AFL vs XFL/WLAF/USFL/CFL-America


Bartram

Bartram

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What did Arena League Football do right that all the other upstart pro football leagues in the U.S. did wrong for them(the AFL) to be going into their 11-12th year of existance while the other leagues have a time matching that length of existance combined? Does the AFL have a niche?
 
I dont think you can compare Arena football to those other leagues. Arena ball is so different from the NFL that its barely the same sport. Its not competition for the NFL in any sense, therefor the NFL leaves it alone.
 

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The AFL is a totally different type of league than the others and has never tried to compete against the NFL. It definitely has a niche. By the way, this is season 20 for the AFL.
 
The only league that tried to go head-to-head (and they didn't try to except in court) was the USFL, right? The WLAF was trying to be a feeder/farm league for the NFL (see now where it still exists over seas) and the XFL was to be "WWF" football. CFL was simple expansion of Canadian football to the U.S. It may have over-lapped with the NFL season, i don't recall.

I'd have to agree though, the AFL has found a niche. All you have to do is look at where the teams are now as opposed to when it first started. NOW the AFL is in most major markets. Not so when they started out.
 
I think that the XFL really messed up when they tried to infuse the pro wrestling aspect with their product. The XFL actually had some good games their only season in existence. Their first game was perhaps the football game I had seen up to that point.
Then, there was the NFL plucking the XFL's marquee players from the league. There are a bunch of former XFL players in the NFL now.
 
Antroy said:
I think that the XFL really messed up when they tried to infuse the pro wrestling aspect with their product. The XFL actually had some good games their only season in existence. Their first game was perhaps the football game I had seen up to that point.
Then, there was the NFL plucking the XFL's marquee players from the league. There are a bunch of former XFL players in the NFL now.
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Yep. Don't know if there will ever be an upstart league again, but a few things they should have learned from the defunct leagues:

  1. Don't go up against the NFL. (this is suicide. know your place at least until you are credible.)
  2. Start small with say an 8-10 team league preferredly in big markets(but don't sleep on the second tier markets).
  3. Minimize the gimmicks until you are established.
  4. Follow the lessons learned from the AFL who's been around for 2 decades+ and counting.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the AFL actually get so big that there was actually an AFL2 a few years ago?
 
The AFL has had success because it start off small and grew and was so much different from the NFL. The inventor of the AFL actually got a patent on the rules of the game so that they could not be duplicated. The AFL also didn't overspend like the USFL and CFL did in their attempts to expand.
The key for any new football league is to become something different than the NFL because you can't "Out NFL. The NFL." The XFL could have succeeded if it didn't have the wrestling announcers. The NFL even adopted some of the XFL's camera work which was excellent.
 
Actually, NBC, and NFL bailed out the AFL, as it was on the verge of bankruptcy. The league definitely has a niche though, and unlike the other league's the AFL didn't pick NFL markets to have it's teams located in, they picked small cities with a decent sized arena's, and played after the NFL seson was over, with a completely different set of rules.

Now the AFL has a minor parternership with the NFL, and a lot of NFL owners, and former players own AFL teams, and have placed them in NFL cities, with a full complement of air time, and marketing.

As far the USFL, and the XFL are concerned, the NFL didn't exactly raid the XFL as some of you think, there were only about 15 players that made it from the XFL into the NFL, and I think now maybe only 3 of them are still in the NFL.

When the USFL folded, the NFL raided the USFL for players, and there are a number of former USFL'ers that are in the Hall Of Fame, and some may be on the way, but a lot of them contributed to their clubs, when the league broke up. Steve Young, Jim Kelly, and Reggie White are just a few of the USFL'ers that have a bronze bust in Canton, and Reggie White will get his this year.

The USFL tried to compete with the NFL by luring players away from the NFL, and drafting players right out of college, and not letting them even taste the NFL. Unfortunately there wasn't good enough coaching, and the lack of star players hurt the league, considering the money they were spending.

The biggest thing that hurt the USFL though, was the lack of television exposure. There wasn't a rebel network like Fox back then, and ESPN wasn't the monster that it is now. Had there been the exposure that exists now, they probably could've lasted longer than they did, because they were luring away some good talent out of college.

They took Heisman winner's Herschal Walker, Mike Rozier, and runner up's Steve Young, Anthony Carter, and Marcus Dupree straight out of college, lured Doug Flutie, and Doug Williams away from the NFL along with a few other stars, and along with the money they were shelling out had the exposure been there, no telling what could've happened with them.

The league also produced some good NFL coach's, most notably Jim Mora, and Jack Pardee (even though he had prior NFL coaching experience).

All in all, the NFL is a monster that only college football can go head to head with, and walk away with all of it's bearings.

NICE
 
yeah, i thought the XFL was going to make it, but the wrestling influence had me worried. the USFL was good stuff, but got too big for their britches (as the old timers would say) too quickly. If they would have just chilled out, been more patient i think they would have lasted longer also.

thing is,,, how in the WORLD did the former AFC(i don't know about the history of the AFC, but it is my understanding that they were independent of the NFL but merged.), that was considered pretty much a joke to the NFL, survive long enough to merge with what is the NFL today back in the, what, 60s?!:confused:
 
Bart, what is now pretty much the AFC was the AFL, and you're right, they were pretty much a joke, because the NFL had established teams, and history on their side, but when the AFL started making headway as far as their style of play, and fan interest in those teams, the NFL took notice.

As a show of strength, the NFL decided to offer a championship game between the 2 league's to sort of destroy them. That game was billed as the Superbowl, and when the Packers beat the Cheifs, and Raiders in the first 2 SB's, folk started really looking at the league (AFL) as a bigger joke, but Joe Namath made a gaurantee, and the Jets beat the powerhouse Colts, and the rest is history.

NICE
 
D-NICE said:
Bart, what is now pretty much the AFC was the AFL, and you're right, they were pretty much a joke, because the NFL had established teams, and history on their side, but when the AFL started making headway as far as their style of play, and fan interest in those teams, the NFL took notice.

As a show of strength, the NFL decided to offer a championship game between the 2 league's to sort of destroy them. That game was billed as the Superbowl, and when the Packers beat the Cheifs, and Raiders in the first 2 SB's, folk started really looking at the league (AFL) as a bigger joke, but Joe Namath made a gaurantee, and the Jets beat the powerhouse Colts, and the rest is history.

NICE
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Thats is exactly how I heard it also. It was like winner take all.
 
D-NICE said:
Bart, what is now pretty much the AFC was the AFL, and you're right, they were pretty much a joke, because the NFL had established teams, and history on their side, but when the AFL started making headway as far as their style of play, and fan interest in those teams, the NFL took notice.

As a show of strength, the NFL decided to offer a championship game between the 2 league's to sort of destroy them. That game was billed as the Superbowl, and when the Packers beat the Cheifs, and Raiders in the first 2 SB's, folk started really looking at the league (AFL) as a bigger joke, but Joe Namath made a gaurantee, and the Jets beat the powerhouse Colts, and the rest is history.

NICE
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Yeah Namath is a legend of Jets/AFC football no doubt.
 

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