After the Super Bowl every year, the hard reality for football fans around the world hits months without football. But with the formation of the Alliance of American Football, year-round football has become a reality. The league consist of eight teams from Arizona, Salt Lake, San Diego, Atlanta, Birmingham, Memphis and Orlando. Teams are comprised of players who didn’t pan out in the NFL and are looking for away back in. Also, college players who are trying to get a first time crack at the NFL. The AAF has a ton of potential as a league and already in it’s opening week has attracted a large audience due to the NFL season coming to a conclusion.
The AAF has a couple differences than the NFL allowing for a faster and more efficient game for fans to watch. There are no extra points or kick offs so team start with the ball at their own 25 yard-line. No onside kicks are allowed and the only way to retain possession again is to gain 12 yards on one down, while starting the drive on their own 28 yard-line. After a safety if the team scored on wants to try to retain possession they will have one down starting at their own 18 to get 12 yards. If the score is tied at the end of regulation in overtime the team with possession will start at the 10 and have four downs. During the drive if the team with possession scores they must go for a 2-point conversion. To speed up the game there will only be a 3 minute break between quarters. During halftime, there will only be a 13 minute break. Telecast will feature no TVtimeouts and fewer commercials. For officiating there will be an extra referee in the press box able to review plays down on the field.
On February 9th the very first two games in the history of the AAF were played. The Orlando Apollos played the Atlanta Legends with Apollos topping the Legends in a blow out score of 40-6. Next up the San Antonio Commanders played the San Diego Fleet having a much closer score of 15-6 with the Commanders coming out on top. Both stadiums had great turnouts of fans in attendance and 2.9 million viewers from home tuned in to watch the games. With the buzz the AAF has created on opening day there seems there’s only more attraction to come as the season progresses. Games for the AAF will be shown on CBS Sports Network, NFL Network, and TNT.
