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| {{cleanup|reason=The article suffers form ]. See "''first such developmental league since NFL Europe.''" which creates a lack of legibility. Consider redeploying these references or using them to create an expanded article|date=August 2014}} | |||
| {{Infobox sports league | {{Infobox sports league | ||
| | title = Fall Experimental Football League | | title = Fall Experimental Football League | ||
| Line 7: | Line 6: | ||
| | last_season = | | last_season = | ||
| | sport = ] | | sport = ] | ||
| | founded = 2014 | | founded = {{dts|2014|5}} | ||
| | inaugural = 2014 | | inaugural = {{dts|2014|10}} | ||
| | folded = | | folded = | ||
| | teams = ] | | teams = ] | ||
| Line 16: | Line 15: | ||
| | ceo = Brian Woods | | ceo = Brian Woods | ||
| | TV = ] ] | | TV = ] ] | ||
| | website = |
| website = {{url|www.fxfl.com}} | ||
| | notes = | | notes = | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| The '''Fall Experimental Football League''' is a ] ] league that began play on October 8, 2014. This league is the latest to attempt to be a feeder system for the ]. | |||
| The '''Fall Experimental Football League''' is a ] ] league that began play on October 8, 2014. It was founded in May of 2014 by Brian Woods, a sports lawyer.<ref></ref> This league is the latest to attempt to be a feeder system for the ].<ref>, David Lariviere, Forbes.com, May 7, 2014</ref><ref>, Mike Chiari, The Bleacher Report, May 23, 2014</ref><ref></ref><ref>, Mike Wilkening, NBCSports.com, June 20, 2014</ref><ref>, Kevin Seifert, ESPN.com, June 4, 2014</ref><ref>, Peter Bukowski, Sports Illustrated/SI.com, July 7, 2014</ref><ref>, Sports Business Daily, July 8, 2014</ref><ref>, CBS Sports Network, July 9, 2014</ref><ref>, James Brady, SBNation.com, July 9, 2014</ref> | |||
| Woods was quoted as saying about the new league: "Our long-term goal is to establish a partnership with the NFL and we feel can do that on many platforms. It would give them a way to work with younger players that they don't currently have. We can help them train prospective NFL officials - in the NBA, every referee entering the league (in recent years) comes from ]. We can be a testing ground for proposed rules, too."<ref>, Jason Marcum, ''Journal-News.com'', June 21, 2014</ref> The league has an agreement with the NFL to use officials from the elder league's training academy for FXFL games.<ref name=rulechanges/> If the FXFL were to succeed in establishing a formal partnership with the NFL, it would be the fifth such time the NFL has established a partnership with a minor league (counting the ] of the 1940s, the ] in the 1960s, ] of the 1990s and 2000s, and the NFL-owned teams in the ] prior to 2008). | Woods was quoted as saying about the new league: "Our long-term goal is to establish a partnership with the NFL and we feel can do that on many platforms. It would give them a way to work with younger players that they don't currently have. We can help them train prospective NFL officials - in the NBA, every referee entering the league (in recent years) comes from ]. We can be a testing ground for proposed rules, too."<ref>, Jason Marcum, ''Journal-News.com'', June 21, 2014</ref> The league has an agreement with the NFL to use officials from the elder league's training academy for FXFL games.<ref name=rulechanges/> If the FXFL were to succeed in establishing a formal partnership with the NFL, it would be the fifth such time the NFL has established a partnership with a minor league (counting the ] of the 1940s, the ] in the 1960s, ] of the 1990s and 2000s, and the NFL-owned teams in the ] prior to 2008). | ||
| ==Mission statement== | |||
| ==History== | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| In the summer of 2013, Brian Woods began work on a business plan for a future football development league.<ref name=espn2>{{cite news|last1=Seifert|first1=Kevin|title=Inside slant: FXFL set to debut, ready or not|url=http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/143981/inside-slant-fxfl-set-to-debut-ready-or-not|accessdate=October 8, 2014|work=ESPN.com|publisher=ESPN|date=October 8, 2014}}</ref> With ] executive vice president Troy Vincent indicating in a April 2014 interview a need for a developmental football league, Woods, a sports lawyer and executive director of the ], put that business plan in action to launch such a league in October 2014 that envisioned six franchises primarily based in minor league baseball stadiums.<ref name=espn>{{cite news|last1=Seifert|first1=Kevin|title=Time is right for minor league football|url=http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/page/hotread140604/nfl-minor-league-address-injuries-player-development|accessdate=20 October 2014|work=ESPN.com|publisher=ESPN|date=June 4, 2014}}</ref><ref name=ECL>{{cite news|last1=Grossi|first1=Tony|title=Coming soon: A professional developmental football league that just may succeed|url=] and ] were announced as the first owners for a franchise in ], the Texas Outlaws, with other teams announced without ownership were New York, Boston, Omaha, Portland, Oregon and an unselected Florida city.<ref>{{cite news|title=New York, Boston among FXFL sites|url=http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/11111753/ex-nfl-players-tommie-harris-eric-bassey-own-fxfl-teams|accessdate=October 20, 2014|work=espn.com|agency=Associated Press|publisher=ESPN|date=June 20, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Solomon|first1=Dan|title=The NFL-Style Developmental Football League Launching This Fall Will Base Its Texas Team in Austin|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/daily-post/nfl-style-developmental-football-league-launching-fall-will-base-its-texas-team-Austin|accessdate=October 20, 2014|work=Texas Monthly|publisher=Emmis Publishing|date=June 20, 2014}}</ref> | |||
| On August 20, 2014, Woods announced only four-team league — Brooklyn, New York; Boston; Omaha, Nebraska; and Miami — with players released from NFL teams to allocated and reporting on September 24th with games to start October 8th. Cities in which interest in franchises came from Columbus, Ohio, and Springfield, Missouri.<ref name=espn3>{{cite news|last1=Seifert|first1=Kevin|title=New FXFL to begin play in October|url=http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11381573/new-fall-experimental-football-league-prep-players-midseason-tryouts|accessdate=October 20, 2014|work=ESPN.com|publisher=ESPN|date=August 21, 2014}}</ref> The Miami team became a traveling team.<ref name=espn2/> The FXFL debuted on time with the inaugural game in Omaha on October 8, 2014 between the Omaha Mammoths and the Boston Brawlers at TD Ameritrade Park with the Mammoths winning 41-18.<ref name=owh>{{cite news|last1=Kaipust|first1=Rich|title=Omaha Mammoths bruise Boston Brawlers in FXFL's inaugural game|url=http://www.omaha.com/sports/omaha-mammoths-bruise-boston-brawlers-in-fxfl-s-inaugural-game/article_ff051baf-91bf-52ee-838c-1b2c8c8dc3a7.html|accessdate=October 20, 2014|work=Omaha World-Herald|date=October 9, 2014}}</ref> | |||
| ==Rule differences== | ==Rule differences== | ||
| As its name implies, the league plans on adopting several experimental rule changes differing from those at other levels of the game.<ref name=rulechanges>Kaipust, Rich (October 4, 2014). . ''Omaha World-Herald''. Retrieved October 6, 2014.</ref> | As its name implies, the league plans on adopting several experimental rule changes differing from those at other levels of the game.<ref name=rulechanges>Kaipust, Rich (October 4, 2014). . ''Omaha World-Herald''. Retrieved October 6, 2014.</ref> | ||
| *]s will be attempted from |
*]s will be attempted from 35 yards out.<ref name=espn2/> | ||
| *All kicks will originate at a wide hashmark for a greater difficulty.<ref name=espn2/> | |||
| *] will be administered from the kicking team's 25-yard line, as |
*] will be administered from the kicking team's 25-yard line, as to decrease ] and "increase coverage opportunities". In addition, eight players on the receiving team must line up between the kicking team's 35-yard and 45-yard line for the possibility of decreasing "high-impact collisions".<ref name=espn2/> Once a kickoff passes the 45 yard line, fielding rules become similar to ] in that the kicking team will not be allowed to recover and regain possession. | ||
| *] must be attempted from outside the hash marks. | *] must be attempted from outside the hash marks. | ||
| *Games will be played on Wednesday nights to avoid competition with ] (Friday and Saturday), ] (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday) and the NFL (Thursday, Sunday and Monday). | *Games will be played on Wednesday nights to avoid competition with ] (Friday and Saturday), ] (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday) and the NFL (Thursday, Sunday and Monday).<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bukowski|first1=Peter|title=New league hoping to bring a true minor-league system to pro football|url=http://www.si.com/nfl/2014/07/07/fxfl-nfl-developmental-league|accessdate=October 20, 2014|work=Sports Illustrated|date=July 7, 2014}}</ref><ref>, Peter Bukowski, Sports Illustrated/SI.com, July 7, 2014</ref> | ||
| *Players do not have their names on the back of their jerseys. | *Players do not have their names on the back of their jerseys. | ||
| Initial plans for the league had |
Initial plans for the league had ] and the ] removed,<ref name=fbs/> but this proposal was scrapped prior to the start of the season.<ref name=nokicking></ref> | ||
| ==Rosters== | |||
| Each team will employ 40 players on their roster, with a base salary of $1000 per game and a maximum potential payout of $1250 per game.<ref name=espn/> The league is mainly recruiting those who released from NFL training camps in August and were not assigned to practice squads with the players being pooled then allocated to the teams<ref name=espn3/> and transferable at the league's direction.<ref name=wsj/> | |||
| ==Finances== | ==Finances== | ||
| The league is operating under a budget of $8 to $9 million for the first season<ref name=espn/> and expects to be able to be viable with minor or development team attendance of 3,000 plus.<ref name=owh/> The league has reported receiving enough financing to operate for the first season. In the long term, the FXFL does not expect to be profitable without official NFL support.<ref name=espn2/> | |||
| Each team will employ 40 players on their roster, with a base salary of $1000 per game and a maximum potential payout of $1250 per game. The league is primarily recruiting those who have recently left college and who are still in college but no longer eligible to play under NCAA rules; it estimated that the vast majority of its players came from those cut from the most recent NFL training camps, and it has expressly rejected hiring veteran players that are near the end of their professional careers.<ref name=nokicking/><ref name=nydn1016/> The league is operating under a budget of $8,000,000 for the first season and expects to be able to be viable with 4,000 to 5,000 fans in the stands for each game.<ref>Kaipust, Rich (October 4, 2014). . ''Omaha World-Herald''. Retrieved October 6, 2014.</ref> In the long term, the FXFL does not expect to be profitable without official NFL support.<ref name=readyornot>. ''ESPN.com''. Retrieved October 8, 2014.</ref> | |||
| The Brooklyn Bolts |
A franchise cost was set at $500,000.<ref name=ECL/> The Brooklyn Bolts is joint venture between the league and the ], ] and the Mets owner Jeff Wilpon while the Boston Brawlers are independently owned. The Blacktips and Omaha Mammoths are league owned and operated.<ref name=wsj>{{cite news|last1=Beaton|first1=Andrew|title=FXFL brings pro football back to Brooklyn|url=http://online.wsj.com/articles/fxfl-brings-pro-football-back-to-brooklyn-1412733327|accessdate=October 16, 2014|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=October 7, 2014}}</ref> | ||
| ==Broadcasting== | ==Broadcasting== | ||
| The FXFL will have their inaugural games televised on ] |
The FXFL will have their inaugural games televised on ]. The league also claims partnerships with 14 regional channels: ], ], NESN National, ], ], ], ], ], ] and ] for regional coverage that is fed to ESPN3.<ref name=espn2/><ref>{{cite news|last1=Heitner|first1=Darren|title=ESPN agrees to broadcast new FXFL football league|url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2014/10/01/espn-agrees-to-broadcast-new-fxfl-football-league/|accessdate=October 6, 2014|work=Forbes|date=October 1, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release | date =October 1, 2014 | title = FXFL To Be Carried on ESPN3 | url =http://www.nbcrightnow.com/story/26681849/fxfl-to-be-carried-on-espn3 | location = New York | publisher = FXFL | agency =PR Newswire| accessdate= October 20, 2014 | via = NBC Right Now | ||
| }}</ref> The broadcast deals provide no guaranteed revenue to the league but does offer a share of advertising;<ref name=espn2/> it is not known if the league has to pay for production expenses or airtime as the ] had to do. | |||
| ==Teams== | ==Teams== | ||
| Line 67: | Line 74: | ||
| | ] | | ] | ||
| | ''No home city'' | | ''No home city'' | ||
| | ]<ref name=espn2/> | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| | 2014 | | 2014 | ||
| |- | |- | ||
| Line 102: | Line 109: | ||
| |} | |} | ||
| ;Wednesday, October 8: Boston 18 at <u>Omaha 41</u> (attendance: est. 3,000) |
;Wednesday, October 8: Boston 18 at <u>Omaha 41</u> (attendance: est. 3,000)<ref name=owh/> | ||
| ;Wednesday, October 15: Blacktips 19 at <u>Omaha 20</u> (attendance: est. 1,500)<ref>Olson, Eric (October 16, 2014). . ''Associated Press''. Retrieved October 16, 2014.</ref> | ;Wednesday, October 15: Blacktips 19 at <u>Omaha 20</u> (attendance: est. 1,500)<ref>Olson, Eric (October 16, 2014). . ''Associated Press''. Retrieved October 16, 2014.</ref> | ||
| :Boston 20 at <u>Brooklyn 27</u> (attendance: 1,939)<ref name=nydn1016>Tasch, Justin (October 16, 2014). . ''New York Daily News''. Retrieved October 16, 2014.</ref> | |||
| ==Footnotes== | ==Footnotes== | ||
| {{reflist|2}} | {{reflist|2}} | ||
| <!-- | |||
| ⚫ | *<ref>, Lester A. Wiltfong Jr., Windy City Gridiron at SBNation.com, May 21, 2014</ref> | ||
| ⚫ | *<ref>, Jackson Scofield, ''Sportsblog''/Sportsblog.com, September 22, 2014</ref>--> | ||
| ==Further reading== | ==Further reading== | ||
Revision as of 23:57, 20 October 2014
| File:FXFL Logo.png | |
| Sport | American football |
|---|---|
| Founded | May 2014 |
| First season | October 2014 |
| CEO | Brian Woods |
| No. of teams | 4 |
| Country | United States |
| TV partner(s) | ESPN 3 Soul of the South Network |
| Official website | www |
The Fall Experimental Football League is a minor professional football league that began play on October 8, 2014. This league is the latest to attempt to be a feeder system for the National Football League.
Woods was quoted as saying about the new league: "Our long-term goal is to establish a partnership with the NFL and we feel can do that on many platforms. It would give them a way to work with younger players that they don't currently have. We can help them train prospective NFL officials - in the NBA, every referee entering the league (in recent years) comes from NBA Developmental League. We can be a testing ground for proposed rules, too." The league has an agreement with the NFL to use officials from the elder league's training academy for FXFL games. If the FXFL were to succeed in establishing a formal partnership with the NFL, it would be the fifth such time the NFL has established a partnership with a minor league (counting the Association of Professional Football Leagues of the 1940s, the Atlantic Coast Football League in the 1960s, NFL Europe of the 1990s and 2000s, and the NFL-owned teams in the Arena Football League prior to 2008).
History
In the summer of 2013, Brian Woods began work on a business plan for a future football development league. With NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent indicating in a April 2014 interview a need for a developmental football league, Woods, a sports lawyer and executive director of the Medal of Honor Bowl, put that business plan in action to launch such a league in October 2014 that envisioned six franchises primarily based in minor league baseball stadiums. The Fall Experimental Football League was announced by Wood on May 07, 2014. Original targeted markets for teams were New York, Boston, Omaha, Orlando, Portland, and either San Antonio or Memphis with Wednesday games. The league is expected to own two teams outright and four franchised teams. By June 20, Tommie Harris and Tommie Harris were announced as the first owners for a franchise in Austin, Texas, the Texas Outlaws, with other teams announced without ownership were New York, Boston, Omaha, Portland, Oregon and an unselected Florida city.
On August 20, 2014, Woods announced only four-team league — Brooklyn, New York; Boston; Omaha, Nebraska; and Miami — with players released from NFL teams to allocated and reporting on September 24th with games to start October 8th. Cities in which interest in franchises came from Columbus, Ohio, and Springfield, Missouri. The Miami team became a traveling team. The FXFL debuted on time with the inaugural game in Omaha on October 8, 2014 between the Omaha Mammoths and the Boston Brawlers at TD Ameritrade Park with the Mammoths winning 41-18.
Rule differences
As its name implies, the league plans on adopting several experimental rule changes differing from those at other levels of the game.
- Extra points will be attempted from 35 yards out.
- All kicks will originate at a wide hashmark for a greater difficulty.
- Kickoffs will be administered from the kicking team's 25-yard line, as to decrease touchbacks and "increase coverage opportunities". In addition, eight players on the receiving team must line up between the kicking team's 35-yard and 45-yard line for the possibility of decreasing "high-impact collisions". Once a kickoff passes the 45 yard line, fielding rules become similar to punts in that the kicking team will not be allowed to recover and regain possession.
- Field goals must be attempted from outside the hash marks.
- Games will be played on Wednesday nights to avoid competition with high school football (Friday and Saturday), college football (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday) and the NFL (Thursday, Sunday and Monday).
- Players do not have their names on the back of their jerseys.
Initial plans for the league had punting and the PAT removed, but this proposal was scrapped prior to the start of the season.
Rosters
Each team will employ 40 players on their roster, with a base salary of $1000 per game and a maximum potential payout of $1250 per game. The league is mainly recruiting those who released from NFL training camps in August and were not assigned to practice squads with the players being pooled then allocated to the teams and transferable at the league's direction.
Finances
The league is operating under a budget of $8 to $9 million for the first season and expects to be able to be viable with minor or development team attendance of 3,000 plus. The league has reported receiving enough financing to operate for the first season. In the long term, the FXFL does not expect to be profitable without official NFL support.
A franchise cost was set at $500,000. The Brooklyn Bolts is joint venture between the league and the New York Mets, Brooklyn Cyclones and the Mets owner Jeff Wilpon while the Boston Brawlers are independently owned. The Blacktips and Omaha Mammoths are league owned and operated.
Broadcasting
The FXFL will have their inaugural games televised on ESPN3. The league also claims partnerships with 14 regional channels: Sportsnet New York, New England Sports Network, NESN National, Cox Sports, Cox San Diego, Altitude, Tuff TV, Soul of the South, Untamed TV and The U Too for regional coverage that is fed to ESPN3. The broadcast deals provide no guaranteed revenue to the league but does offer a share of advertising; it is not known if the league has to pay for production expenses or airtime as the UFL had to do.
Teams
| Team | City | Stadium (capacity) | Debut season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Brawlers | Boston, Massachusetts | Harvard Stadium | 2014 |
| Brooklyn Bolts | Brooklyn, New York | MCU Park | 2014 |
| Blacktips | No home city | Traveling team | 2014 |
| Omaha Mammoths | Omaha, Nebraska | TD Ameritrade Park Omaha | 2014 |
The Florida Blacktips changed their name to simply 'Blacktips' after announcing on September 22, 2014 that the team would only play a three-game road schedule.
Future teams
Teams that were originally on the list, but will not play in 2014
2014 Season
| Current Standings | ||||||||||
| Team | Wins | Losses | Ties | PCT | PF | PA | Net Points | Home | Road | Streak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 27 | 20 | 7 | 1-0 | - | W1 |
| Blacktips | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 19 | 20 | -1 | - | 0-1 | L1 |
| Boston | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 38 | 68 | -30 | - | 0-2 | L2 |
| Omaha | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 61 | 37 | 24 | 2-0 | - | W2 |
- Wednesday, October 8
- Boston 18 at Omaha 41 (attendance: est. 3,000)
- Wednesday, October 15
- Blacktips 19 at Omaha 20 (attendance: est. 1,500)
- Boston 20 at Brooklyn 27 (attendance: 1,939)
Footnotes
- FXFL To Launch In October; NFL's answer to Developmental League?, Jason Marcum, Journal-News.com, June 21, 2014
- ^ Kaipust, Rich (October 4, 2014). FXFL to try adjusted rules. Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
- ^ Seifert, Kevin (October 8, 2014). "Inside slant: FXFL set to debut, ready or not". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
- ^ Seifert, Kevin (June 4, 2014). "Time is right for minor league football". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
- ^ Grossi, Tony (May 23, 2014). ["Coming soon: A professional developmental football league that just may succeed". ESPNCleveland.com. ESPN. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
{{cite news}}: Check|url=value (help) - ^ Lariviere, David (May 7, 2014). "New Pro Football Launch May Eventually Serve As NFL's D League". Forbes. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- "New York, Boston among FXFL sites". espn.com. ESPN. Associated Press. June 20, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- Solomon, Dan (June 20, 2014). "The NFL-Style Developmental Football League Launching This Fall Will Base Its Texas Team in Austin". Texas Monthly. Emmis Publishing. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ Seifert, Kevin (August 21, 2014). "New FXFL to begin play in October". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ Kaipust, Rich (October 9, 2014). "Omaha Mammoths bruise Boston Brawlers in FXFL's inaugural game". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- Bukowski, Peter (July 7, 2014). "New league hoping to bring a true minor-league system to pro football". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- New league hoping to bring a true minor-league system to pro football, Peter Bukowski, Sports Illustrated/SI.com, July 7, 2014
- New football league coming soon: no kickers allowed
- ^ Beaton, Andrew (October 7, 2014). "FXFL brings pro football back to Brooklyn". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
- Heitner, Darren (October 1, 2014). "ESPN agrees to broadcast new FXFL football league". Forbes. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
- "FXFL To Be Carried on ESPN3" (Press release). New York: FXFL. PR Newswire. October 1, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014 – via NBC Right Now.
- More football in Portland?, Matt Rauch, Portland State Vanguard, July 1, 2014
- Experimental Football League founder Brian Woods explains interest in Portland, Aaron Kasinitz, The Oregonian/OregonLive.com, June 24, 2014
- New FXFL minor league football is coming to Austin this fall, Ryan Lakich, Culture Map Austin, June 22, 2014
- The NFL-Style Developmental Football League Launching This Fall Will Base Its Texas Team in Austin, Dan Solomon, Texas Monthly, June 20, 2014
- Olson, Eric (October 16, 2014). FXFL offers fringe players a chance to get to NFL. Associated Press. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
- Tasch, Justin (October 16, 2014). Brooklyn Bolts win opener in Coney Island, top Boston Brawlers 27-20. New York Daily News. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
Further reading
- Matt Krupnick, "Latest Fledgling League Gives Players Another Run at the NFL," New York Times, Oct. 16, 2014. Print version: Oct. 17, 2014, pg. B11.