The strategy of locating AAL franchizes in smaller-market cities could pay off handsomely.
The National Football League (NFL) hasn’t had much competition to worry about…at least not since its merger with the American Football League (AFL) in 1970. Yes, there have been competitors–the USFL and XFL–but neither league was much of a threat to the juggernaut NFL.
But another form of football has been around for a very long time. Since 1986 America has had The Arena Football League (AFL).
Arena football is played in sports arenas on a field that’s half the size of the NFL field. The game is free-flowing with lots of offensive and scoring. It’s fun to watch, too, and reasonably priced as family entertainment. And you sometimes get to see future NFL players in action, such as Kurt Warner and Tommy Maddox.
But the AFL has shrunk in popularity recently–dropping from 19 franchises in 2008 to (shockingly) only four teams today. It looks like fan interest has run its course in the AFL.
Richmond (VA) RoughRiders in action (photo, Richmond Roughriders)
Enter The American Arena League (AAL), an alternative arena football league that’s in its inaugural season.
The AAL season starts right after the Super Bowl and ends in mid-June. AAL teams aren’t located in big-market cities, either. They’re located in smaller cities, like Richmond, VA, Anderson, SC, and Macon, GA–towns that now have a professional sports team for the very first time. It’s a strategy to secure fan support in previously untapped markets.
But the AAL won’t be the only new football league around for much longer. Two other leagues are set to launch: The Alliance of American Football (AAF) is set to begin playing in 2019, and the XFL will return in 2020.
But launching first gives the AAL a leg up in terms of fan loyalty, especially with the old Arena League in decline.
While it remains to be seen what the future will bring, I think there’s a good possibility that the American Arena League could become a counterpart to the NFL.
