New Spring Professional Football League?

[duckman]

Apparently, there was a draft today by a new spring professional football league, Major League Football. They're slated to start this spring, but they haven't announced any teams.

http://247sports.com/Bolt/Stephen-Ga...draft-43200679

[duckman]

Spent a little time chatting with former Lions receiver Johnnie Morton about it on Facebook Messenger. He's a coach for the supposed Ohio team.

[Julio Riddols]

I think the NFL could use a minor league. An 8 team league would be the perfect place for fringe players to get noticed and get experience in a professional atmosphere, and also a solid place for coaches, rule makers and broadcasters to maybe play with new concepts and ideas as well. It would be of great benefit to the league to have a sort of proving ground similar to the D-League.

If each division in the NFL had a team in the NFL D-league to farm from and each team could send a number of practice squad guys there to get some real reps in, I think fans would take more interest in seeing their preseason darlings getting significant playing time.

[BillJasper]

I was reading an article somewhere that they were already $12 million in debt. I doubt they ever play a down.

[BillJasper]

Major League Football faces long odds to become success | Bradenton Herald

MLFB is dealing with a substantial debt, according to filings with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. The company reports minimal cash, a working capital deficit of $1 million-plus, an accumulated deficiency of $12.8 million and a stockholders' deficiency of $1,008,757.

[NobodyHere]

I doubt Trent Richardson is good enough to play in this league.


Also they should've called it Minor League Football so the acronym could be MiLF.

[BillJasper]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Also they should've called it Minor League Football so the acronym could be MiLF.

They would've gotten more attention that way.

[Suicane75]

I'll be licking whipped cream off of Kate Uptons belly before this league ever plays a down.

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Also they should've called it Minor League Football so the acronym could be MiLF.

[stevew]

There was supposed to be an AAFL(I think) team round here but the team basically folded immediately.

[Thomkal]

I think this is the perfect place for Tebow mania to grow.

[MIJB#19]

Maybe the NFL can spread their game to another continent and create a minor league over there?

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

Maybe the NFL can spread their game to another continent and create a minor league over there?

Hmmm, I wonder which continent that would be...

[duckman]

I can't find an article about it, but apparently there is supposed to have a $20 million investment announcement today. They announced a $15 million investment deal back in October, but I heard through some back channels they lost it, but they're confident about this deal. I hear that the league may fold if this $20 million falls through. There's a segment of stockholders (they're publicly traded) that thinks that the NFL is trying to sabotage it like they did to a couple other spring football leagues. I don't necessarily believe that, but I think some investors are scared by the leadership.

[duckman]

The MLFB posted a copy of their SEC filing on Friday. The investment fell through. Looks like the league is dead before it ever got started.

[AlexB]

And Suicane's dreams are dashed once again

[wustin]

Originally Posted by Dutch

Hmmm, I wonder which continent that would be...

Japan College Football Greatest Team - YouTube

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by wustin

Japan College Football Greatest Team - YouTube

I like how after the TD, the coach is seen getting the water bottle for a quick hit. lmao!

I went to a pre-season game in Tokyo way back in the day, the fans there cheered....Kick offs....FG's....and Extra-Points over all else....I'm sure they are much more aware of the game now than back then.

I could totally see it though. Get some big Sumo dudes up on the line....and some speedy receivers and scat-backs....and running QB's....it could be a lot of fun to watch.

[BillJasper]

Originally Posted by duckman

The MLFB posted a copy of their SEC filing on Friday. The investment fell through. Looks like the league is dead before it ever got started.

Called it!

[duckman]

Rumors are going around that they secured some kind of financing. I don't think it's $20 million, but it was significant enough to help their stock. Their stock jumped from $0.69 to $0.80 today.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by duckman

Rumors are going around that they secured some kind of financing. I don't think it's $20 million, but it was significant enough to help their stock. Their stock jumped from $0.69 to $0.80 today.

Still a ways to go to hit $3.00.

[Dutch]

Is that code for success or something? #StockDummy

[albionmoonlight]

United States Football League - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[T]he USFL filed an antitrust lawsuit against the older league, claiming it had established a monopoly with respect to television broadcasting rights, and in some cases, to access of stadium venues.

...

The case went to trial in the spring of 1986 and lasted 42 days. On July 29, a six-person jury handed down a verdict that devastated the USFL, even though it technically won its case. The jury declared the NFL a "duly adjudicated illegal monopoly," and found that the NFL had willfully acquired and maintained monopoly status in professional football through predatory tactics.

...

Most importantly, the jury found that the NFL did not attempt to force the USFL off television. . . . It awarded the USFL nominal damages of one dollar, which was trebled under antitrust law to three dollars.
...

The USFL finally received a check for $3.76 in damages in 1990, the additional 76¢ representing interest earned while litigation had continued. Notably, that check has not yet been cashed.

[duckman]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mlfb-a...?.tsrc=applewf

[duckman]

They got $20 million in cash and another $100 million in line-of-credit from an investment firm.

[duckman]

Dutch, I think they opened at $1.00 when they started. They peaked at $1.47 but went as low as $0.63 after failing to get financing two previous times.

[Suicane75]

I wish I knew someone was willing to throw away $20 Million, I'd have hit them up for a loan.

[digamma]

What a weird story.

MLFB has been around since 2009. An outfit called Universal Capital Management bought them in 2014. The historical stock prices you see quoted are the former UCM company. UCM took on the MLFB name after completing the equity for assets deal.

[BillJasper]

Originally Posted by duckman

MLFB Announces Letter of Intent for $120 Million in Equity and Credit Line Financing - Yahoo Finance

Wow.

Wish I knew someone willing to flush $120 million down the toilet.

[EagleFan]

Wish I had invested in this last week. It's up near 1.20 now. Would have been a nice quick turnaround.

[duckman]

I did some research and found some things about the letter of intent between the league and their investors that looked fishy. Here is what I posted yesterday on their Facebook page and I still haven't gotten a response yet:

I hope this doesn't get deleted, but I have a few issues with the announcement.

1. There's no closing date for the letter of intent between the league and the investment firm. In business contracts like these, there's always a closing date.

2. The firm that provided " advisory services" Level 5 Global Corporation, has only been opened since 2014 and I don't see any other business dealings by this firm. They claim to have 96 offices worldwide, but they started from scratch two years ago.

3. The firm that is providing the investment, Asian Global Capital Ltd., has also only been opened since 2014. Their president, Kwong Chi Wong, is supposedly a Chinese billionaire, but there's no information anywhere about him. The company is Indonesian, but I'm curious why a foreign company would be interested in a fledgling minor league football league.

4. Both firms has no other news about any business dealings other than yesterday's announcement. How can two companies with limited histories and no past business, come up with $120 million in capital to pay for this deal.

I'm not saying it's a bogus deal, but there are a lot of pieces that aren't fitting together. If you can explain it to us, fans and possible investors, we would appreciate it the explanation.

[BillJasper]

Awesome questions, duckman.

[BillJasper]

I just don't know how you can have a successful start to a league when you still don't know what cities will be hosting teams less than two months before kickoff?

[BillJasper]

Any more information about the new league? Have they announced the cities they're playing in and I missed it?

[vex]

The most I could find was this:

...teams will be based in Texas, Utah, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Portland, Orlando, and some of that part of Ohio that is not Cleveland or Cincinnati

Could Major League Football Be Coming To Texas? - Texas Monthly

[BillJasper]

Who'd of thunk it?!?

Delay of game: Major League Football (MLFB) puts training camp on temporary hold | Examiner.com

The letter, from Wes Chandler, MLFB's President, advises players planning to arrive in Florida this week to hold off on those plans until they receive further notice from their head coach or team operations liaison. The letter reads: "To that request, Major League Football has encountered several Operational items that must be addressed at the league level."

Lack of money will lead to those kinds of problems.

[Young Drachma]

The smart way to do a league like this isn't during spring football season in college towns. It'd be do it like Slamball did. Pick a compelling location where you can get a few big crowds, stage a bunch of games over a few days, film it and get it distributed to some network that needs a sport to show over a dead period.

Or do a barnstorming thing and condense your season into a period of time. But trying to do it like a "real" league is where they get into trouble, because they don't have real league budgets, real league media deals or relationships.

FWIW just filmed in a warehouse over a few days and then cut the footage up over their 'season' and obviously football isn't made the same way, but...seems like if you pick your spots it could work. I just don't think there's a strong appetite for unbranded football unless you can attract decent players needing a second look like some kind of NFL Europe style parallel league could be cool. Like...film it like a travel/reality show and the games are just ancillary. The hijinks of the guys dealing with each other would make for decent TV if it was done right.

Or just take over the Swedish league for a year or something.

[duckman]

Their SEC filings show that the league has only $12k cash on hand and $4 million in debt. Most of their revenues have been used to pay the salaries of the management team. They currently have office space provided rent free by Lakewood Ranch, FL. They also owe back taxes to the IRS, Massachusetts, and Florida. I've been able to speak with numerous players and assistant coaches in the league and none of them has received any information about their travel arrangements or accommodations. One assistant coach got so fed up with the lack of information that he demanded his travel packet or he was going to walk. The GM told him that he would need to pay his own way and that they would reimburse him and if that was a problem then he could find another coaching job. One of my friends in the news media told me that he called around and found out that only 3 leases with venues have been signed so far and the venues want their money up front. They, of course, still haven't been paid. The University of Oklahoma and the University of Tulsa both turned down opportunities to use their stadiums/facilities to host teams. Vendors that are supposed to provide meals, laundry services, etc., for training camp missed receiving their first payment last week. Their supposed saviors, Asian Global Capital Ltd, haven't paid them the $20 million that was agreed upon a few months ago. I heard that the first payment was supposed to have been March 1st.

I feel like I'm an investigative journalist with all the legwork to find the background information on the league, but it's been fun. It's pretty obvious that the league is either incompetently run or they're hustling people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by duckman

I feel like I'm an investigative journalist with all the legwork to find the background information on the league, but it's been fun. It's pretty obvious that the league is either incompetently run or they're hustling people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I feel like both things have to be true.

[digamma]

They got a $500,000 band aid a couple of weeks ago from a small NY hedge fund called Sea Otter. Their most recent 10-Q is bad but it's not as dire as you think duckman. They're still not going to succeed, but as of 1/31, they had little actual debt on their balance sheet (only about $120,000) and most of their liabilities were accrued expenses and unpaid salaries. The asset side is weak, and their income right now is from pay to tryout camps, which is not sustainable for very long. (Capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for Pool.)

Sideshow.

[duckman]

Thanks for the clarification on the liabilities. They also have roughly $14 million in unclaimed stocks. According to the SEC filings, they used most of the $500k to buy stock to keep the price at $1.00. Not sure the logic of that unless it was for financial reasons (securing an investor?).

[BillJasper]

Originally Posted by duckman

Most of their revenues have been used to pay the salaries of the management team.

So fucking wrong. Paying themselves while players are out there barely hanging onto their dreams.

Feels like a scam.

[duckman]

Well, it's official. The league is "postponing" the season until 2017. Their stock has dropped 43% in just a few hours.

[Kodos]

Sell sell sell!

[duckman]

They're telling players that they'll received "one-on-one development programs" to get them ready for 2017. One of the coaches I'm talking to thinks it's another money grab. They'll charge for the tutelage in exchange for real live training with former NFL assistants. They no money to bring players down to Florida for this kind of camp.