The Alliance for American Football (AAF) kicked off its inaugural season this past weekend and, all things considered, it was met with a substantial amount of positive reviews.
From a ratings standpoint, their dual games on CBS Sports out-drew the NBA on ABC on Saturday night, which featured a game between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder.
While that could have been little more than initial curiosity from fans — the XFL debut also scored big in the 2000s — it potentially bodes well for Bill Polian’s league moving forward.
Here are seven reasons why you should watch and enjoy the AAF.
It’s professional football
Where else we were supposed to start?
Every year at this time, fans, experts and even players themselves begin counting down the days until the next game. That lasts months and feels like a relentless drought. The AAF is here to change that.
While other experimental leagues have previously failed because of foolish gimmicks (see: XFL) or simply because they were lacking talent, the AAF offers a game similar to the NFL with NFL-quality talent.
Ultimately, the AAF eliminates the need for the drought countdown. It gives us all what we consistently yearn for from February through April.
Familiar names and team affiliates
When experimental or even developmental football leagues start, very rarely are fans familiar with some of the names. Even more rare, save for the defunct NFL Europe, are NFL affiliations.
While NFL Europe was presented as a bit of a developmental league, it lacked any real star power. The same can not be said for the AAF, which features names like Christian Hackenberg, Aaron Murray, Trent Richardson, Will Hill, Damontre Moore, Zach Mettenberger, Bishop Sankey and many more.
Beyond that, all of the league’s coaches should be considered, at the very least, known names. In some cases, they are legends. Mike Martz, Steve Spurrier and Mike Singletary are prime examples.
Additionally, the AAF offers regional affiliations, team affiliations, college affiliations and even CFL affiliations. If you’re tuning in, you can find a team to root for based off of that alone. It eliminates the need to fall in love with a team based on just a uniform if you’re not living in one of the eight host cities.
Here’s a look at the full list of team affiliations.
No TV timeouts/fewer commercials
How can you not love this? NFL games are traditionally in excess of three hours, and quite a bit of that has to do with an overwhelming number of TV timeouts and commercials.
In an effort to compact the game time, the AAF has no TV timeouts — absolutely none. Additionally, they have far fewer commercials despite a big-time TV contract with CBS, NFL Network and Bleacher Report, which simply means more football and less advertising.
The AAF has aimed to trim broadcast times from the NFL average of 180 minutes to 150 minutes, which they did to success in Week 1. Each game finished its broadcast in under three hours.
Adjustments to NFL rules
While the vast majority of rules in the AAF mirror that of the NFL, a small handful were changed and changed substantially.
First and foremost, the AAF eliminated kickoffs and point after attempts (PATs), with each team starting at their own 25 and a two-point conversion attempt required after every touchdown.
Additionally, the AAF features a 35-second play clock, which is five seconds fewer than the NFL. The idea is that’s a sweet spot — long enough to avoid rushed and sloppy play, but short enough to trim down the time in between plays.
Other rules changes include the elimination of onside kicks (team’s are allowed a 4th-and-12 attempt pending other parameters), no blitz packages of more than five men, coaches limited to two challenges per game and a complete overhaul of the overtime period.
They let the players play
This may be up for debate given the push for player safety — something we can all get on board with — but players were hitting with force over the weekend.
In the AAF’s very first game, San Antonio linebacker Shaan Washington had a free run at San Diego quarterback Mike Bercovici, and it ended like a train wreck. More to the point, Washington did not hit Bercovici above the shoulders, he didn’t launch and, as a result, it was an amazing shot that wasn’t flagged.
There were several other sacks throughout the weekend that would have drawn a flag in the NFL, but didn’t here. The same can be said for some hand-checking between receivers and defensive backs, and some other shots along the sideline that would have been considered questionable in the NFL.
It felt like a good balance and an elimination of penalties that would have otherwise overshadowed the result of a game in the NFL.
Replay review transparency
Arguably the most impressive aspect of the AAF is their review process and the incredible level of transparency that comes with it.
Not only has the AAF simplified some of their penalties, as noted above, they have better established what is/is not a catch, what is/is not a fumble and what they look for upon review.
Making that even more fan-friendly is that viewers are actually able to listen in on the discussions during a review, giving them a, unprecedented firsthand look at how the final decisions are made.
At one point over the weekend, a review official could be heard changing her mind based on video evidence from different angles. It was an incredible experience for anyone who is fed up with the NFL’s process.
Live fantasy football
Although it has not yet been finalized, the AAF intends to roll out a unique fantasy football experience this year, which will be played live — something never before seen in that space.
“We will introduce over the next couple of months the first fully integrated fantasy (game), where you can play while you’re watching,” AAF co-founder Charlie Ebersol said via ABC 15. “You can engage with your friends, you can have a dialog with your friends, all while you’re participating in the game.”
Moreover, the AAF will incentivize fan/fantasy interaction for their players, going as far as to provide bonuses in the future. Needless to say, it will be the exact opposite of the NFL, where most players tend to be critical of fans for their repeated fantasy football questions and comments.
