Post-Mortem: The AAF Died from Premature Initiation

Published on 19-Apr-2019 by Biff BoJock

Football - NFL    NFL Daily Update

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Post-Mortem: The AAF Died from Premature Initiation

Now we know.

The Alliance of American Football was done before it even got started.

Now that co-founder Charlie Ebersol has started telling his side of the story, there aren't too many lines we need to read between to figure out that his league didn't have enough staying power.

 

'Fraid so.

Now that the AAF has officially filed for bankruptcy, it's come to light that Ebersol ...

  • didn't have what he thought he had ...
  • in a way he thought he had it.

And so, his new investor -- Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon -- decided he'd had it.

 

So here's what's weird:

  • Ebersol said $200million would cover the league for three seasons, and it didn't get through one.
  • Ebersol claims the NFL, its network, and all other involved parties vetted Reggie Fowler's funds, but how could that many experienced lawyers and accounts have been so wrong?
  • Dundon obviously saw the flaws in Ebersol's deal with Fowler about how cash would be disbursed -- hint: history indicated more than once it wouldn't -- and demanded changes.

Basically, Dundon's down payment of $70million was replacing funds Ebersol thought he had from Fowler. Dundon saw a timeline that from his perspective indicated that was all he was gonna risk.

 

On the bright side for Dundon, his Hurricanes are in the Stanley Cup playoffs, even though at least one player hasn't heard of the ways yet.

In the financial sector, Dundon has.

By Ebersol's projections, Dundon's money was supposed to cover one year of AAF operations. Seems like it ran out or was due to run out slightly short of one season with no real prospects of being recoverable in the next two. Given the poor attendance in at least half the franchises, dude probably had a point.

 

Here's the ultimate irony: the primary takeaway from ESPN's 30 for 30 about the XFL is that it launched too soon.

It was Ebersol himself who directed that documentary.

 

Click on a photo to enlarge.