The first season isn’t even over yet and the Alliance of American Football may already be out of business. Darren Rovell and Pro Football Talk are reporting that new league owner Tom Dundon is suspending football operations indefinitely.
Before this past weekend’s games, Dundon said in no uncertain terms that failure to reach an agreement with the NFL and the NFLPA regarding the use of NFL practice squad players on AAF rosters could put the AAF’s future in jeopardy.
CBS Sports’ Ben Kercheval reports that the suspension is very much against the wishes of league founders Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian. He cited a source that says a legal fight could emerge.
The league still had two weeks left in its inaugural regular season. The stoppage comes just days before the AAF was set to make its return to network television with Saturday’s game between Memphis and San Antonio slated for a noon kickoff on CBS.
Four of the eight remaining games were slated for the NFL Network. CBS Sports Network and B/R Live lose inventory as a result of the decision as well. Each team in the league also had broadcast deals with local radio stations in their respective markets, that now lose programming as well.
