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Inside the short life of the Alliance of American Football - ESPN
Posted on 6/13/19 at 10:33 am
Posted on 6/13/19 at 10:33 am
ESPN: Inside the short, unhappy life of the Alliance of American Football
quote:
Ebersol knew the call had to be about his league, the Alliance of American Football. The AAF's newest controlling investor, Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon, had telegraphed for weeks that the league might not finish its first season. The news was now breaking. Ebersol had worked frantically to talk Dundon out of killing the league while also searching for a new investor. But potential buyers needed more time, maybe weeks, to vet the AAF -- or so they said. Ebersol didn't have weeks. He had days. And as he answered his phone, Ebersol suspected he might be down to hours.
We're shutting down at 5 p.m. today," a Dundon associate told Ebersol.
"We're announcing we're shutting down?" Ebersol replied.
"No, everyone is fired at 5 p.m. today."
quote:
Ebersol didn't want to believe it was true. The Alliance, as employees called it, delivered where so many startup football leagues had failed, with good players and big-name coaches, watched by thousands in the stands and millions more on national TV and online. The AAF championship game was less than a month away. But the Alliance was also a mess, mismanaged on almost every level from the outset. Dundon's team calculated the league's total revenue in a year of existence at around $12 million, against estimated annual operating costs exceeding $100 million. Seven hours after the early-morning call from Dundon's office, a three-paragraph letter announced the suspension of league operations. Polian then released his own statement, blaming Dundon for the failed league. Internal tensions that had brewed for months were spilling into public view.
This post was edited on 6/13/19 at 10:37 am
11
Posted on 6/13/19 at 10:36 am to Roll Tide Ravens
quote:
"We're announcing we're shutting down?" Ebersol replied.
"No, everyone is fired at 5 p.m. today."
Damn!
Posted on 6/13/19 at 10:39 am to Roll Tide Ravens
I was really becoming a Birmingham Iron fan too
Posted on 6/13/19 at 10:39 am to Roll Tide Ravens
TL/DR: spoiled, privileged rich kid waded into the deep water and got ate by sharks.
Posted on 6/13/19 at 10:45 am to jcole4lsu
quote:
spoiled, privileged rich kid waded into the deep water and got ate by sharks.
Pretty much. He was overconfident in his own ability to fix the mistakes of the original XFL and to get the necessary funding and big-time support needed to sustain the league. He launched the league way before it was even near ready.
This post was edited on 6/13/19 at 10:48 am
Posted on 6/13/19 at 10:57 am to Roll Tide Ravens
quote:
the league's total revenue in a year of existence at around $12 million, against estimated annual operating costs exceeding $100 million
Posted on 6/13/19 at 11:39 am to Roll Tide Ravens
We hardly knew ye.
Posted on 6/13/19 at 11:46 am to saint tiger225
He took a loan shark’s money. That’s why it failed.
Posted on 6/13/19 at 12:35 pm to Roll Tide Ravens
Invite a whore into your house and wonder why she is sleeping with strange dudes in your bed. Maybe it is your fault.
Posted on 6/13/19 at 12:39 pm to Roll Tide Ravens
quote:
Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon,
It's almost as if his whole plan was to ruin the league to get his hands on that gambling app, which he didn't own or create.
Posted on 6/13/19 at 6:08 pm to SeeeeK
Dundon comes off good in the article. He ended it in a shitty manner but if the money was that far off it probably needed to be shut down. Ebersol was the real idiot.
No, idiot.
Promising masseuses, college funds, and having a security detail was among many pie in the sky dumbass ideas.
Why should Dundon be content with these idiots just wasting his money?
quote:
"Would I do it all over again, knowing exactly how it was going to end?" he said. "Yes. A thousand times over.
No, idiot.
Promising masseuses, college funds, and having a security detail was among many pie in the sky dumbass ideas.
quote:
Polian then offered his assurance that any NFL players in the AAF wouldn't be forced into the league or seriously injured. "You have my word," Polian said. Dundon found that statement absurd. It was football -- how could the AAF promise nobody would get hurt?
Why should Dundon be content with these idiots just wasting his money?
Posted on 6/13/19 at 7:58 pm to Roll Tide Ravens
quote:
calculated the league's total revenue in a year of existence at around $12 million, against estimated annual operating costs exceeding $100 million.
Posted on 6/13/19 at 8:02 pm to SPEEDY
Start ups lose money all the time. Remember they probably left some revenue on the table from ticket and merchandise sales. They would have been in the red this year and next for sure but if they could have secured that minor league deal that Ebersol wanted, then they would have prospered in the long term.
Posted on 6/13/19 at 8:08 pm to TheeRealCarolina
quote:
but if they could have secured that minor league deal that Ebersol wanted
It was a longshot for this to ever happen and even if it did it wouldn't have been until after the new NFL CBA. Ebersol wanted lots of stuff but was talking out his arse too much.
Posted on 6/13/19 at 8:25 pm to Roll Tide Ravens
Dundon deserves Lou Gehrig's AIDS
Posted on 6/13/19 at 8:33 pm to saintsfan22
quote:
Why should Dundon be content with these idiots just wasting his money?
If he expected any kind of profit in the first 3-5 years of a start up football league he is a total fricking idiot. If he signed on without looking into where the money was being spent he is a total fricking idiot. If he had no idea what the short and long term goals were before investing he is a total fricking idiot.
Considering he is a sleaze who figured out the math on screwing people with sub prime car loans to become a multi millionaire odds are he is not a total fricking idiot who did zero due diligence and/or didn't understand the finances . Ergo it's reasonable to assume he had ulterior motives from the get go and anything he says or any article about the AAF where he doesn't come off like a major villain should be ignored entirely.
This post was edited on 6/13/19 at 8:34 pm
Posted on 6/13/19 at 8:34 pm to Roll Tide Ravens
Real question.
Is no one content with how it is now?
NFL and CFB, football till Feb, nice little break with other sports in that time and we start again in August
Is no one content with how it is now?
NFL and CFB, football till Feb, nice little break with other sports in that time and we start again in August
Posted on 6/13/19 at 8:39 pm to Dr RC
quote:
If he expected any kind of profit in the first 3-5 years of a start up football league he is a total fricking idiot. If he signed on without looking into where the money was being spent he is a total fricking idiot. If he had no idea what the short and long term goals were before investing he is a total fricking idiot.
quote:
Dundon was now deep in the morass common to most who've been smitten by spring football. "I did zero due diligence," he told a confidant. "It was really stupid."
Posted on 6/13/19 at 8:42 pm to saintsfan22
Excuse me if I don't believe him at all.
Posted on 6/13/19 at 9:40 pm to Roll Tide Ravens
There was chatter in Birmingham early in the season that vendors and such weren’t getting paid. Then that whole payroll issue was a huge red flag.
Successful startups lose money getting off the ground but they also usually pay their debts.
It’s like people forget that the NFL, NBA, MLB grew organically.
Successful startups lose money getting off the ground but they also usually pay their debts.
It’s like people forget that the NFL, NBA, MLB grew organically.
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