New AAF Football league to pick up where the NFL left off

On Saturday night at 8 pm EST the first games of the Association of American Football, the latest attempt to offer football fans an alternative to the NFL, will be played. The idea for the league was born from the mind of Charlie Ebersol, son of longtime NBC Executive Dick Ebersol and creator of the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary: “This was the XFL”. Ebersol said that in making the documentary, he was struck by the inability of XFL to take advantage of what Ebersol saw as a clear demand amongst fans for another football league.

In creating the AAF, Ebersol decided that he would take the elements that work from the NFL and tweak them just enough to be able to provide a new viable alternative to NFL football. Some of the more notable differences are as follows:

• Extra points: there will be only two-point conversions after touchdowns. In doing their initial research, the AAF found that football fans saw the point after kick one of the most boring and unnecessary parts of the game.

• Kickoffs: instead of kicking off after each touchdown, the team who was scored on will automatically receive the ball at their own 25-yard line

• Play clock reduced to 35 seconds, and no TV timeouts: one thing the league wants to emphasize is shorter gameplay. In their research, they found that fan’s attention spans were suited to a 150-minute event, rather than the 180 minutes (average) of an NFL game. To make up for lost ad revenue, the league is employing more product placement and in-game advertising options.

Ebersol also wanted to launch his league in cities where there was an established fan base and play to the fanbase’s local preferences. Several of the AAF’s cities already have NFL teams or have had NFL teams in the past. The teams that will play in the inaugural season are:

• Arizona Hotshots

• Atlanta Legends

• Birmingham Iron

• Memphis Express

• Orlando Apollos

• Salt Lake Stallions

• San Antonio Commanders

• San Diego Fleet

Keeping with the familiarity trend, there are several names that fans will recognize from NFL and NCAA football both on and off the field, for example:

• Michael Vick, offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Legends

• Daryl “Moose” Johnston, GM of the San Antonio Commanders

• Trent Richardson, running back for the Birmingham Iron

• Steve Spurrier, Head Coach for the Orlando Apollos

There will also be a pipeline from local NCAA teams into the teams. The league intends to be a buffer between college and NFL football, which gives fans of area college teams a chance to continue to see their local players stretch out their playing careers.

Who’s going to win the inaugural season? Choose your team, register at Betmania, and make your first AFF bet today. The AFF is promising lots of fun and exciting football betting action, don’t miss out and enjoy the best AFF betting odds and prop bets here.

The league also plans on being betting-friendly, with the idea being to capitalize on the loosening of gambling laws in the US. With that in mind, the initial odds to win the championship this year are as follows:

• Arizona Hotshots +250

• Salt Lake Stallions +400

• San Antonio Commanders +500

• Orlando Apollos +500

• Atlanta Legends +500

• San Diego Fleet +1000

• Memphis Express +1000

• Birmingham Iron +1000

So don’t be too upset about NFL season ending – for the foreseeable future, there will be another three months of pro football to be played in the year.