College sports would suffer but they wouldn't go away. And you also wouldn't assume all of the talent would go away, just a few that aren't bright enough or motivated enough to do college work or time.

(10-18-2017 04:39 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(10-18-2017 04:15 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  College football and college basketball were popular before pro football and pro basketball were a thing.

Yes. But today, when the NFL and NBA are very popular, there seems to be a fan expectation, certainly a casual fan expectation, that the top level of the college games will be only a notch below the NBA/NFL games. It's fair to wonder if the fan interest in college football and hoops would remain the same if the college top level was four or five notches below the NBA/NFL level.

I suspect fan interest will there as long as gambling is around.

(10-17-2017 02:56 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  The NFL should set up a developmental league. That would be a benefit to the players and colleges. You could even have them play at historic college stadiums.

Nobody would watch them if you have them play at Legion Field, the Rose Bowl or on the moon. That’s the conundrum they are facing that so few people fully understand.

(10-20-2017 03:58 PM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  

(10-17-2017 02:56 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  The NFL should set up a developmental league. That would be a benefit to the players and colleges. You could even have them play at historic college stadiums.

Nobody would watch them if you have them play at Legion Field, the Rose Bowl or on the moon. That’s the conundrum they are facing that so few people fully understand.

Yes, exactly. The "Columbus Clippers" of an NFL Developmental League would be lucky to draw flies to a game, much less the 100,000-plus that attend Ohio State football games.

My overall point is that the *combination* of talent merged with the intense emotional attachment that people have to their favorite colleges is what makes college sports unique. In essence, 1+1=3 when it comes to the interest in college sports when you have both talent and those college brands. A developmental league with the talent but not the brands is not going to be successful (and it's not for a lack of trying with all the corpses of football leagues started over the years) and, in turn, the college brands alone without the talent will not be successful, either (and I define "success" as the ability to maximize your revenue). Otherwise, you don't get 1+1=3.

(10-20-2017 04:08 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 03:58 PM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  

(10-17-2017 02:56 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  The NFL should set up a developmental league. That would be a benefit to the players and colleges. You could even have them play at historic college stadiums.

Nobody would watch them if you have them play at Legion Field, the Rose Bowl or on the moon. That’s the conundrum they are facing that so few people fully understand.

Yes, exactly. The "Columbus Clippers" of an NFL Developmental League would be lucky to draw flies to a game, much less the 100,000-plus that attend Ohio State football games.

My overall point is that the *combination* of talent merged with the intense emotional attachment that people have to their favorite colleges is what makes college sports unique. In essence, 1+1=3 when it comes to the interest in college sports when you have both talent and those college brands. A developmental league with the talent but not the brands is not going to be successful (and it's not for a lack of trying with all the corpses of football leagues started over the years) and, in turn, the college brands alone without the talent will not be successful, either (and I define "success" as the ability to maximize your revenue). Otherwise, you don't get 1+1=3.

Frank, you and Delany disagree. Delany believes that B1G would fill their stadiums if it were just rec ball.


Ohio State vs Michigan would fill 100,000 seats for Greek weak.


There is no going back.

There is a market for NFL development league in the spring time. People need to get over NFL or Major college attendance numbers for it though. The XFL, CFL, even the UFL found a niche market between 25k to 40k would work for it. Mid sized cities like Omaha for example it would flourish in. NFL Network is just sitting there as well for television exposure.

(10-20-2017 03:58 PM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  

(10-17-2017 02:56 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  The NFL should set up a developmental league. That would be a benefit to the players and colleges. You could even have them play at historic college stadiums.

Nobody would watch them if you have them play at Legion Field, the Rose Bowl or on the moon. That’s the conundrum they are facing that so few people fully understand.

So what, who watches the Gatorade League, i.e. the NBDL? That wouldn't be the purpose. It'd just be a bonus, a cherry on top but not necessary.

(10-20-2017 05:03 PM)MissouriStateBears Wrote:  There is a market for NFL development league in the spring time. People need to get over NFL or Major college attendance numbers for it though. The XFL, CFL, even the UFL found a niche market between 25k to 40k would work for it. Mid sized cities like Omaha for example it would flourish in. NFL Network is just sitting there as well for television exposure.

Forget midsized markets, go to major markets. Hell, double up in major markets if you have to. Go where people are and can talk about you in the media. If not enough people know or think about you, it won't succeed.

(10-20-2017 05:03 PM)MissouriStateBears Wrote:  There is a market for NFL development league in the spring time. People need to get over NFL or Major college attendance numbers for it though. The XFL, CFL, even the UFL found a niche market between 25k to 40k would work for it. Mid sized cities like Omaha for example it would flourish in. NFL Network is just sitting there as well for television exposure.

Omaha, Birmingham, and other spring football cities really don't want to be burned AGAIN. The XFL was 15 years ago. Those folks have moved on as they saw the CFL and UFL fail before/after them. Football is expensive and folks aren't going to pay $30-50 for $hitty, off-brand football and TV isn't going to pay for it either.

Not really. There have been numerous attempts which have been unable to get the right capital.
NAFL: Folks were arrested for fraud.
http://murfreesboro.com/nafl-arrest/

MLFB: Publicly held and nobody invests to make it work and the company provides false information about investors three times in the last 18 months regarding investors.

PacPro: We'll see what happens, but Don Yee's business has been silent for months and they'll need to hire people soon for even s summer start.

SLAF: Press releases talked about starting in 208, but they've been quiet and changed their start date to 2019 on their spartan webpage.
Last September:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/longtime-sports-media-executives-announce-launch-plan-for-spring-professional-football-league-300331671.html
Website today: http://slafootball.com/phone/vision-concept.html

Then, the CTE issue still lingers and will f'n bankrupt and new business too, that's why no wise person invests in a new football league.

America still has millions of smokers too, but nobody's looking to start a new cigarette company.

(10-20-2017 09:58 PM)Renandpat Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 05:03 PM)MissouriStateBears Wrote:  There is a market for NFL development league in the spring time. People need to get over NFL or Major college attendance numbers for it though. The XFL, CFL, even the UFL found a niche market between 25k to 40k would work for it. Mid sized cities like Omaha for example it would flourish in. NFL Network is just sitting there as well for television exposure.

Omaha, Birmingham, and other spring football cities really don't want to be burned AGAIN. The XFL was 15 years ago. Those folks have moved on as they saw the CFL and UFL fail before/after them. Football is expensive and folks aren't going to pay $30-50 for $hitty, off-brand football and TV isn't going to pay for it either.

Not really. There have been numerous attempts which have been unable to get the right capital.
NAFL: Folks were arrested for fraud.
http://murfreesboro.com/nafl-arrest/

MLFB: Publicly held and nobody invests to make it work and the company provides false information about investors three times in the last 18 months regarding investors.

PacPro: We'll see what happens, but Don Yee's business has been silent for months and they'll need to hire people soon for even s summer start.

SLAF: Press releases talked about starting in 208, but they've been quiet and changed their start date to 2019 on their spartan webpage.
Last September:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/longtime-sports-media-executives-announce-launch-plan-for-spring-professional-football-league-300331671.html
Website today: http://slafootball.com/phone/vision-concept.html

Then, the CTE issue still lingers and will f'n bankrupt and new business too, that's why no wise person invests in a new football league.

America still has millions of smokers too, but nobody's looking to start a new cigarette company.

None of those leagues were backed by the NFL. Big difference. No need for a tv contract - NFL Network covers that. No need for major salaries - NFL will cover the costs in a controlled manner.

(10-20-2017 10:13 PM)MissouriStateBears Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 09:58 PM)Renandpat Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 05:03 PM)MissouriStateBears Wrote:  There is a market for NFL development league in the spring time. People need to get over NFL or Major college attendance numbers for it though. The XFL, CFL, even the UFL found a niche market between 25k to 40k would work for it. Mid sized cities like Omaha for example it would flourish in. NFL Network is just sitting there as well for television exposure.

Omaha, Birmingham, and other spring football cities really don't want to be burned AGAIN. The XFL was 15 years ago. Those folks have moved on as they saw the CFL and UFL fail before/after them. Football is expensive and folks aren't going to pay $30-50 for $hitty, off-brand football and TV isn't going to pay for it either.

Not really. There have been numerous attempts which have been unable to get the right capital.
NAFL: Folks were arrested for fraud.
http://murfreesboro.com/nafl-arrest/

MLFB: Publicly held and nobody invests to make it work and the company provides false information about investors three times in the last 18 months regarding investors.

PacPro: We'll see what happens, but Don Yee's business has been silent for months and they'll need to hire people soon for even s summer start.

SLAF: Press releases talked about starting in 208, but they've been quiet and changed their start date to 2019 on their spartan webpage.
Last September:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/longtime-sports-media-executives-announce-launch-plan-for-spring-professional-football-league-300331671.html
Website today: http://slafootball.com/phone/vision-concept.html

Then, the CTE issue still lingers and will f'n bankrupt and new business too, that's why no wise person invests in a new football league.

America still has millions of smokers too, but nobody's looking to start a new cigarette company.

None of those leagues were backed by the NFL. Big difference. No need for a tv contract - NFL Network covers that. No need for major salaries - NFL will cover the costs in a controlled manner.

Spring league will lose money and losing money is NOT part of the Ginger Hammer's mission to provide the 32 owners $25 Billion in revenue by 2027. They are at $14B now and adding $hitty football with cost of concussions and CTEb mm makes it harder to do. Where's the capital? Roger knows the best motto, "If it don't make dollars, it don't make sense"

The best bet for a successful spring league is Europe. There is a demand in a few cities and it is great for development.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Player development in the NFL is so unlike MLB and NBA.

So much of what the NFL does is scheme based that you cannot just a call a random player up from the Memphis Pharaohs or Salt Lake Stars and plug them easily into the line-up.

The ideal NFL player development league would be say a 6 or 8 team league based in Southern California or the Southwest and maybe another in the Southeast playing about 8-10 games in February, March, and April with the players going into the draft and free agent pool ahead of the draft.

Just a place for the guy who made it to the late cut or stuck on taxi squad to go and work and develop. Maybe allow guys who just finished their eligibility and look like UDFA's to go straight from college to improve their stock as well.

A US based league isn't going to be a big TV draw or draw at the gate but a low cost developmental league could have a very positive impact on team depth.

(10-22-2017 03:31 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  Player development in the NFL is so unlike MLB and NBA.

So much of what the NFL does is scheme based that you cannot just a call a random player up from the Memphis Pharaohs or Salt Lake Stars and plug them easily into the line-up.

The ideal NFL player development league would be say a 6 or 8 team league based in Southern California or the Southwest and maybe another in the Southeast playing about 8-10 games in February, March, and April with the players going into the draft and free agent pool ahead of the draft.

Just a place for the guy who made it to the late cut or stuck on taxi squad to go and work and develop. Maybe allow guys who just finished their eligibility and look like UDFA's to go straight from college to improve their stock as well.

A US based league isn't going to be a big TV draw or draw at the gate but a low cost developmental league could have a very positive impact on team depth.

That's not a bad idea actually. I think setting it up in the southeast would work well. It's a region that already loves football and the climate is conducive to making it work.

Orlando, Birmingham, Memphis, Austin, San Antonio, and somewhere in the Dallas Suburbs would all be solid. If they don't mind doubling up in current NFL cities Miami, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Houston could all come in to play and they could save money by utilizing existing league facilities.

(10-22-2017 09:37 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(10-22-2017 03:31 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  Player development in the NFL is so unlike MLB and NBA.

So much of what the NFL does is scheme based that you cannot just a call a random player up from the Memphis Pharaohs or Salt Lake Stars and plug them easily into the line-up.

The ideal NFL player development league would be say a 6 or 8 team league based in Southern California or the Southwest and maybe another in the Southeast playing about 8-10 games in February, March, and April with the players going into the draft and free agent pool ahead of the draft.

Just a place for the guy who made it to the late cut or stuck on taxi squad to go and work and develop. Maybe allow guys who just finished their eligibility and look like UDFA's to go straight from college to improve their stock as well.

A US based league isn't going to be a big TV draw or draw at the gate but a low cost developmental league could have a very positive impact on team depth.

That's not a bad idea actually. I think setting it up in the southeast would work well. It's a region that already loves football and the climate is conducive to making it work.

Orlando, Birmingham, Memphis, Austin, San Antonio, and somewhere in the Dallas Suburbs would all be solid. If they don't mind doubling up in current NFL cities Miami, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Houston could all come in to play and they could save money by utilizing existing league facilities.

I would stay out of NFL sized stadiums but making double usage of NFL training facilities would be a great cost saver if feasible.

Texas with so many smaller FBS stadiums and FCS stadiums could easily host eight teams and keep travel expenses down. Ideally you want a setup like spring training with the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues where teams never have to board an airplane and don't have to bus extreme distances.