Clearly people at NBC are probably asking themselves why the network didn’t do this a couple years ago: the network recently announced it reached a revenue-sharing agreement with the Arena Football Game that will have NBC broadcast AFL games beginning in 2003.
Of course, this comes after the network’s XFL experiment turned into a debacle (one from which, unlike NBC, the WWF still has not recovered from given its stock price of late).
The Arena Football League has been around for 16 years and (the best part) the Grand Rapids, Michigan team is the reigning champion.
Many AFL teams are owned by NFL owners and/or former players and owners, and many more NFL folks plan to buy into the NFL in upcoming years. Daniel Snyder, for example, will bring a Washington team into the league in 2004 — no word yet, however, on whether or not he will offer over-the-hill NFL players megabucks to underperform and then blame the team’s failure on the coach.
The NFL has an officiating agreement with the AFL and an option that gives it the right to buy 49.9 percent of the league.
The AFL probably won’t garner any better ratings than the XFL did for NBC, but it is cheaper and the big upside is no appearances by Jesse Ventura or The Rock.
Source:
NBC Sports to air Arena Football. MSNBC, March 5, 2002.
Wonder if everyone, refused the Lions tickets; , if someone would purchase and put them in the arena league :I will bet a handsome deal in vegas to any takers that would screw it up, with the staff that they have in charge now: Will ya wanna take that bet dollar for dollar.