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FOXSports.com
Posted: 2 hours ago
A group of college officials headed by former NCAA president Cedric Dempsey is unveiling plans in New York for a new spring minor football league, according to a report in USA Today.
The newspaper also points out an interesting twist — the eight teams will use colleges as their "bases" and feature players from those schools and their affiliated conferences and surrounding regions.
The teams will play their games in the schools' facilities or in bowl stadiums. All 44-48 players per team must have graduated from college and exhausted their college eligibility.
"When you look at some of the minor leagues that failed, this is a different model," said Dempsey, chairman of the All American Football League's managing board. "I think it'll have a lot of interest from a fan standpoint."
When the league begins play in 2007, each team will likely play a 14-game schedule from the second week of April through the end of June.
Dempsey declined to say which schools would be affiliated — only that they will be tied to the Big Ten, Southeastern and Atlantic Coast conferences.
USA Today says the AAFL will start stocking rosters after the NFL's April draft. Players, who'll be employed by the league, will earn about $100,000.
What's more, affiliated schools will receive $3 million in stadium rent and would be permitted to keep revenue from parking and concessions. It is an arrangement Dempsey reportedly says could earn schools up to $5 million at a time when their facilities go primarily unused.
http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/5818666
Posted: 2 hours ago
A group of college officials headed by former NCAA president Cedric Dempsey is unveiling plans in New York for a new spring minor football league, according to a report in USA Today.
The newspaper also points out an interesting twist — the eight teams will use colleges as their "bases" and feature players from those schools and their affiliated conferences and surrounding regions.
The teams will play their games in the schools' facilities or in bowl stadiums. All 44-48 players per team must have graduated from college and exhausted their college eligibility.
"When you look at some of the minor leagues that failed, this is a different model," said Dempsey, chairman of the All American Football League's managing board. "I think it'll have a lot of interest from a fan standpoint."
When the league begins play in 2007, each team will likely play a 14-game schedule from the second week of April through the end of June.
Dempsey declined to say which schools would be affiliated — only that they will be tied to the Big Ten, Southeastern and Atlantic Coast conferences.
USA Today says the AAFL will start stocking rosters after the NFL's April draft. Players, who'll be employed by the league, will earn about $100,000.
What's more, affiliated schools will receive $3 million in stadium rent and would be permitted to keep revenue from parking and concessions. It is an arrangement Dempsey reportedly says could earn schools up to $5 million at a time when their facilities go primarily unused.
http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/5818666