All American Football League to Bring Quality Football in Spring 2008

Fans of football have another reason to cheer. Whether you are a fan of college football or a fan of the NFL, you have reason to celebrate that you can now follow live football almost all year. The All American Football League is scheduled to begin their inaugural season in the spring of 2008.

The six team league is scheduled to play their season from April to June, with the Championship game to be held on July 3^rd. Apparently the founders of the league learned from the mistakes of the now defunct USFL. They will not be trying to compete against the revenue giant NFL. They will play in opposite seasons and they will not try to out-spend the NFL on players.

In order to play in the All American Football league players must meet certain criteria. They must have completed all NCAA football requirements. Second they must have earned a four year degree. This last expectation should have a positive impact on NCAA football graduation rates.

The league will be led by CEO Marcus Katz, who co-founded Educational Loan Administration Group, which provided student loans to parents. The Board of Managers will be made up of former University Athletic Directors, former Presidents of Universities and the former President of NCAA. The league has worked out partnerships with other organizations to get things off the ground. Marketing of the league will be handled by Octagon. They have handled the marketing for the FIFA Word Cup, NASCAR, as well as numerous sports superstars. In November the league worked out a deal with New Balance, who will provide the on field apparel. The officiating for the league will be handled by the NFL Officiating Department. According to NFL Vice President of Officiating, Mike Pereira, "Our intent is to train and evaluate just as we do in our current NFL officiating program." We should see the same quality officiating.

The teams will have direct ties with universities, therefore they have a built in fan base. The intention is that local players who do not get signed to an NFL team will play for their local team. The Florida team will play three home games at Gainesville, and one home game at each Jacksonville and Tampa Bay's Raymond James Stadium. The Alabama team will play its home games at Legion Field in Birmingham. The Arkansas team will play at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Michigan will play at Ford Field and they are still working out the details as to where the Tennessee and Texas teams will be playing.

The league is attempting to stay fan friendly. The average starting price for tickets will be around $13. The AAFL is currently is discussion to get the league game broadcast on TV, radio and possible internet. The majority of the games will be played on Saturdays. There may be a possibility of Friday night or Monday night games.

Players will be paid about $5,000 a game and each team will have six franchise players who will be eligible for anther $50,000 per year. Some players have already been signed to play. Former 2001 Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch is on board as well as former NCAA standouts Chris Leak and Clint Stoerner.

Starting this spring we should have just a short layover between the Super Bowl and the start of the AAFL. With the player stipulations and the current companies backing the league we should see quality football. Many players that seem to fade into obscurity in the CFL, the former NFL Europa or one of the Arena Leagues will now get to continue their careers in front of thousands of fans.