.

[jbindm]

I don't understand what "problem" they are trying to solve? Is there a lot of kids that are outstanding athletes that can't endure the rigors of underwater basket weaving at a football school like Bama?

I think there are a lot of kids who have zero interest in academics whatsoever, and if this league could offer them a legitimate path to the NFL and an opportunity to get paid as a professional then they might take it. It's not like going overseas to play, because those aren't developmental leagues. Those are pro leagues with their own agendas and priorities. This, in theory, would be a minor league system that would put an emphasis on coaching and preparing players for the next level.

I do agree that it's not likely to take off without backing from the NFL, but it's an interesting idea.

 

[jbindm]

People think a four year education with all expenses paid isn't good enough and that the system is taking advantage of the players.

Only the ones it's making money off of. I think a free education is a hell of a good deal for a student athlete with no aspirations of playing professionally. They get to play for four more years and then get out in the real world with a massive head start on the rest of us. I'd kill not to have any more student loans.

But the players that get talked about every week and that schools build Heisman campaigns around and make college football and basketball the moneymaker it is? Yeah, I don't think the education quite makes up for the money they help bring in.

 

[FarminCy]

Only the ones it's making money off of. I think a free education is a hell of a good deal for a student athlete with no aspirations of playing professionally. They get to play for four more years and then get out in the real world with a massive head start on the rest of us. I'd kill not to have any more student loans.

But the players that get talked about every week and that schools build Heisman campaigns around and make college football and basketball the moneymaker it is? Yeah, I don't think the education quite makes up for the money they help bring in.

At the same time that athlete is also getting free exposure and marketing to help create their "brand". Which can be big for sponsorships, contracts, etc once they declare for draft. Even a guy like Niang whom wasn't a high draft pick was able to capitalize on some promotional contracts.

 

[cyhiphopp]

At the same time that athlete is also getting free exposure and marketing to help create their "brand". Which can be big for sponsorships, contracts, etc once they declare for draft. Even a guy like Niang whom wasn't a high draft pick was able to capitalize on some promotional contracts.

Imagine if Ezekiel Elliot played in this Minor League instead of tOSU. Even if they could get national TV coverage, which I doubt, there's no way as many people are watching as there would be watching the Fiesta Bowl.

Obviously his talent would shine even in this league, but there would always be a question about how good the competition is.

You'd have "open scouting by the NFL" but they still rely a lot on game film. Tons of guys are good at the combine but don't end up being good players because of coaching.

All in all, not playing on the big stage of college football would hurt an elite player's draft stock. Not to mention what it would to a marginal players stock. Some guys get a shot because they were coached by good coaches. I'm guessing the quality and consistency of coaches in this fledgling league would be suspect.

 

[Incyte]

I don't think this system would compete against the NCAA. But if you were a non-qualifier, why not take a chance as opposed to traditional junior college?

 

[cyhiphopp]

I don't think this system would compete against the NCAA. But if you were a non-qualifier, why not take a chance as opposed to traditional junior college?

Why not? Because if this league folds after a season, you are ineligible to play at a junior college because you accepted money to play professionally. And then you are on your own until you are old enough to be eligible for the draft.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

i'm confused as to why most of you think it's a bad idea when a ESPN VP, mike shanahan, and other top ex-NFL coaches think it can work. what do you know that they don't?

I don't think anyone is claiming to know more than those guys, but to me there are numerous red flags. I think everyone's comments on here have all explained the downside fairly well.

quality of competition - The best players will still go to college, watering down the talent pool.

lack of national exposure - Will networks pay to televise these games? If they do, will 99% of the people care? Most fans follow teams, not players. Who is going to care about following a high school player they have never heard of?

lack of funding - I seriously question where the money comes from on a consistent basis. I would have zero desire to pay to watch these games. I can't imagine advertisers shelling out big bucks to back this. And as someone else mentioned, southern CA struggles to support a pro football team already. Will gate receipts even begin to cover the cost? There won't be significant merchandising to help out either.

starting the league up - are there going to be quality players/coaches/referees/camera crews/etc willing to risk this venture, especially given the previous failed leagues (XFL/USFL)? Kids have a small window to play football. If given the choice to play at a D1 school versus this league, are you willing to take that chance on a non-established league? And if you're not good enough to get a D-1 offer, that reinforces my earlier point about a watered down talent pool.

yet another football league - I realize this is a different idea than the USFL and XFL, but there will be the perception that it's another start-up football league with less talent trying to compete against an established institute (NCAA instead of NFL this time)

That's just a few things I came up with quickly. I didn't even delve into the insurance/lawsuit side of this thing because it's not an area I can comment on with any certainty.

 

[cyhiphopp]

i'm confused as to why most of you think it's a bad idea when a ESPN VP, mike shanahan, and other top ex-NFL coaches think it can work. what do you know that they don't?

In theory it could work as an alternative league, but as a business idea I think it has big holes. And if I were a recruit that was good enough to think I had a chance at the NFL, I wouldn't trust it.

Do these kids have contracts for the full season? If they don't pan out, what do they do?

If "Joe Smith" doesn't pan out at Ohio State, he can transfer to a multitude of different schools and still have an opportunity for a free education and potentially develop enough to go pro eventually anyways.

If "Joe Smith" goes to this league and gets cut after a season, he's on the street. That's assuming he gets a guaranteed amount for the full season. So he made 50K for that one season, but now he can't play for a college because he took money to play professionally. He has to train himself until he's eligible for the draft and we can guess how that will work out.

They said something in the article about being in the coaches dog house. Even if they are guaranteed to get playing time, it doesn't mean that every player is going to develop or be able to handle the "next level" after high school. It also doesn't mean that coaches aren't going to get ticked at their players and play them less than a lot of others.

 

[cyhiphopp]

I have a feeling this league will never happen, as investors are going to do their research and figure out that it's not likely to make much, if any, money.

The only reason the NBA D-League came to be was that the NBA wanted a league to develop talent after players were drafted, because NBA rosters are only so big, and only so many guys get playing time in real games. The NFL has huge rosters and practice squads. They require players to be three years out of high school so that they are forced to develop in college. Then they are that much more ready physically and mentally for the NFL.

If the NFL wanted this to be a thing, they could back it and give it a chance, but I doubt they will.

They tried having a developmental league with NFL Europe. With the added interest of having teams overseas as well as in the US. I think they learned that the expense wasn't worth the amount of talent that developed.

Teams would rather stash guys on their practice squad than send them to another team to develop.

 

[cyfan21]

So you'd need to convince 200 good high school prospects that this league would gain them better exposure than going to college? I don't see it.

If the kid is good enough to get a scholarship offer, he'd be crazy not to take it. The exposure of the college game is exponentially better than what the kid would get in a four team regional league. Sure, they might be able to get a few talented, but academically challenged, kids to start this league, but the talent level is going to get watered down quick. Most scouts would treat this league with the legitimacy of an And-1 mixtape for basketball. One guy may shine, but when you realize he's doing it against inferior competition...

So you'd need to convince 200 good high school prospects that this league would gain them better exposure than going to college? I don't see it.

If the kid is good enough to get a scholarship offer, he'd be crazy not to take it. The exposure of the college game is exponentially better than what the kid would get in a four team regional league. Sure, they might be able to get a few talented, but academically challenged, kids to start this league, but the talent level is going to get watered down quick. Most scouts would treat this league with the legitimacy of an And-1 mixtape for basketball. One guy may shine, but when you realize he's doing it against inferior competition...

If you got a pro scout to go and sit down with a family (more likely a low socioeconomic family) and flash a guaranteed $50,000 salary plus union benefits (that could include free tuition to community college or trade school), it's not that hard of a sell. Add in the coaching staff will be current of former NFL coaches teaching them a prostyle scheme that will prepare them for NFL. Not only would you be guaranteed a salary 2x the US average income WITH benefits, but you could also work on getting your education along the way.

Also you wouldn't be limited to JUST US high school players, you could have scouts going around the world seeking talent (i.e. moritz boehringer, babatunde aiyegbusi, etc...). The NFL is trying to expand its global brand, so it wouldn't be that unreasonable to think the NFL would invest in this league. Add in that you could poach some breakout underage college prospects (i.e. jameis winston) or guys who are sick of their college team and want to leave but don't want to lose a year of eligibility. College athletes are getting there pro grades there junior year, so if you were offered an opportunity to play in essentially a NFL prep league and getting paid why wouldn't you take it.

If you portray the league as "exclusive" everyone will want in. All it would need is 1 success story to takeoff.

 

[tm3308]

What would be the reason for no shotgun?

The biggest issue with college QB's is that so many of them play almost exclusively out of the shotgun, which is easier for them to make reads before the snap. So I'd assume they want to see as much of the QB's under center as possible.

 

[Die4Cy]

Unless this gets backed by the NFL, it will never make it. The NBA D league sticks around because they have NBA franchises backing it. Same with any developmental league for MLB, NHL, etc. I think there should be a pro football developmental league, but without the NFL backing it, it won't matter.

Just to cover salaries for the fifty players each team has requires them to gross $400,000+ per game in revenue with a 6 game schedule. And there's a helluva lot more to it than that: facility rent, staff and equipment, promotional expenses, legal, workman's comp, and reimbursement for education just to name a few.

Being conservative, suppose they could keep expenses at $750,000 per team per game. That requires 25,000 fans with an average ticket price of $30. Never happen.

The USHL struggles but is fairly stable, and they have over 60 games a year to fund that league using amateurs.

I don't think it will fly, unless they subsidize it heavily. Which they probably will, because Goodell has plenty of money to throw around.

 

[Die4Cy]

So you'd need to convince 200 good high school prospects that this league would gain them better exposure than going to college? I don't see it.

If the kid is good enough to get a scholarship offer, he'd be crazy not to take it. The exposure of the college game is exponentially better than what the kid would get in a four team regional league. Sure, they might be able to get a few talented, but academically challenged, kids to start this league, but the talent level is going to get watered down quick. Most scouts would treat this league with the legitimacy of an And-1 mixtape for basketball. One guy may shine, but when you realize he's doing it against inferior competition...

It's likely that if this was successful, it would kill JUCO football as we know it. Non qualifiers out of high school would not be required to get academic standing in order and would still get the opportunity to audition for the NFL with $50K to boot.

 

[CycloneVet]

Why not have this league for kids that are practice squad level players so they can develop by playing in games. I could see some following for something like especially if it was a spring league. Put it in places like Des Moines Omaha etc.

 

[Cycsk]

Interesting. Didn't the NFL announce a "veterans" league that didn't get a very good response. Seems like they may just be tossing ideas out there to see the reaction.

 

[Judoka]

It's likely that if this was successful, it would kill JUCO football as we know it. Non qualifiers out of high school would not be required to get academic standing in order and would still get the opportunity to audition for the NFL with $50K to boot.

4 teams of 50 players with guys being able to play for up to four years means you probably have between 50 and 100 new players each season depending on turnover and guys aging out or getting drafted. And presumably at least some of those are going to be guys who were on D-1 rosters before joining. 50-100 players a year aren't gonna kill JUCO football.

 

[jdoggivjc]

I don't see how this works, even with NFL backing. World League and NFL Europe both had NFL backing and neither lasted, World League being an unmitigated disaster with NFL Europe being more successful. Then there's been competitors such as the AFL, USFL, and XFL, all of which failed under the might of the NFL.

The football market is so saturated between the NFL and college that even NFL-backed leagues don't survive. Maybe this one will be different, but I don't see how.

 

[WooBadger18]

I don't see how this works, even with NFL backing. World League and NFL Europe both had NFL backing and neither lasted, World League being an unmitigated disaster with NFL Europe being more successful. Then there's been competitors such as the AFL, USFL, and XFL, all of which failed under the might of the NFL.

The football market is so saturated between the NFL and college that even NFL-backed leagues don't survive. Maybe this one will be different, but I don't see how.

The only way I could see it working is if the NFL decided the costs were worth it and completely funded the league. Otherwise yeah, I don't see it working

 

[cyfan21]

Why not have this league for kids that are practice squad level players so they can develop by playing in games. I could see some following for something like especially if it was a spring league. Put it in places like Des Moines Omaha etc.

They did. Here's the link.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18334913/spring-league-aims-develop-nfl-free-agents