I still remember the Apollos at the Express game. Memphis got screwed in that game. The zebras missed an obvious delay of game penalty on Orlando and they called an unsportsmanlike penalty on HC Mike Singletary for running onto the field during a live ball. I honestly don’t blame him.
Great video! I'd love to see an AAF video based on guys who went from the AAF to other spring leagues... guys like DeMarquis Gates, Luis Perez, and the Shark Dog.
Thank you again for the idea! I just realized that I completely forgot to give you a shout-out for the idea. I'll be sure to give you one when I make a part 2 in the future!
Great job! Thanks for doing this. Interesting how the AAF took some markets that were in the original XFL (Orlando, Birmingham, Memphis) as well as other favorable markets (San Antonio, San Diego), and therefore XFL 2.0 had to pick others. This then shaped what the USFL and XFL 3.0 did. Also, the AAF damaged some of those same quality markets mentioned above, and now the UFL is still picking up the pieces. Fascinating stuff.
Correct. So was Arizona, and interestingly the Hotshots played in the same stadium that the USFL Arizona Wranglers (and Outlaws) used. Sun Devil Stadium, along with Legion Field in Birmingham and the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, made three AAF stadiums that were also used in the original USFL 35 years before the AAF.
When I think of damaging a market I think of San Antonio above all other markets. It's sad to see so many people who do not follow the Brahmas just because of what the AAF did. Hopefully we can see a rebound of the market in 2025!
I miss the AAF teams. Wishful thinking that the UFL get the rights of those teams. Like the Orlando Apollos makes more sense than the Guardians in Orlando, Atlanta Legends, Arizona Hotshots, Salt Lake were untapped market for spring football and fell victim to AAF rushed product. San Diego is desperate for football since Dean Spanos moved the Chargers out of San Diego
@@ZombPhoxUFL they really didn't have a choice about Dundon with how Ebersol pushed everything and didn't have the backing for the league with the way he wanted to structure it with one owner and again, Ebersol and Polian were mostly to blame for how things went. if it weren't for FOX controlling the UFL with it backing, television contract and sound business strategy, I doubt the UFL could have survived. The XFL would likely be dead with the way it was mismanaged because the Rock and his fellow owners really didn't have the money to keep it going for long which is why McMahon wanted out as he should never have even restarted the XFL if he weren't going to see it through which you'll remember was the reason the original XFL collapsed. Dundon had too much power and when you have one ownership group controlling the whole thing, you're investing too much power in too few hands. MLS has only survived because they started out small with a group of like-minded people where the AAF went all in at the onset going over $500 million in the hole.
I don't think the CFL is really looking for US membership after the disaster of 1993 where US owners thought they were basically going to take over the CFL.
The AAF was a really fun league to watch, the issue was that it was insanely rushed as the owners wanted to get on the field before the XFL and in doing so they created a bunch of issues that ultimately led to their downfall
Well, considering you like Luis Perez I'm surprised you didn't even mention him for the Iron. I have to disagree with some choices like 7 and 8 because how many fans attend games doesn't have any bearing on how the team plays as they could have had no fans in the stadium and been the top team if the owner had the means to cover their operation costs. And basing a teams position based on a single player isn't a good measuring stick at all much as you find with Tom Brady as he was always promoted as a great QB but without Gronk he fell back to mediocre status because he started with a system built for Drew Bledsoe. Another example? The Chicago Bears with Walter Peyton who is regarded as one of the best players of all time and any given year he was playing at the top the Bears often had losing seasons because they didn't have a solid team built around him until he was at the end of his career and then he wasn't really part of their scheme as he was kept on because of his popularity with fans and he was still a top player when he retired but the team no longer really used him The only ways to really base who is best ultimately is win/loss and statistics. Even these can be misleading as a team might have a tough schedule vs another team with an easy one and we say the team with the easy schedule is better because they won more games when the best team in the league played the toughest schedule thus explaining why they lost more games. We've even seen teams that were the best team but that had lousy coaches as look how many more Super Bowls the Berars might have had if they had a better coach than Ditka... but Papa Bear was always more about the show and putting fans in the seats making money rather than worrying about championships. The AAF had potential if they had controlled their spending which Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian didn't seem to have a grasp on as they were too good at spending other peoples money and not good enough to manage a league. All that bragging stands out about the league as I think they did more bragging about themselves than any league I've ever seen and they weren't supposed to be competing with the NFL but more or less trying to become a farm system for the NFL. Most of the team identities were horrible or made little sense to anyone as while I understood why they named the Birmingham Iron the way they did, it simply made no sense for a football team and sounded more like a basketball team name. As I've mentioned before, Salt Lake City is one of the bigger markets not to have a team but the name there was so painfully obvious as Utah Raptors and they didn't go with it while going with the Stallions that just didn't sound right??? The San Diego Fleet I understood but Fleet again sounds like a basketball name as were the Hotshots, the Apollos and Legends. The only two teams that even sounded remotely like football were the Memphis Express and San Antonio Commanders. I still remember when they were choosing the names for these teams as they waited til the last minute and then they went low end semi-pro at best which the money they were spending definitely wasn't. So do I agree with your rankings? No but then I would have gone with Orlando, San Antonio, Birmingham, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Memphis and Atlanta based on their records as Birmingham was a much better team I think than what you stated and not even mentioning Perez when I know you like the guy says to me you might have overlooked some things.
The AAF is a real cautionary tale of what not to do (much like the 2024 AFL) as the amount of self inflicted issues was far more than it should have been. The idea that rushing to the market ahead of the XFL would grant better benefits than issues was a really poor decision. I think too many people blame Dundon for the league failing as while yes he may not have done what he said he was going to do, the majority of the blame falls on the original owners of the league for not 100% knowing what it took to own and run a league. When it comes to leagues that have been around 10+ years I would agree that wins and losses would be almost all that matters, but for a league like the AAF that didn't even play one full season you can't just base it on wins and losses. If I was ranking the teams from the season then yes it would just be how good or bad they were in the field, but ranking them by franchise means considering other factors like attendance. I do understand your argument of taking into account one player that went to the NFL as being a bit unfair, but most of these teams really only had one or two guys that would go on to be multi-year NFL players directly from the AAF. A great example would be how if you asked the average UFL fan where the Battlehawks franchise ranked in the UFL the near unanimous answer would be in the top 2 simply because of the crazy attendance numbers they have despite other teams being better on the field in both 2024 in the UFL as well as when both the USFL and XFL were playing. Edit: I didn't mention Perez due to the fact that he was not the focal point of Birmingham's offense or an elite QB in the league as both Wolford and Gilbert were much better that season and Richardson was the main focal point of Birmingham's offense.
@@ZombPhoxUFL Depends really as most believe all sports are a year by year deal who don't get spoiled about dynasties thinking every year one or two teams are going to make it to the championship game. When the NFL had a strike shortened years (based on opinion) in 1987, they didn't make allowances based on attendance or the other factors you mentioned... it was still a win loss scenario. You can also look at the WFL's second shortened season where Birmingham was basically awarded the championship in 1975 for having the best win/loss record although I don't think that has any official leaning... it is however accepted that the team with the most wins was the best team. In the case of the AAF, that would be the Apollos. If I asked UFL fans to name the best team, I've yet to find one who based that on attendance and until this past year they weren't really considered a top team for 2023 with their 7 wins ranking but they had the best attendance for the league then too correct? This year they were considered by most to be a top team because of their win/loss record. Not trying to argue the point but we didn't think of St Louis was a top team until their record improved in 2024 setting expectations of a post season championship that everyone expected would be yet another matchup between the Stallions and Battlehawks for the season.
I still remember the Apollos at the Express game. Memphis got screwed in that game. The zebras missed an obvious delay of game penalty on Orlando and they called an unsportsmanlike penalty on HC Mike Singletary for running onto the field during a live ball. I honestly don’t blame him.
San Antonio approximately 27-28K average. & a Wow. 30 K. Game.
Great video! I'd love to see an AAF video based on guys who went from the AAF to other spring leagues... guys like DeMarquis Gates, Luis Perez, and the Shark Dog.
That would be a fun video to make in the future for sure!
Thank you again for the idea! I just realized that I completely forgot to give you a shout-out for the idea. I'll be sure to give you one when I make a part 2 in the future!
Great job! Thanks for doing this.
Interesting how the AAF took some markets that were in the original XFL (Orlando, Birmingham, Memphis) as well as other favorable markets (San Antonio, San Diego), and therefore XFL 2.0 had to pick others.
This then shaped what the USFL and XFL 3.0 did.
Also, the AAF damaged some of those same quality markets mentioned above, and now the UFL is still picking up the pieces. Fascinating stuff.
Orlando, Birmingham, Memphis and San Antonio were in the original USFL
Correct. So was Arizona, and interestingly the Hotshots played in the same stadium that the USFL Arizona Wranglers (and Outlaws) used. Sun Devil Stadium, along with Legion Field in Birmingham and the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, made three AAF stadiums that were also used in the original USFL 35 years before the AAF.
When I think of damaging a market I think of San Antonio above all other markets. It's sad to see so many people who do not follow the Brahmas just because of what the AAF did. Hopefully we can see a rebound of the market in 2025!
You could say Koo was a legend...
True 😂!
Atlanta Legends had one legend that went to Atlanta (Falcons) and became a Legend
Similar to Bates being a Cat 🐈 going from Michigan to Detroit…
We all know who is #1 Apollos 100 💯 point differential ‼️
I miss the AAF teams. Wishful thinking that the UFL get the rights of those teams. Like the Orlando Apollos makes more sense than the Guardians in Orlando, Atlanta Legends, Arizona Hotshots, Salt Lake were untapped market for spring football and fell victim to AAF rushed product. San Diego is desperate for football since Dean Spanos moved the Chargers out of San Diego
What was the deal with the new owner buying the AAF for a betting App then dipping.
@ #5
🚨🚨SPOILER ALERT🚨🚨
Birmingham Iron
#6 koo koo kool. ATL
I wish the AAF would have merged with the CFL
It's such a shame what happened with the AAF. The rushing of the league and the over reliance of Dundon both really sucked to see.
@@ZombPhoxUFL they really didn't have a choice about Dundon with how Ebersol pushed everything and didn't have the backing for the league with the way he wanted to structure it with one owner and again, Ebersol and Polian were mostly to blame for how things went. if it weren't for FOX controlling the UFL with it backing, television contract and sound business strategy, I doubt the UFL could have survived. The XFL would likely be dead with the way it was mismanaged because the Rock and his fellow owners really didn't have the money to keep it going for long which is why McMahon wanted out as he should never have even restarted the XFL if he weren't going to see it through which you'll remember was the reason the original XFL collapsed. Dundon had too much power and when you have one ownership group controlling the whole thing, you're investing too much power in too few hands. MLS has only survived because they started out small with a group of like-minded people where the AAF went all in at the onset going over $500 million in the hole.
I don't think the CFL is really looking for US membership after the disaster of 1993 where US owners thought they were basically going to take over the CFL.
In Spring Football anybody could be a kicker and be great. It’s the Kicker Mentality.
This league sounds very rushed and pretty bad.
The AAF was a really fun league to watch, the issue was that it was insanely rushed as the owners wanted to get on the field before the XFL and in doing so they created a bunch of issues that ultimately led to their downfall
The AAF was totally rushed
True, they wanted to beat the XFL on getting on the field and in doing so they doomed any future the league could've had
Love all these insightful videos.
Utah Spring Hockey 🏒 would kill Utah Spring Football 🏈 sorry.
Memphis @ #7 Johnny Football 🏈 lol 😂 still put butts in seats.
I still remember all the press around that move!!!
Well, considering you like Luis Perez I'm surprised you didn't even mention him for the Iron. I have to disagree with some choices like 7 and 8 because how many fans attend games doesn't have any bearing on how the team plays as they could have had no fans in the stadium and been the top team if the owner had the means to cover their operation costs. And basing a teams position based on a single player isn't a good measuring stick at all much as you find with Tom Brady as he was always promoted as a great QB but without Gronk he fell back to mediocre status because he started with a system built for Drew Bledsoe. Another example? The Chicago Bears with Walter Peyton who is regarded as one of the best players of all time and any given year he was playing at the top the Bears often had losing seasons because they didn't have a solid team built around him until he was at the end of his career and then he wasn't really part of their scheme as he was kept on because of his popularity with fans and he was still a top player when he retired but the team no longer really used him
The only ways to really base who is best ultimately is win/loss and statistics. Even these can be misleading as a team might have a tough schedule vs another team with an easy one and we say the team with the easy schedule is better because they won more games when the best team in the league played the toughest schedule thus explaining why they lost more games. We've even seen teams that were the best team but that had lousy coaches as look how many more Super Bowls the Berars might have had if they had a better coach than Ditka... but Papa Bear was always more about the show and putting fans in the seats making money rather than worrying about championships.
The AAF had potential if they had controlled their spending which Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian didn't seem to have a grasp on as they were too good at spending other peoples money and not good enough to manage a league. All that bragging stands out about the league as I think they did more bragging about themselves than any league I've ever seen and they weren't supposed to be competing with the NFL but more or less trying to become a farm system for the NFL. Most of the team identities were horrible or made little sense to anyone as while I understood why they named the Birmingham Iron the way they did, it simply made no sense for a football team and sounded more like a basketball team name. As I've mentioned before, Salt Lake City is one of the bigger markets not to have a team but the name there was so painfully obvious as Utah Raptors and they didn't go with it while going with the Stallions that just didn't sound right??? The San Diego Fleet I understood but Fleet again sounds like a basketball name as were the Hotshots, the Apollos and Legends. The only two teams that even sounded remotely like football were the Memphis Express and San Antonio Commanders.
I still remember when they were choosing the names for these teams as they waited til the last minute and then they went low end semi-pro at best which the money they were spending definitely wasn't.
So do I agree with your rankings? No but then I would have gone with Orlando, San Antonio, Birmingham, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Memphis and Atlanta based on their records as Birmingham was a much better team I think than what you stated and not even mentioning Perez when I know you like the guy says to me you might have overlooked some things.
The AAF is a real cautionary tale of what not to do (much like the 2024 AFL) as the amount of self inflicted issues was far more than it should have been. The idea that rushing to the market ahead of the XFL would grant better benefits than issues was a really poor decision. I think too many people blame Dundon for the league failing as while yes he may not have done what he said he was going to do, the majority of the blame falls on the original owners of the league for not 100% knowing what it took to own and run a league.
When it comes to leagues that have been around 10+ years I would agree that wins and losses would be almost all that matters, but for a league like the AAF that didn't even play one full season you can't just base it on wins and losses. If I was ranking the teams from the season then yes it would just be how good or bad they were in the field, but ranking them by franchise means considering other factors like attendance. I do understand your argument of taking into account one player that went to the NFL as being a bit unfair, but most of these teams really only had one or two guys that would go on to be multi-year NFL players directly from the AAF. A great example would be how if you asked the average UFL fan where the Battlehawks franchise ranked in the UFL the near unanimous answer would be in the top 2 simply because of the crazy attendance numbers they have despite other teams being better on the field in both 2024 in the UFL as well as when both the USFL and XFL were playing.
Edit: I didn't mention Perez due to the fact that he was not the focal point of Birmingham's offense or an elite QB in the league as both Wolford and Gilbert were much better that season and Richardson was the main focal point of Birmingham's offense.
@@ZombPhoxUFL Depends really as most believe all sports are a year by year deal who don't get spoiled about dynasties thinking every year one or two teams are going to make it to the championship game. When the NFL had a strike shortened years (based on opinion) in 1987, they didn't make allowances based on attendance or the other factors you mentioned... it was still a win loss scenario. You can also look at the WFL's second shortened season where Birmingham was basically awarded the championship in 1975 for having the best win/loss record although I don't think that has any official leaning... it is however accepted that the team with the most wins was the best team. In the case of the AAF, that would be the Apollos.
If I asked UFL fans to name the best team, I've yet to find one who based that on attendance and until this past year they weren't really considered a top team for 2023 with their 7 wins ranking but they had the best attendance for the league then too correct? This year they were considered by most to be a top team because of their win/loss record. Not trying to argue the point but we didn't think of St Louis was a top team until their record improved in 2024 setting expectations of a post season championship that everyone expected would be yet another matchup between the Stallions and Battlehawks for the season.