The Alliance of American Football is a new football league founded by former NFL general manager, Bill Polian and film producer and director, CharIie Ebersol. Ebersol has brought on former NFL football players as executives, players like Troy Polamalu, Hines Ward and Justin Tuck. All teams are owned by the league. Some of the investors include Former Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, The Chernin Group, Adrian Fenty, Slow Ventures, and Tom Dundon. The leagues tech platform received an investment from MGM Resorts International who also made a deal to become the leagues official sports betting sponsor and exclusive gaming partner. Ebersol and his investors seem to understand that starting a new league takes times by saying, “I think where businesses like this fail is that they expect to have ludicrous and unrealistic ticket and media deal projections in Year 1,” Ebersol went on to say that, “Our investors here understand that it’s a seven- to ten-year plan.”
The AAF is not using the top players in their sport, there league features players that didn’t make NFL teams. I don’t say that as a negative, the AAF gives players a great opportunity to continue playing football and some players a chance to pursue their NFL dreams. My thought had more to do with the idea of Black athletes starting their own leagues. Let’s take the NBA for example where most star players are Black. Would that seven- to -ten-year plan be accelerated if NBA star players started their own league?
Eight years ago, during the 2011 NBA lockout all I could think about was the amount of leverage players had and the need for a major corporation to back them if the players would have chosen to start a league. Nike made the most sense because they endorse a large number of NBA players including the league’s most powerful player, Lebron James. Nike has connections to hip-hop and the Black community and the ability to market globally.
If players decided to start their own league, they would receive a larger amount of the Basketball Related Income (BRI). NBA players currently receive between 49 and 51 percent of the BRI. According to NBA.com, the BRI has doubled from $4 billion to an estimated $8 billion over the next couple of years. A large reason for the increase in income is because of a $24 billion television contract that was agreed upon between the NBA and ABC/ESPN and Turner. NBA players could also make the decision to change rules like the “one and done” rule, which restricts NBA ready high school players from entering the draft. Players would be able to implement a “zero and two” rule that would allow NBA ready high school players to enter the draft and keep college basketball players in school for two years before they’re allowed to enter the NBA draft.
The NBA is nearly 80 percent Black, the move to start their own league would be the greatest protest in sports history, and arguably one of the most important political stances in the last 100 years. When we look back at how Black players were restricted from the NBA, NFL and the MLB, we see that Black people were able to create leagues and travel teams in those sports, and they were able to play the games they loved.
Today, Black athletes are making more money than they ever could have imagined back when integration was a controversial idea. These athletes are not just making money off their NBA salaries, they are also making millions of dollars from endorsement deals. A new league would give them more opportunities to market their own brands and Black owned businesses. There are companies like Nike and Under Armor that would back players if they chose to start their own league. TV companies like ABC/ESPN and Turner would make more money covering the events that would take place if the players did start their own league and the buzz it would create would be worth backing the players, rather than siding with NBA league owners. This is if the players didn’t decide to start their own network and/or partner with Black network owners.
Nike decided to support Kaepernick’s kneeling during the national anthem to protest oppression here in America, which saw him blackballed from the NFL. Nike’s ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick and celebrating his stance was a success, adding 6 billion dollars in value to the giant shoe company as a result. Thinking of former NBA players like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson possibly owning teams or investing in the league. Black entrepreneurs in the Hip Hop community, like Jay Z, Diddy and Master P come to mind as possible investors as they have been vocal about the need for Black Autonomy and the idea of cultivating Black culture. Diddy’s Revolt TV could become a partner station, along with Turner and ABC/ESPN, featuring the players league games. Ice Cube who has started his own basketball league, the Big 3, would also be someone that may be interested in investing. Money doesn’t seem like it would be an issue, as Black NBA players are the most marketable athletes in American sports today due to their on-court visibility, connection to hip hop, style, and the combination of skill and athleticism most players possess.
During the 2011 NBA lockout, the biggest stars were playing games all over the country and the trash talking that took place on social media helped to market the games. Famous pro-am leagues around the country like the Drew league in LA and the Goodman league in the DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia) became that much more popular during the lockout due to the star power added to the local NBA players that traditionally play in those leagues during the summer.
Access to arenas was an issue during the 2011 lockout. The large arenas are needed in order to generate money from ticket sales. There are arenas owned by private groups, but there are also arenas that are owned by the counties and cities they are located in. American Airlines Arena in Miami is owned by Miami-Dade County, American Airlines Arena in Dallas is owned by the City, the Spectrum Center in Charlotte is owned by the city, and the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento is also owned by the city. Another way to solve ticket sales would be to use social media. Lavar Ball used Facebook to air JBA games, drawing over 100,000 viewers some games, with far less talent, than what would be offered with a new NBA players league.
Lebron James and CEO of Klutch Sports, Rich Paul have transformed the NBA into the ultimate player’s league, making the NBA the standard for player contracts and free agency amongst the four major American sports (NHL, NBA, MLB, NBA). While that is fascinating, I can’t help but wonder what would happen if Lebron James and Rich Paul were able to convince players to start a new league where they split 100 percent of the BRI, rather than 49 to 51 percent. Despite what Mark Cuban may think, Black NBA players are indispensable, Nike has shown support for Kaepernick, despite the company’s partnership with the NFL. Nikes support has helped to reinforce the idea that in today’s market, Black protest and social change can be big business. Black entrepreneurship with an emphasis on Black autonomy and social media creating new platforms to air sports games have created the avenues necessary for Black athletes to corner the market and start their own leagues.
Thoughts Processed 