
However, fear not, semi-professional football fans, as Vince McMahon’s likely ill-fated XFL revival is set to kick off play next year!
Did you watch any AAF games? Did it ever interest you or were you skeptical from the start? What the hell is Johnny Manziel going to do with his life now? Let us know below in the comment section!