Will USF Be Associated With The New Orlando Pro Football Team?

[MikeG]

1 hour ago, NAS Gone to Paradise said:

I think it bounced in the early days even with small UCF crowds.

I'll take your word for it-- I've only been there once and I was taking pictures down on the field. I've never been in their stands.

[bull2saintleo]

On 1/6/2019 at 10:38 PM, JTrue said:

Curious how they ended up with their current roster. I clicked on Gilbert from the QB list and he's all Texas. Texas HS, Texas and SMU for college.

They had a special QB draft in November 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_AAF_QB_Draft

Quote

Draft rules

The draft lasted four rounds with a preset draft order. The first round included a "pick or protect" method, where if a team elected to protect a player, they selected their player before the teams electing to not protect a player from their region. The second round kept the original selection order with the third and fourth rounds being the reverse order selection.

"Protect or pick" rules

Quarterbacks were allocated by region based on where they played college football or last played with a NFL or CFL team. If the player went to school outside of an Alliance team's area, the player will essentially be a free agent.[1] Teams were given the option to "protect" any player from their area, and would become that team's first round selection. Teams electing not to "protect" a player would then "pick" from the entire pool of eligible quarterbacks based off draft order for their first round selection. Any quarterback that was already signed to an Alliance team was eligible to be selected in the draft.[3]

 

 

[MikeG]

I'm all for this league-- it gives so many of these guys a shot to make a little money and play a game they love even if they are not quite good enough to play/start in the NFL. Plus in many cases, it gives local fans a chance to see some of their favorite players again. Whether there is enough interest in that will determine the leagues fate.

Not sure I fit that level of interest personally since I am living so far away from Florida now. I do remember that having former USF players on teams in the Arena league made me more likely to watch and even attend a game or two.

[JTrue]

7 minutes ago, MikeG said:

I'm all for this league-- it gives so many of these guys a shot to make a little money and play a game they love even if they are not quite good enough to play/start in the NFL. Plus in many cases, it gives local fans a chance to see some of their favorite players again. Whether there is enough interest in that will determine the leagues fate.

Not sure I fit that level of interest personally since I am living so far away from Florida now. I do remember that having former USF players on teams in the Arena league made me more likely to watch and even attend a game or two.

Not sure why they doubled up in some cities, though. I'd expect the league to get better attendance in places that don't already have NFL teams.

[MikeG]

26 minutes ago, JTrue said:

Not sure why they doubled up in some cities, though. I'd expect the league to get better attendance in places that don't already have NFL teams.

I will address why Phoenix sort of makes sense. First of all-- the Cardinals play in Glendale-- which for most people in Phoenix is a pain in the arse to get to for starters (not to mention a 35 mile drive for me versus 10 to ASU). The ticket prices to those Cardinals games are insanely high. And the product on the field lately has been very bad. They intend to play their games in Sun Devil Stadium which is very central to Phoenix and while not exactly top notch facility-wise, it has just been given a major face lift this past season. If you put enough ASU and Arizona Wildcats players on their along with some of the former local HS talent, I think they will get decent attendance. Throw in that they can draw from former Bears players adds to that factor since there is a large Chicago contingent here.

The only other one I see that has an NFL counterpart is Atlanta. They are playing in a small stadium there (Georgia State- ~25K capacity)- so who knows.

I suppose you could add Orlando (Bucs, Dolphins, Jags) and maybe Memphis (Titans) but I think you have enough separation to justify the potential fan base. Bottom line is I don't think they are trying to compete directly with the NFL by any means-- it appears they simply giving more football fans options in the off season along with some marginal players another outlet to play.

 

Edited January 8, 2019 by MikeG

[JTrue]

22 minutes ago, MikeG said:

I will address why Phoenix sort of makes sense. First of all-- the Cardinals play in Glendale-- which for most people in Phoenix is a pain in the arse to get to for starters (not to mention a 35 mile drive for me versus 10 to ASU). The ticket prices to those Cardinals games are insanely high. And the product on the field lately has been very bad. They intend to play their games in Sun Devil Stadium which is very central to Phoenix and while not exactly top notch facility-wise, it has just been given a major face lift this past season. If you put enough ASU and Arizona Wildcats players on their along with some of the former local HS talent, I think they will get decent attendance. Throw in that they can draw from former Bears players adds to that factor since there is a large Chicago contingent here.

The only other one I see that has an NFL counterpart is Atlanta. They are playing in a small stadium there (Georgia State- ~25K capacity)- so who knows.

I suppose you could add Orlando (Bucs, Dolphins, Jags) and maybe Memphis (Titans) but I think you have enough separation to justify the potential fan base. Bottom line is I don't think they are trying to compete directly with the NFL by any means-- it appears they simply giving more football fans options in the off season along with some marginal players another outlet to play.

 

Atlanta was the first one that came to mind for me. All things being equal, why not put it in a market that doesn't have other football options? For years (don't know if it still applies today) Major League Baseball restricted where its minor league teams could be so as to keep them a certain distance from any major league team.

[BrassBulls12]

4 minutes ago, JTrue said:

Atlanta was the first one that came to mind for me. All things being equal, why not put it in a market that doesn't have other football options? For years (don't know if it still applies today) Major League Baseball restricted where its minor league teams could be so as to keep them a certain distance from any major league team.

The only example I can think of that would go against that would be the Tampa Yankees but I guess the MLB could have said that the Rays are far enough away being in St.Pete. 

Edited January 8, 2019 by BrassBulls12

[MikeG]

5 minutes ago, JTrue said:

Atlanta was the first one that came to mind for me. All things being equal, why not put it in a market that doesn't have other football options? For years (don't know if it still applies today) Major League Baseball restricted where its minor league teams could be so as to keep them a certain distance from any major league team.

Their season starts February 9th -- I don't see many football options during that time frame this year. Next year the XFL will be a new option that will most likely compete.

[chapelbull]

Clearwater Phillies, Dunedin Blue Jays, but all of those teams were established long before the Rays came into existence

[chapelbull]

This league is in the offseason.  Probably tapping into the football fix that some areas have and need I guess