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What's the story?
Just like an RKO out of nowhere from Randy Orton, there is competition for the XFL that will arrive a year before Vince McMahon relaunches his league. The league is called the Alliance of American Football, and the league's creator is rather interesting.
In case you didn't know...
On January 25th, Vince McMahon announced to the world that he is bringing back the XFL through his new venture Alpha Entertainment.
During this announcement, very few specifics were announced for the league except that there would be eight teams, a ten-week schedule, and the league would start in February 2020.
The heart of the matter
The Alliance of American Football League is the creation of Charlie Ebersol. Ebersol, coincidentally is connected with Vince McMahon, as his father, Dick partnered with Vince to create the XFL in 2001 for NBC. Charlie also directed the XFL 30 for 30 documentary on ESPN that debuted last year.
This league will debut on February 9, 2019, a full year before the XFL re-launch. CBS will be the home for this league, and CBS Sports provided a quote from Charlie regarding this new league:
"The Alliance of American Football represents a fundamental shift in the way we approach professional sports," Charlie Ebersol said. "We believe fans and players are what's most important, so our approach is simple -- we've created an Alliance where fans and players share in the success of their teams."
Former NFL General Manager and ESPN analyst Bill Polian will be brought in to oversee the league's operations. Former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu will oversee the players as well.
Just like the XFL, the plan is for this league to fill their roster with players who did not make it in the NFL. They will launch exactly one week after the Super Bowl next year on February 9th with the championship taking place on the final week of April.
There were even some rule announcements including no kickoffs, and instead of onside kicks, the losing team will get the ball on their 35-yard line with a 4th and 10 situation. There will only be two-point conversions, a 30-second play clock, no TV timeouts, and 60% fewer commercials.
What's next?
It will be interesting to see if Vince McMahon responds to the creation of this new league and the fact that they will start a year earlier than the XFL. Stay tuned to Sportskeeda for any possible reaction from the WWE Chairman.
Author's take
This was definitely a complete shock. Vince McMahon will possibly be not happy at the fact that the league will start a year before the XFL and already has a television deal in place with CBS.
Regardless, it will be very interesting to see three football leagues in operation once we get to 2020, with AAFL going head-to-head with the XFL. Just like the Monday Night Wars, this competition could be a good thing for the fans.
