The Alliance of American of Football debuts Saturday night with two games to be broadcast on CBS and two more airing Sunday on CBS Sports Network and NFL Network.
The AAF features eight teams divided into two conferences with contests each weekend through April. Former NFL players and NFL hopefuls populate each roster. Nine players with prior links to the Seahawks have joined AAF teams.
Ahead of Saturday’s debut, here’s a look at the rule differences between the NFL and AAF, per the CBS’ AAF viewers’ guide, which can be found here.
- Play clock: The AAF’s play clock will be 35 seconds, five seconds shorter than the NFL’s. Anything less, co-founder Charlie Ebersol believes, will actually make the games longer because of sloppier play that results in stoppages through incomplete passes, penalties and the like.
- Timeouts/challenges: There are no television timeouts during games and an ongoing effort to have fewer commercials to reduce overall game time to roughly 150 minutes instead of 180 minutes in the NFL. Additionally, replays will be limited to two coaches’ challenges for either team.
- Kickoffs: There are no kickoffs; instead, teams will start drives from their own 25-yard lines. In lieu of an onside kick, each team will have a “fourth-and-10” from their 35-yard line. If the offense converts for a first down, it keeps the ball. These alterations were designed not only with player safety in mind, but as a reaction to what NFL fans find to be among the least interesting parts of the game.
- Two-point conversions: There will be no extra-point attempts after touchdowns, only two-point conversions.
- Overtimes: To help keep games within a two-and-a-half-hour time slot, there will be one overtime session. Each team will start an offensive possession from the 10-yard line, and just like in regulation, two-point conversions are required. Games can end in a tie after the overtime period.
Click here for everything you need to know about the American Alliance of Football.
