Watch out, NFL

Think you’re spoiled by watching the best 32 football teams in the world play this fall and winter?

Well, hang on to your helmets, my fellow gridiron geeks, because in 2024 that number will rise to 56.

Yessir, the National Football League is in for some serious competition next year when Major League Football hits the gridiron with 24 franchises scattered across the fruited plain.

The MLF Eastern Conference is made up of the North Division (Connecticut, New York, Oklahoma and Rochester), Central Division (North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia), and South Division (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Orlando).

Over in the Western Conference we’ve got the North Division (Dakota, Nebraska, Portland and Salt Lake City), Central Division (Iowa, Oakland, Sacramento and St. Louis), and South Division (Arkansas, Memphis, San Antonio and San Diego).

Before I go any further with this game-changing news, we need to make sure we’re all on the same page.

This Major League Football (which was scheduled to launch in 2021, but postponed to 2022, then postponed again until 2023, and now plans to kick-off in 2024) is not to be confused with the other Major League Football, which goes by the initialism “MLFB.” If you follow alternative leagues, you know MLFB has been trying to get off the ground since 2014 but just can’t quite to seem to figure out how to make it happen.

When we last saw that hard-luck circuit in “action” in July, 2022, more than 250 players had been kicked out of their motels because MLFB ran out of money during training camp in Mobile, Alabama.

But this Major League Football – or MLF – has no such baggage.

And how do we know it’s going to be top-tier?

Because it says so right there on the website:

Major League Football (MLF) is a new professional football league that will consist of 24 teams, most of them in the top 50 television markets. The season will be played during the Fall starting in 2024. MLF is not a secondary or inferior league to any other professional football league, but instead, a professional football league consisting of the very best players, coaches and staff.

There will be few changes to the rules of MLF games as compared to other professional football leagues. One major difference will be more affordable tickets and concession prices. In addition, there will be less penalties in order to speed up the pace and increase the excitement of the game. We look forward to bringing the United States the most exciting and competitive game of professional football.

There you have it … “MLF is not a secondary or inferior league to any other professional football league.”

If that’s the case, the Kansas City Chiefs might need to sweeten the pot for Patrick Mahomes lest the quarterback and insurance spokesperson decides to become the Joe Namath of MLF.

And Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts?

I can only imagine the bidding war the Alabama and Oklahoma clubs will wage over his services.

OK … I’m being just a tad facetious.

The NFL will not have competition next year. I kinda doubt it’ll have any real competition ever again.

And I’m sorry … for an upstart like this to come along and suggest it’s not a “secondary” league sets itself up for ridicule.

The USFL and XFL (and whatever the combined circuit will call itself if and when their merger goes through) don’t pretend to stand as equals of the NFL because they aren’t. It would be ridiculous if they presented themselves as such.

Instead, they provide a showcase for their players in hopes of getting them into the NFL. When it happens promotions are celebrated, even if it’s a practice squad spot.

Oh, and they play in the spring, avoiding competition with the NFL, high school and college football.

MLF officials, however, apparently think they can carve out a niche in the traditional football season playing minor league football. I wish them luck – sincerely – but I see no scenario where this succeeds.

I get that the majority of the potential franchises are not in NFL cities. And maybe if Sacramento and Portland each had, say, $300 million payrolls and were stocked with NFL all-stars who jumped leagues, they might draw a crowd for their version of the Cascadia Cup.

But I think it’s a safe bet that there will be no $300 million payrolls.

Even if the player salaries are comparable to those of the USFL/XFL (ranging anywhere from $59,000 to $74,000 per season), you still aren’t going to have a product that’s “not a secondary or inferior league to any other professional football league.”

That’s not a criticism, just a statement of fact.

And what about “big league” stadiums?

The largest one in Rochester is the Rochester Community Sports Complex, which has room for just under 14,000 spectators.

Dakota would (I assume) play in the Fargodome on the campus of North Dakota State University – which is a neat place, but has modest seating. The best they could hope for in a game between the Orlando Blooms and Dakota Fannings is 18,700. To help support a major league budget, ticket prices would have to be astronomical.

Yet the MLF mission statement plainly states there will be “more affordable” ticket and concessions prices, ruling out $10,000 box seats and $300 hot dogs.

So, when will we get more information?

Good question (even if I wrote it myself).

Other than what I’ve already included, there isn’t much more info, at least on the website. There’s a disclaimer that they aren’t associated with the MLFB (which, according to MLF, was illegally using its name and trademark), and that the schedule is coming next June.

Oh, and MLF is also hiring general managers and coaches, and candidates are asked to email their resume to [email protected].

Again, I wish it nothing but the best, but my expectations are so low they’re non-existent. I doubt it will get off the ground at all.

Still, I hope MLF proves me wrong.

And if Mahomes takes the opening snap for the San Antonio Banderas next September, I’ll cheerfully apologize for underestimating the league that brought the United States “ … the most exciting and competitive game of professional football.”