The new Alliance of American Football will debut it's first game on February 9th. CBS will broadcast a game each Sunday and conclude with the leagues championship game in April. The league's inaugural teams are:


Each team will have 50 players. There will be no Kickoffs. A 30 second play clock will be employed and 2 point conversions will be mandatory. The "Wilson" footballs will have alternating red, white, and blue bands (similar to college footballs). Oher new rules will also apply in this league, but that will be fun to discover as well.

I plan to view this new league and will reserve my right to pick a favorite team as I please. That said, I look forward to extending my football enjoyment by becoming a regular viewer.

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It's great that this thread is being viewed, yet I would like to read your post about this new American football league. AAF.com is the home site for this league and perhaps a visit might generate more members to comment. Team colors, rosters, logos, and more may be found on their home site.

Scott Tolzien will be the QB for one of these new teams. Many players from the major colleges fill the rosters for these new teams. Some hope to impress enough to get offers from NFL teams.

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I am going to pay attention. I think some of the colors in your graphic don't line up with the team names though.


Who is rooting for the Arizona Hot Shots?!?!?

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I must say that you are already paying attention as the team colors indeed do not match up with the correct teams. Thank you for your most observant catch. Perhaps I may be forgiven for not catching it myself as this is a very new league.

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I don't think I'll ever actually see a game over on this side of the Atlantic, but I'm all for some competition for the NFL. Every time a start-up actually made it through that first fase and started to be sustainable, the NFL got better, as well.

Even if they didn't, they can make quite an impact. Broadcasting of the games changed drastically because of the XFL.

That said, the thing that I noticed most so far are the names. They're 25% USFL. And not even the best ones. Stallions and Express. I sorta like the Stallions, but the Express is so bland.

I don't like the Birmingham Iron, either. It's such a nothing-name. The Apollos makes no sense for a football team. The Legends is as bland as it gets and the legendarily bad headliens write themselves.

The rest is ok. Like I said, Stallions is pretty good, Commanders are decent, Fleet is really cool and I'll give Hotshots a pass. Not because I like the name all that much, but it is very meaningful and an awesome way to honour those firefighters.

That said, I do like to see how this pans out. If they can make a profit while cutting down on more than 30 minutes of commercials, maybe the NFL will have to follow suit, at least a bit.

I'm also very interested in what the "Fan engament bonus" means.

With the number of College players that don't make it onto an NFL roster playing for AAF teams, and that this league does not begin play until the NFL concludes it's season, no serious competition will exist. In fact, some players may just find their way to an NFL team by playing in the AAF. Also, some players may extend their football carriers beyond their time on NFL teams.

If this new league succeeds, and I believe that it will, look for expansion teams in places like New York. Chicago, Miami, or even Las Vegas. This ten team league could double itself inside of 6 years. If it really takes off, cities like Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, and Tampa Bay may well join the new "Alliance".

Rest assured that they will find a way for it's games to be seen via pay per view streaming. They may even allow their Sunday broadcast to stream for free for a few seasons until they get a following.

As for the team names/logos/colors it will just have to be something that we will just have to grin and bear. 😁

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NFL rules state you're only eligible to be in the NFL after you've been out of high school for three years. I wonder if players will join this league and forego college? I would hope not many as they'd be forfeiting an education and college ball probably gets you seen easier.

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I really think the education many football/basketball players get is negligible. They take the easiest classes possible to stay NCAA eligible. Basketball 1 and done hardly even go to class.

Don't get me wrong, there are some who use college for what it was originally intended. To be student athletes and get an education. AAF will be an outlet for some.

With all the teams for the most part in the southern 1/3 of the country I have to wonder how much interest they will generate in the north and northeast even the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards. Yes they have televised games but interest will be slow in materializing.

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One thing I forgot to bring up before, cities with Domed Stadiums. Cities like Indianapolis, Detroit, and Minneapolis/St Paul could support a team during the worst winter weather. That could help to foster more interest in more areas beyond the original teams.

Another consideration to consider, teams get bought and moved to new locations. With that can come team name changes, logo changes, and team color changes as well. So let's say the Memphis team gets sold and moves to Detroit, they may keep the colors but change the name to an animal like the Vipers or the Dragons.

I don't know if the field dimensions will be the same as the NFL or if it will be different as the CFL is. The goal post, hash marks, end zone, etc., will anything be physically different? The Football will have stripes, similar to the college football. The Officials are yet another question, how many and will they dress in "Zebra" gear ?

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The new Alliance of American Football will play and air it's first ever game on Saturday night, February 9, 2019. Then they will begin regular Sunday games the next day.

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