Category: Alternative Football

I’d made peace with the fact that there would be no 2020 Canadian Football League season long before the plug was officially pulled this afternoon. A circuit that starts in the early part of the summer couldn’t due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and as each weekend passed it became more apparent that time was quickly running out.

An infusion of government cash never seemed likely, and a six game season played in a locked-down Winnipeg hub was a desperate plan for a league that needs ticket-buying fans.

Everything hinged on maybes, but it was always closer to “maybe not.”

The last ray of hope was extinguished when the Canadian federal government denied the nine-team organization a $30 million, interest-free loan last Friday. That decision was made in what was supposed to be Week 10 of an 18-game regular season. Now – for the first time since 1919 – there will be no Grey Cup to determine the CFL champion.

“All the pieces that were required to play didn’t come together,” said CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie, who spoke to reporters via teleconference earlier today. “We were close to a new (collective bargaining agreement) for 2020 with our players and we had a health plan that had been approved by the officials in Manitoba, but what we really needed in the end was financial support from the federal government. That never materialized.”

A lack of transparency by the league has been cited as a major reason there was no financial aid, but Ambrosie insists that wasn’t the case.

“It was never brought to our attention that there was a lack of transparency,” he said. “Quite honestly, I thought we were as clear and concise and as transparent as we could possibly be. They did show us a couple of opportunities that we were clear with them would not work for us, and some new ideas surfaced and they looked even more promising, but they never materialized. I just really don’t think it was a lack of transparency. I just think in the end they couldn’t get done what we thought they would and what we hoped that they would.”

Like all people whose jobs have been impacted by the virus, CFL workers have taken a devastating hit. But the players – unlike their NFL counterparts who have plenty of financial wiggle room – were forced into a wait-and-see situation for months.

As late as last week the league was denying its players chances to bolt for NFL training camps, citing the fact that they were under contract. But considering they weren’t getting paid and have families to provide for, that put them in a horrible spot.

And it’s not like corporate generated much goodwill with the on-field talent. When Ambrosie and company originally began lobbying the government for money, they didn’t involve players in the negotiations. And although they ultimately came together to present a unified front, it wasn’t enough.

“I’ve never met a leader that I respect who doesn’t take responsibility when things don’t go well, so I do feel responsible for the fact that we’re not going to play this season,” Ambrosie said. “But there are things that we can learn. I can look back – and I have looked back – at how all this unfolded, and there are things I would’ve liked to have done differently. You just try to learn from those things and move on.”

If this was the NFL canceling its season, you could be confident that its players would be fine and it would return in 2021 with all 32 of its franchises intact.

And while I want to think that’s the case with the CFL, it’s hardly a sure bet. As I wrote back in June:

Compared to the NFL, its television deal is modest. A six-year contract with The Sports Network, signed in 2019, is worth around $37 million (in U.S. dollars) annually and shared among the nine Canadian teams. That sounds pretty good until you realize the NFL’s 32 franchises shared $8.78 billion in TV revenue in 2019 – about $275 million per club. Those figures are based on the annual report released by the Green Bay Packers, the only team that publicly releases its finances.

The CFL also counts on paying customers to help the bottom line (average attendance last season was 22,917 per game).

With no TV games in 2020 and attendance that averages zero, you can imagine what a huge blow this is to the Canadian Football League. Comparatively speaking, the NFL is a big box chain retail operation while the league north of the U.S. border is more of a mom-and-pop store.

And that’s not an insult; I love the CFL – everything from its unique rules to its tradition – and I miss watching it. While football season begins for many of you when the first NFL exhibition is played in August, mine always starts in June, somewhere in Canada.

“Our single biggest source of revenue is ticket sales, so that will be affected by this,” Ambrosie said. “We plan on 2021 to be a softer year for revenue based on everything going on with the virus.”

So what happens now?

“I talked to the governors today and there was a real spirit of resolve,” Ambrosie said. “We’re looking at our financial models, and we’re looking at ways to create more efficiencies. We need to find ways to share more together to make our league stronger. There are no magic answers to all the challenges we’re going to face, but I have the good fortune of waking up every day with a remarkable group of governors, and a remarkable group of owners, and I get a chance to go back to them with some time that we’ve never had before to really work on a long-term plan.

“We need to think about ways we can accelerate our plans to become more international and we need to look at revenue opportunities that will open the doors to a bigger and stronger future. I simply believe in the people we work with. I believe we will rise to this challenge and I believe with the support of our fans and our sponsors, this league can be position for the best future possible. It’s going to take a lot of hard work, but I believe 2021 will be the year of a great comeback for our league.”

I want to believe, too.

However, I’m going to err on the side of skepticism after the way this non-season played out.

College football had itself a week.

To review, the threat of seeing the 2020 season wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic led some of the sport’s biggest stars to push for a safe way to stage it while also lobbying for the future formation of a College Football Players Association.

Then, after some athletes had already opted out because of health risks, conferences such as the Big Ten and Pac-12 as well as individual schools canceled their fall seasons. Others – including the SEC, ACC and Big 12 – decided to move forward, with delayed starts and altered schedules.

And on Thursday, a group of U.S. senators announced plans to put “a college athletes bill of rights” before Congress which would, among other things, attempt to guarantee monetary compensation and long-term healthcare.

That’s why there’s a touch of irony in a bit of news many of you probably missed. Pacific Pro Football – a league founded on the premise of featuring college age athletes who would play for a salary and receive standard job perks – is no more, failing to get off the ground three years after it was announced.

Founder Don Yee, the highly regarded NFL agent, quietly abandoned the idea this summer in favor of a new venture that will attempt to use camps and scrimmages to connect free agents with NFL teams. Before calling an audible, Yee had brought in big names like Mike Shanahan to be part of the organization’s advisory board, and even struck a sponsorship deal with adidas.

Objectively, I thought Pac Pro had a better chance at long-term survival than any alternative football league that had come before it. I always goob out at the thought of a sports upstart, but I was genuinely excited about this particular concept.

According to its website:

 “Pac Pro will be the first league to professionalize players who are less than four years removed from their high school graduation. Players will receive a salary, benefits, and even paid tuition and books for one year at community college. Players also will be able to market themselves for compensation, and begin creating a financial retirement plan if they so choose.”

(Keep in mind Pac Pro’s mission statement came long before the NCAA – fearing massive, class-action lawsuits – decided it would be kinda/sorta OK for players to “market themselves for compensation.”)

Salaries were expected to be in the $50,000 range per player, per season. And considering each team would play eight games over a July and August time frame (contested among four Southern California-based franchises the first year with room to grow) that’s quite a windfall for young players who want to get paid for their labor.

Due to the coronavirus it probably wouldn’t have been able to play this summer anyway (although with the teams so close together I assume a bubble format might’ve been possible), but there has never been a better time for just such a league. The college football conversation always seems to come back to finances. And with its volunteer workforce growing more intent about revenue sharing, a play-for-pay league that skews younger makes sense.

The vast majority of guys who compete on college football teams will never make their fortune in professional football, but there are many who can and will. And all of them have helped make the NCAA-sponsored gridiron game a billion dollar industry while turning its top coaches into multi-millionaires.

Look at it this way: if a player competes for a university-sanctioned team, it’s something of a work-study program with an athletic scholarship being the reward. Pac Pro, on the other hand, would’ve amounted to an “earn while you learn” trade school for guys who wanted to major in football.

So when the circuit was originally announced I truly believed that if it made it through a couple of seasons – and some of its players secured spots on NFL rosters – it might become a legitimate alternative to the “amateur model.” And I wouldn’t begrudge any young man who chose a paycheck over a grant if that bettered his situation.

But 2017 turned to 2018 and 2018 rolled over to 2019, and using my shrewd powers of deduction I figured Pacific Pro Football would remain forever stuck on the drawing board.

Just because this circuit has been abandoned doesn’t mean the idea has to die, though. The new owners of the XFL – Dany Garcia, Duane Johnson and Gerry Cardinale – haven’t sought my counsel in rebooting the league, but opening it up to college-age stars is something worth considering. If the proposed college football players union ever comes to fruition, one can assume compensation will be discussed. When it is, though, count on the NCAA to do everything in its power to keep as much for itself as possible.

Based on XFL salaries this year – which averaged roughly $55,000 – it could be a legitimate option for a kid who wants to shorten his pipeline to the NFL. And instead of having rosters full of big league near-misses, a few future stars could be sprinkled in.

And how about the fledgling Freedom Football League, which is currently hosting virtual town halls? Built on a social justice platform, one of its four pillars is “Economic Justice.”

Per freedomfootball.co:

Establishing economic justice via financial incentives through joint ownership and further eliminating financial exploitation and profiteering to the benefit of the few at the expense of many.

Sounds like a young, talented football player exploring his options might want to explore the FFL.

Certainly, anything apart from the status quo will upset people who expect 18 to 22 year olds to suit up in college colors and entertain them. Yet the 18 to 22 year olds themselves might be tempted by the thought of getting spendable recognition for their work.

Now, of course, we know Pacific Pro Football won’t be providing that temptation. But any future league willing to make players actual stakeholders – and put money in their pockets – could give college football a run for its money.

* I wrote about a league with designs on giving young basketball players a payday back in March. It plans to begin play next year.

New hoops league out to change the game

After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April, it appeared the story of the rebooted XFL was over.

Instead, a third chapter is apparently about to be written.

The brand that dropped and flopped in 2001 only to return in 2020 – making it through half a season before being halted by the COVOD-19 pandemic – will try again thanks to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Dany Garcia and RedBird Capital Partners.

They were the winning bidders on Monday as the XFL’s parent company, Alpha Entertainment LLC, prepared to go up for auction. However, the group bought the assets for roughly $15 million and the auction was canceled. The deal is expected to be approved at a bankruptcy court hearing on Friday and will become official on August 21.

Garcia, the former wife of Johnson and still his business partner, becomes the first woman to own a professional sports league.

“For Dwayne, (Redbird founder and managing partner Gerry Cardinale) and myself, this property represents an incredible opportunity. It is the confluence of great passion, tradition and possibility” Garcia said in a news release. “Sports and entertainment are the foundations of the businesses I have built. Melding our expertise combined with our commitment to deliver exciting and inspiring unique content, has us all focused on developing the XFL brand into a multi-media experience that our athletes, partners and fans will proudly embrace and love.”

Following the abrupt end to the 2020 season there was reason to believe the league – then owned by professional wrestling mogul Vince McMahon – would return in 2021. But in April most of its employees were laid off and the XFL filed for bankruptcy.

Four months later, it’s back in the game.

“The acquisition of the XFL with my talented partners, Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale, is an investment for me that’s rooted deeply in two things – my passion for the game and my desire to always take care of the fans,” Johnson said. “With pride and gratitude for all that I’ve built with my own two hands, I plan to apply these callouses to the XFL, and look forward to creating something special for the players, fans, and everyone involved for the love of football.”

Before it was forced to pull the plug due to the pandemic, the XFL had made a positive impression. The St. Louis BattleHawks and Seattle Dragons were the biggest hits at the box office, with St. Louis averaging 28,541 fans per game and Seattle pulling 25,616. TV ratings were starting to slip a bit but were still respectable, and the quality of play was solid.

It certainly wasn’t on par with the NFL, but saying it was Triple A level pro football is accurate. As for its third go-round, what can we expect?

BRANDING

There’s no reason to think the new owners won’t stick with the “XFL” name, which is a decision I understand but don’t particularly agree with. The acronym is well-known, but so was Windows Vista and I don’t think anyone ever wants to use that operating system again.

And don’t forget the XFL is a circuit that is oh-for-two. The demise of the 2020 version was through no fault of its own, but it doesn’t change the fact that it didn’t reach the finish line.

Even though it won’t happen, I think a rebrand would be well-received from a perception standpoint. After all, the Johnson-Garcia-RedBird deal gave it new life, so why not give it a new identity?

PERSONNEL

As for talent among athletes and coaches, there is plenty to go around. And considering how the Canadian Football League can’t seem to figure out how to deal with its workforce in this summer of uncertainty, there could be plenty more down the road. Unless the CFL gets its act together quickly, American players might choose the XFL in an either/or situation.

While there’ll be no shortage of guys who can get it done on the field, I’ll be interested to see if big names like Bob Stoops and June Jones – who coached in the XFL last season – might want to give it another try. Following its collapse there were reports that the league owed Stoops more than $1 million and Jones nearly $600,000, so those significant financial details would need to be worked out to get them back on the sidelines.

STRUCTURE

Another question concerns the organization itself. Will it retain its single entity format and reboot the eight teams from 2020?

“I think there was a lot to build on,” Garcia told ESPN’s Kevin Seifert on Tuesday, “and not so much a matter of changing it. Any format change would be because of COVID-19. That would be the reason. The roots and the bones of what were there were excellent.”

So there conceivably could be a hub situation if they try to go to market in 2021 and the pandemic still isn’t under control, but even so cities will want teams to call their own. And some additions and subtractions involving franchises wouldn’t surprise me.

They’ll surely bring St. Louis and Seattle back, and I’d also think adding San Diego and San Antonio (cities that drew well during the failed Alliance of American Football experiment in 2019) might be smart moves as well.

Finding a smaller venue for New York if the XFL remains in or near the Big Apple is something to seriously consider. The L.A. Wildcats – located in the nation’s second largest city – had plenty of room at 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park. Met Life Stadium was far too cavernous for the New York Guardians, but 25,000-seat Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, would be a nice landing spot for the XFL’s top media market.

And Orlando might be a better fit than Tampa Bay if the league plans to stay in central Florida. Officials now have the advantage of seeing where alternative football was a hit and a miss over the last two years and can plan accordingly.

RULES

Finally, one of the best things about the 2020 XFL was rule innovations. There were many I loved and not a single one I thought was bad, so I hope to see them dust off the rulebook and use it again.

The non-collision kickoffs might become standard in pro football sooner than later, and the “less stall, more ball” tweaks that made games move along more quickly were excellent.

“This is a Hollywood ending to our sale process and it is an exciting new chapter for the league,” XFL President and Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Pollack said. “Dwayne, Dany and Gerry are a dream team ownership group and the XFL is in the best possible hands going forward.”

Whether the XFL can safely start next spring is anyone’s guess. And like all non-NFL pro football leagues in the United States, the odds for sustained success are long.

But for now the XFL is back in business – and that, in itself, qualifies as an upset victory.