Category: Alternative Football

For someone who lives in the deep south of the United States, I spend an inordinate amount of time in deep thought about the Canadian Football League.

I’ve loved the CFL since I was first exposed to it more than 50 years ago, and over time the game played on a field that’s 150 yards long and 65 yards wide has become my favorite style of tackle football. When the Toronto Argonauts meet the Winnipeg Blue Bombers tonight at BC Place in the 111^th Grey Cup, I’ll be watching with great interest. Truth be told, I probably look forward to the Grey Cup more than the Super Bowl.

And even though the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are my favorite team in the circuit, I’m gonna find something to like about every club; I support the CFL as a whole, so I want all of its members to thrive.

And what I’d really like to see sooner than later is the CFL make the jump from nine franchises to 10.

Expansion to another Canadian market was something outgoing CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie hoped to accomplish during his seven-year tenure, but the stars (i.e. ownership groups) never aligned.

“I think the one thing I’ve learned is it’s hard, maybe impossible, to push your way into a market, a market has to pull you in,” Ambrosie said on Tuesday during his final “State of the League” news conference. “We’ve put down some breadcrumbs in markets like Halifax and Moncton and we had fantastic success this past season in Victoria (the “Touchdown Pacific” game). I wish it (expansion) would’ve happened these past few years but I think eventually it will and I think some of these breadcrumbs that I referred to might ultimately help to make that possible.”

A 10-team CFL would make things so much cleaner.

The East and West divisions would have five teams each (or maybe divisions would be scrapped entirely).

Better yet, its traditional 18-game regular season schedule would mean each club could play the others twice, which is perfect for people like me who have just a touch of OCD and crave a balanced slate.

Beyond that, it’d give fans a new team to cheer (or jeer).

The “Atlantic Schooners” were a conditional Nova Scotia-based franchise back in the 1980s, but basically never made it past the logo stage. The Schooners brand was revived in 2017 but – again – nothing came of it.

The area is still coveted by the CFL, but other cities have entered the chat as well.

“I’m very bullish on Quebec City, I’m bullish on Atlantic Canada,” Ambrosie said. “I also think that, as the country grows, markets like Windsor, for example, could potentially be open to our saleable branches. We’ve had conversations in that market about the possibility of hosting a game there.”

As a CFL fan in America I was thrilled with the U.S. expansion experiment in the 1990s, but I wouldn’t advocate for such a move now. It provided a much-needed influx of cash, but was ultimately a plan better in concept than reality.

You never say never, of course, but Ambrosie isn’t sold on another south of the Canadian border move, either.

“Personally, I’m not convinced that U.S. expansion is the way to go,” Ambrosie said. “I think we have something very special here with our Canadian content.”

For those unfamiliar with how CFL rosters are put together, teams have a “Game Rule Ratio.” On a 45-man roster, 21 players must be designated as Nationals (Canadians). That number can include one nationalized American. Such a rule would make little sense with a U.S.-based franchise.

“The Canadian ratio is going to be part of our league for many, many years to come and if you open yourself up to U.S. expansion, you’re going to have to make that change,” Ambrosie said. “You’re going to have to operate under different rules and I don’t think a great league operates under different rules — one set of rules that applies to everybody.

“Somewhere in all this great country of ours, there’s going to be a market that wants the CFL and is prepared to make the investment in a facility. I think our next best step to get to 10 is to do it in Canada.”

This is one Yank who agrees wholeheartedly. I have no idea what region of the country is the best fit and makes the most sense, but maybe we’ll get a chance to find out some day.

Regardless, I’ll still be cheering for the Canadian Football League –  even though the closest franchise to me is more than 900 miles away.

Ready or not, here comes the International Football Alliance.

While the second-tier United Football League is set to begin year two next March (and extend spring pro football’s latest incarnation into a fourth season), fans will soon be asked to make room for a summer league that’s even lower on the play-for-pay pyramid.

The seven-team IFA is scheduled to open on May 31, 2025, with the Alabama (Huntsville) Beavers hosting the Tampa Tornadoes in what is billed as the “IFA Kickoff Classic.”

The other flagship teams in the league are the Baltimore Lightning, Chihuahua Rebellion, Dallas Pioneros, Ohio Valley (Wheeling, West Virginia) Ironmen and San Antonio Caballeros.

Hal Mumme, famous for the air raid offense, will guide San Antonio. Following a long career in college coaching he’s had stints in alternative football with the XFL Dallas Renegades (2020) and The Spring League Linemen (2021).

And Art Briles brings plenty of on-field success to his job with Dallas. Briles compiled a 99-65 record while coaching Houston Cougars (2003-2007) and Baylor Bears (2008-2015),and led Estra Guelfi Firenze to the championship of the Italian American Football Federation in 2022.

(In the interest of background checks, you might wanna fire up the ol’ search engine and type in “Briles Baylor controversy” and “Mumme New Mexico State controversy.”)

The IFA draft will be held March 21-22, 2025, and consist of eight rounds. The first three rounds will be confined to international and dual citizen athletes, while four through eight will focus on U.S. players.

Each team will play an eight game regular season schedule followed by semi-finals and a championship game on August 16.

The Kickoff Classic begins a week earlier than the full slate of IFA competition, which gets under way on June 7.

When the formation of the IFA was announced in January, 2023, the plan was to start with six teams – three in Mexico and three in the United States. The Mexican entrants were to come from the defunct Fútbol Americano de México (Guadalajara Tequileros, the Rebellion and Cancun Sharks) while the Pioneros de Queretaro were relocating to Dallas. At various points, Las Vegas, El Paso, San Diego and Lakeland, Florida, were touted as possible U.S.-based sites.

Last month it appeared there would, indeed, be six teams in the inaugural season, but Ohio Valley was added in late October.

And in a bold move, the IFA is already accepting expansion applications for 2026.

It’s easy to be skeptical about this latest gridiron venture, and I certainly am. Aside from St. Louis, UFL teams have trouble putting butts in the seats – meaning that circuit has hardly taken permanent root in the sports landscape. But it does have major network TV contracts, and decent TV ratings are why it hasn’t gone cleats up like the myriad minor leagues that have come before.

The IFA, on the other hand, signed a deal with Right Now TV in January and in October announced that Lights Out Sports would serve as its streaming partner.

Gotta be honest … I’d never heard of either of them, so I have no idea what they bring to the table in terms of exposure.

Despite repeated attempts to reach a representative with the league I’ve gotten no response, so all I have to go on is what’s on their website.

Here’s the IFA mission statement:

We are bridging the gap in international professional football by delivering the highest level of American Football within the strategic locations of Mexico and the United States. We are implementing NFL-based standard rules of play, and creating a true international alliance. Together with our team ownership, teams, players, and fans, we will work to build a unified and solid football ecosystem to grow American football in a league without borders.

In theory, I like the concept, although “NFL-based standard rules of play” sounds boring. (You’ve gotta have some cool rule tweaks). Mexico has the largest NFL viewership outside the United States, and the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional – which has a loose working agreement with the Canadian Football League – just completed its ninth season. Since the IFA intends to have a mixture of Mexican and American players, this gives athletes south of the border another avenue of tackle football.

But whereas UFL players can actually make a living on that league’s salaries (roughly $50,000 per player for three months’ work), most IFA signees will earn just $400 per game, with active quarterbacks bringing in $1,500 per outing.

Obviously, that’s better than nothing, but it means earning an IFA roster spot is more about getting film than getting paid.

As I’m sure you know, the track record of upstart football is poor. If a league doesn’t carry the initialism of “NFL,” it usually goes from the cradle to the grave quickly.

Still – despite long odds – the stakeholders in the International Football Alliance think there’s a market for lower level summer pro football.

I guess we’ll find out.

The NFL and United Football League seem to be getting awfully chummy these days. And why not?

Now that Triple-A spring football seems to have found its footing with the merger of the USFL and XFL, the big league has a new – and steady – source of ready-to-play talent.

“The UFL has demonstrated to be a proven and effective product,” NFL executive vice president of football operations, Troy Vincent, said in a statement on Wednesday. “It provides an opportunity to develop, showcase and evolve the talent and quality of players, coaches, administrators, trainers and officials at the highest level of professional football.”

Whether the NFL and UFL develop an official working relationship remains to be seen, but it would make sense if they did.

The UFL announced this week that 21 players from its 2024 season are currently active in the NFL. Michigan Panthers kicker Jake Bates (Detroit Lions) and Arlington Renegades defensive tackle Jalen Redmond (Minnesota Vikings) earned 53-man roster spots leading up to the NFL’s 2024 season launch, and former DC Defenders wide receiver Chris Blair (Atlanta Falcons) was recently promoted to the active roster from the practice squad.

Entering the season’s second Sunday, 14 other spring veterans are signed to practice squads, while three have been placed on injured reserve. 

“We knew that merging the two leagues would create more talented rosters, which in turn would create a more entertaining product on the field,” UFL executive vice president Daryl Johnston said. “This would provide our players the competitive platform needed to be seen by NFL teams. The number of workouts and signings we saw during NFL training camps speaks to the product we put on the field and the opportunity we created for our players as a league. This is what spring football represents, providing a non-traditional path to help players make it to football’s grandest stage.”   

Johnston, of course, has been pushing for a pro pathway since before the UFL existed. He worked for the ill-fated Alliance of American Football in 2019, and before the USFL and XFL merged to form the current circuit earlier this year, he was president of football operations with the USFL. In July, 2023, he was talking up the benefits of a spring pipeline.

“When I was in the Alliance of American Football (as general manager of the San Antonio Commanders), Philadelphia was one of my teams,” Johnston, who was also director of player personnel for the XFL Dallas Renegades in 2020, said then. “Jeff Stoutland is the offensive line coach for the Eagles. I asked him, ‘Wouldn’t it be great for (tackle) Jordan Mailata to come to our league and actually play the game? He said, ‘Absolutely … but as soon as I let him go do that, I have to get into a bidding war with the other 31 teams to get him to come back, because everybody’s gonna see how talented he is. And we’ve got time and money invested in him right now and I don’t want to get into a competition for services by letting him go to that league.’ So, there are some things that we are hoping to start conversations with the NFL and allowing some free flow, and some different things that gives access but returns that player back to that team.”

Considering Johnston’s strong NFL ties (he was a three-time Super Bowl champion and two-time Pro Bowler with the Dallas Cowboys, and has served as an analyst on NFL telecasts for 24 seasons), one would have to assume those conversations continue as the eight-team UFL prepares for another season playing out of its Arlington, Texas, hub in 2025.

According to a UFL release, more than 250 of the 400 players (60 percent) who appeared in games for the UFL were called to the NFL for workouts, with 78 signing contracts to attend 30 NFL team training camps. Overall, 87 deals were struck with UFL players, including eight signing twice with the same team and one signing three times with different teams. 

Among “legacy” USFL (2022-23) and XFL (2023) classes, 41 players were called up by the UFL for the 2024. Cowboys standout and former Birmingham Stallions kicker Brandon Aubrey – one of the NFL’s top players at that position – and teammate Kevontae Turpin (wide receiver for the USFL New Jersey Generals in 2022) are two of the 11 on 53-man rosters. Twenty-seven others have practice squad spots and three are on injured reserve. 

Yet, while many are getting opportunities, only a handful are getting actual playing time in the fall. The UFL rectifies that problem, and it would be even better if the NFL could call players up and send others down (to get work) thanks to a streamlined partnership.

“The UFL has been an excellent tool for us as we build the roster,” Cowboys vice president of player personnel, Will McClay, said. “In the age of salary cap, player acquisition has become a year-round job. The UFL gives us an opportunity to evaluate players in a professional setting at crucial times when teams need to fill roster holes that may not have been addressed in the draft and free agency. The access that the UFL gives us to the players and process makes it a league that we will continue to scout and look for players to add to our roster. The bottom line is that football is a “rep” game and we feel like the more quality reps a player can get, the more they can improve their skill set and Football intelligence enough to compete for an NFL roster spot.” 

Not trying to read too much into it, but the fact that the league sent out a press release with three NFL officials commenting on the UFL (Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah also weighed in by saying, “Growth opportunities afforded players by the UFL can absolutely lead to better competition on NFL rosters”) suggests a more formal connection between the two would be a logical step.

“The NFL scouts agree that the UFL is a great proving ground for players to get more film and playing time to improve their game,” San Antonio Brahmas general manager Marc Lillibridge said. “When they’re not playing, it’s hard to see their development. When they’re in the UFL, they can see them developing under high level coaching and the results and growth in games.”

Short of an in-season farm system, an NFL/UFL alliance is the next best thing. And if the UFL can survive – and steady television ratings are encouraging – such a team-up would benefit both parties.

It’s certainly something to keep an eye on.