Alliance of American Football (2019)
Tombstone
Born: April 7, 2018 – AAF founding franchise
Folded: April 2, 2019
First Game: February 9, 2019 (W 40-6 vs. Atlanta Legends)
Last Game: March 30, 2019 (W 34-31 @ Memphis Express)
AAF Champions: 2019*
*Self-declared/Betting Services
Stadium
Spectrum Stadium (45,301)
Marketing
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owner: AAF (Tom Dundon, et al.)
Our Favorite Stuff
Orlando Apollos
2019 Logo T-Shirt
The Steve Spurrier-coach Apollos were the first and only champions of the spring season Alliance of American Football (AAF). But that title had to be bestowed by betting service FanDuel after the AAF itself went out of business before making it to the playoffs.
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Background
The Orlando Apollos were first and only champions – more or less – of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). The Steve Spurrier-coached club had the league’s best record (7-1) when the league collapsed in bankruptcy and recrimination with two weeks remaining in its inaugural season. With the playoffs cancelled as well, bookmaker FanDuel declared the Apollos champions of the AAF for the purposes of resolving futures bets placed by their customers.1Reineking, Jim. “The Orlando Apollos are AAF champions, at least according to sports betting site FanDuel. USA Today. April 4, 2019
Orlando was the first city announced by the AAF in April 2018. The league ultimately comprised eight clubs, with Orlando in the Eastern Conference alongside Atlanta, Birmingham and Memphis. The Apollos played their home games at Spectrum Stadium on the University of Central Florida campus.
On The Field
The Apollos swiftly established themselves as the strongest team in the AAF. They crushed the Atlanta Legends 40-6 on the AAF’s opening weekend before a home crowd of 20,191 on February 9, 2019. CBS broadcast the game nationwide. The Apollos rolled to a 5-0 start before dropping their only contest, a 22-17 home loss to the Arizona Hotshots in Week 6.
Former Southern Methodist University quarterback Garrett Gilbert led the AAF with 2,152 passing yards during the abbreviated season. His top target was former Minnesota Vikings wideout Charles Johnson, who paced the league in both receptions (45) and receiving yards (687). Gilbert signed with the Cleveland Browns after the AAF folded. Johnson joined the Philadelphia Eagles.
Overall the Apollos topped the 8-team AAF in scoring offense (29.5 points per game) and finished 2nd in scoring defense (16.6 ppg).
Financial Problems & Demise
The Alliance of American Football was beset by financial problems even as the eight teams gathered in San Antonio, Texas in January 2019 for pre-season training camp. The AAF’s largest financial backer, was a man named Reggie Fowler. The former Minnesota Vikings limited partner pledged $170 million in start-up capital, but delivered less than 20% of his commitment. (Fowler would soon be arrested on bank fraud charges and faces up to 70 years in prison at the time of this writing.)
Fowler’s problems reportedly left the AAF on the verge of missing payroll after just one week of operation. Only a shotgun marriage to Tom Dundon, the billionaire owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, kept the league afloat. But this investment too was overestimated or misrepresented by league co-founder Charlie Ebersol, who claimed it was a $250 million validation of the league’s business plan. Instead it turned out that Dundon was funding the league week-to-week – to a still extraordinary burn rate of ~$70 million in two months – and taking a wait-and-see attitude. With two weeks left in the AAF’s 10-week regular season, Dundon pulled the plug and shut down the league on April 2, 2019. The AAF filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy two weeks later.
The Apollos also felt the league’s financial instability locally in Florida. The league was unable to secure workers compensation in the state of Florida for the team, so the Apollos had to move their practices to a high school in Georgia in order to secure insurance coverage there. When the league folded, the University of Central Florida was left with hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid invoices for the lease of Spectrum Stadium.
Orlando Apollos Video
Apollos vs. Memphis Express Week 3 game highlights. From February 23, 2019.
Downloads
2019 Alliance of American Football Media Guide
2019 Alliance of American Football Media Guide
Links
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One Response
It seems that Charlie Ebersol needs to take a lot of the responsibility for the failure of the AAF.