Charlie Ebersol has announced the launch of the The Alliance of American Football in 2019.
The league will comprise of eight 50-man teams playing a 10-game schedule that will begin February 9 2019, one week following next year’s Super Bowl.
Ebersol, the son of long-time NBC Sports Executive Dick Ebersol, said, “The Alliance of American Football represents a fundamental shift in the way we approach professional sports.
“We believe fans and players are what’s most important so our approach is simple—we’ve created an alliance where fans and players share in the success of their teams.”
The Alliance of American Football league is to be funded by an all-star roster of investors including the Founders Fund, Slow Ventures, The Chernin Group and Adrian Fenty, to name a few.
The league is to be built through regionally-based allocation in the fall; eight Alliance regions and their coaches will be announced within the next 12 weeks.
Bill Polian, co-founder of The Alliance of American Football has said “There is a significant amount of football talent looking to begin or extend their professional careers. The Alliance will provide those players with a new opportunity to compete at a high level.” He added, “Our players and fans are the lifeblood of The Alliance and we will treat them as such.”
In further support of the league, television network CBS are to air the games in their line-up throughout the season. “As The Alliance of American Football launches next February we are excited to become the official television partner, adding more football to our robust programming line-up with a great package that includes two primetime games on CBS, as well as a full slate of regular-season spring football on CBS Sports Network,” said chairman at CBS sports, Sean McManus.
