Latest new dev league will challenge college football

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gerryb323
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Latest new dev league will challenge college football

Post by gerryb323 »

Not sure this will be a real threat to 4 year schools. May hurt JCs more.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... -football/
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Re: Latest new dev league will challenge college football

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gerryb323 wrote:Not sure this will be a real threat to 4 year schools. May hurt JCs more.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... -football/
Thanks for posting this. Money quote from story:

"Players will receive, on average, $50,000 per year. While that may not match the retail value of “an education,” plenty of college football players end up playing college football not because they want to go to college but because they want to play football. With the NFL keeping them out for at least three years after high school (an obvious attempt to protect college football), plenty of young football players had no viable alternative to playing college football."

If this league becomes a true independent minor league (and/or NFL establishes one as well), yes it will be a threat to the overall quality of football at four year colleges even the shamateur ones. Certainly college MBB still retains popularity even though it keeps few truly elite players from the NBA beyond age 19 or so. May not matter to fans of college football but again quality must go down if some high end talent goes elsewhere. No one thinks college MBB or baseball approaches quality of pro minor leagues in those sports.
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Re: Latest new dev league will challenge college football

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Very interesting. Lets look at this...

-It's open to players who are four years or less out of high school. Four teams of 50 players + 200 person league. If people stay 3 or 4 years then there is maybe a 50 a year to enter the league. {Did ESPN's elite100 just become elite50? problably not, but it could take a few away} This will not hurt college football recruiting that much.

-At 200 players at 50,000 that's 10 million right there. Who's going to fit the bill for this?: 1.) The agents, they would gladly pay 50,000 for a chance to represent someone who will earn millions later. The same goes for sponsors etc. 2.) TV, yes TV. After some intial investment when 10 of these guys go in the first 3 rounds of the draft then people will watch. I would say on a Tuesday night. As fun as MACtion is watching future first and second rounder's is probably more attractive. Especially if they are playing prostyle offenses, coached by pro coaches. 3.) The NFL...maybe. If players from the league are not eligible to be drafted the free agency aspect could lead the NFL into supplementing the league in some form. This is really tricky, but he NFL would want to have some say in this league and that would likely mean monetary investment.

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gerryb323 wrote:Not sure this will be a real threat to 4 year schools. May hurt JCs more.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... -football/
I don't think this hurst JC's much at all. this league is being built by agents who want to get a head start at representing the best and most valuable players.
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Re: Latest new dev league will challenge college football

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the connections to the NFL of some of these people means that the people behind this league will be subject to pressure from the colleges. The NFL has a good thing going with their labor source and they have every reason to protect it. So do the TV networks who make money, some of them from showing both brands of football. They'll find themselves agreeing to not touch players on scholarship and in good standing. Players who flunk out or are released or kicked out for disciplinary reasons could appeal to this. Some capable grad transfers might seek this out.
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Re: Latest new dev league will challenge college football

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long green wrote:the connections to the NFL of some of these people means that the people behind this league will be subject to pressure from the colleges. The NFL has a good thing going with their labor source and they have every reason to protect it. So do the TV networks who make money, some of them from showing both brands of football. They'll find themselves agreeing to not touch players on scholarship and in good standing. Players who flunk out or are released or kicked out for disciplinary reasons could appeal to this. Some capable grad transfers might seek this out.
At four teams they are merely filling in the gaps. The pressure from colleges should be minimal.

I also don't think they are willing to invest that type of money in cast-offs as you suggest.
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Re: Latest new dev league will challenge college football

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you may be right but I took the "four team thing" as being a mere starting point. If they grew, which I think is what they would like to do, they would have to make compromises.
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Re: Latest new dev league will challenge college football

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I am not aware of any "successful" minor league in any sport at any time surviving much less thriving with four teams. League size for this venture is tbd but it won't be four. Regardless this league will need some sugar daddies to invest in it. Sports agents don't strike me as startup entrepreneurs although there have been a few who have done it well like Mark McCormack. They prosper by providing services to players and coaches.

However AFL came about because of a lot of rich guys who couldn't get NFL franchises. Maybe there is enough of that lying around to make this a going thing. Yes as guesstimate above suggests, this probably will require tens of millions of dollars to become successful. With less, you probably have a return to barnstorming or the ABA.

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Re: Latest new dev league will challenge college football

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long green wrote:you may be right but I took the "four team thing" as being a mere starting point. If they grew, which I think is what they would like to do, they would have to make compromises.
I agree if it goes to 10 to 20 teams there will be a real issue.


If they set this up in say Arizona, Texas, or Florida where the cost of living isn't astronomical and they had all four teams in one area where there are no travel cost, bought 200 apartment units, and built joint facilities then they could keep the cost low. I don't think the league will be about developing franchises or making money off of team sales. If they pitch it to TV, the league itself and the players will be the product; not the team or city, so why bother.

I think the idea is to get a handful of the ESPN elite100 prospects and put them on TV together every week.

I would set it up like this-
- All four teams in Central Florida(cheaper section). Share facilities.
- Play 12 games over 12 weeks on Tuesdays.
- Make teams generic and non geographic. ( Blue Dogs, Red Rhinos, Golden Lions, Silver Cats) You could then rent the teams to cities while retaining their name if this becomes very successful.
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Re: Latest new dev league will challenge college football

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To sum it up the league is betting that about 50 good prospects each year will chose to make 50k over going to class.
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Re: Latest new dev league will challenge college football

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I would think it would most affect those teams that now corner the market on 5-star recruits. Of course, there would be some trickle-down, and everyone's team will be "diminished." But there are quadrillions of 2-star players who would gain an opportunity.

As for me, I'm a Tulane fan more so than a (generic) football fan, so the level of play is not as important as having a level playing field.
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Re: Latest new dev league will challenge college football

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The very highly rated kid who signs with the top Draft Factories is banking on doing much better than than what this start-up is offering. And that doesn't factor in the illegal stuff many of them get in college.
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Re: Latest new dev league will challenge college football

Post by gerryb323 »

long green wrote:The very highly rated kid who signs with the top Draft Factories is banking on doing much better than than what this start-up is offering. And that doesn't factor in the illegal stuff many of them get in college.
That was my thinking too. The top guys go for the name of the school, prepping for NFL, and being the BMOC and all that. The guys we get actually plan to stay and get edumacated, maybe the best look to go pro. I can see the non-qual guys going this route instead of the current JC plan. Maybe a Fournette or Clarett or Clowney opt for it instead of school, but I'd think it would be rarer than these guys hope. Unless they're bringing in top notch coaches that will actually prepare guys for NFL systems.
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