Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Mark L. Ford wrote:

rhickok1109 wrote: I didn't even know the NIT still existed!

I'm surprised too, since it's for teams other than the 68 that got picked for March Madness-- the winner gets the right to say, "We were the 69th best in the nation!"

Sort of like an NFL team saying, "We snagged 4th place in our division!"

Yep it's still around but all but the final four is televised on the real obscure espn channels that hardly anybody watches (espn 3 or espnu). ESPN televises the final four but right in the middle of the week when the ncaa teams are having their travel/practice days.

Think they keep the tournament around strictly for the money that it brings to the schools. Same reason why they keep the lower tier bowls around that the 6-5 teams go to. And it still means a lot to the schools that are in leagues that you practically have to win in order to get a bid to the ncaa tournament. There is no 1AA in basketball like there is in football.

It's pretty clear why Dundon seems to be looking to fold the league right now. If it folds now he doesn't have to pay out his 250m he loaned to the league. He set it up to where he would only have to pay the 250m if the league set up an aggressive expansion strategy. It's pretty silly what Dundon is saying now. He's saying that they can't be a developmental league for the nfl if the nfl doesn't give them talent. Well the nfl never officially named the upstart league as a developmental league for them.


I think the aafl should have just folded after week 1 instead of getting into bed with this guy. He is just making the whole league look bad now.

Football in America is already over-saturated. The collegiate game + 32 professional franchises. There are no pro football starved cities out there who are not having their needs met. For this to even have the slightest chance to work you'd need 8 very deep pocketed owners willing to take a bloodbath for a few years. Where are they?

Back in 59-60 there was potential, but it was still tough. But back then you had America's 7th largest city with no pro team. The 13th largest city...no pro team. Buffalo was the 20th largest city(today it's the 81st) with potential to draw from the Toronto area too. Dallas was up for grabs. That climate just outright doesn't exist anymore. You had a 13 team team NFL. There were lots of talented, capable players who just missed the cut for the NFL put could probably provide quality, watchable football elsewhere. That kind of talent pool just doesn't exist anymore

The XFL 2.0 will be another disaster

sheajets wrote:Back in 59-60 there was potential, but it was still tough. But back then you had America's 7th largest city with no pro team. The 13th largest city...no pro team. Buffalo was the 20th largest city(today it's the 81st) with potential to draw from the Toronto area too. Dallas was up for grabs. That climate just outright doesn't exist anymore. You had a 13 team team NFL. There were lots of talented, capable players who just missed the cut for the NFL put could probably provide quality, watchable football elsewhere. That kind of talent pool just doesn't exist anymore

The XFL 2.0 will be another disaster

And another big difference between the '60's and now is that in the '60's there was no cable tv, no streaming services, no internet, and I believe only about one or two nfl games were televised a week on the major stations. So basically for a lot of people if they wanted to watch much football they had to have a local team that they could watch in person.

Nowadays people can watch as much football as they want from the comfort of their own home. These days everyone has a favorite pro team and/or a favorite college team that they can watch all the time even if a team isn't local to them.

Word is coming out now that it may fold after this weekends games and not even bother finishing the season.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2 ... s-weekend/

I don't think it will fold before the season ends. Dundon was simply trying to force a issue. That is his style as a NHL owner but it backfired on him.

single wing wrote:I don't think it will fold before the season ends. Dundon was simply trying to force a issue. That is his style as a NHL owner but it backfired on him.

I don't remember him saying he would fold the 'canes?

and suspending operations today.

rhickok1109 wrote:

lastcat3 wrote:Think this is just a way to pass the blame of a failed project onto someone else. The league's ratings have declined enough to where they are now having to brag about beating out NIT games (a tournament that the only people that watch are the fans of the teams that are playing) and I'm sure attendance is continuing to decline as well.

I didn't even know the NIT still existed!

It still exists and is actually the 2nd most prestigious of the four postseason tournaments.

JWL wrote:It still exists and is actually the 2nd most prestigious of the four postseason tournaments.

Though it retains the stigma of being a "loser's tournament." That doesn't say much for the other two tourneys below them,