A-11 Football League

A-11 Football League
Sport American football
Founded 2013
Inaugural season 2014 (planned)
Ceased 2014
CEO Scott McKibben
No. of teams 8
Country United States
TV partner(s) ESPN
Official website A11FL.com

The A-11 Football League (A11FL) was a proposed professional American football league that was introduced in 2013 and scheduled its first season for 2014. The league would have played in the spring, and it planned on using modified National Football League rules that allowed for the A-11 offense, a system which allowed "All 11" offensive players to be eligible receivers depending on how they line up at scrimmage.[1][2] The A11FL introduced six of its eight planned franchises in April 2013, and added a seventh proposed team several months later, with five of the seven franchises reviving names of franchises from the original United States Football League of the 1980s. The A11FL announced plans to play two televised "showcase games" in the spring of 2014 and a full schedule in 2015.

In April 2014, the A11FL announced that it would not field two planned franchises in California and that the showcase games would be postponed indefinitely, but that the league still planned on playing a full schedule with eight teams in 2015.[3] In July 2014, the league made this statement via its Facebook page: "(T)he folks who were involved with the A11FL investment team have been actively working on financing for a new Professional Spring Football League that will no longer be branded as the A11FL...More news as it comes available."[4] As of 2018, nothing more has been heard from the (presumably former) A11FL.

History

Previous spring football leagues

There have been numerous attempts to establish a spring football league in the last thirty years, the best-known being the United States Football League (1983–85), the NFL-sponsored WLAF/NFL Europe (1991–92 and 1995-2007); and the XFL (2001). Others include the Professional Spring Football League (PSFL), which folded before playing any games in 1992; the Regional Football League (RFL), which lasted a single season in 1999; the Spring Football League (SFL), which played just four games in 2000; and the Stars Football League, which intended to be a national league but spent most of its three-year existence (2011–13) as a regional semi-pro league based in Florida. (Several other proposed spring leagues never got past the planning stage; for instance, the International Football Federation was set to begin play in 2000, but never made it past their initial press conference.)[5]

Development

A-11 offense

California high school football coaches Kurt Bryan and Steve Humphries developed the A-11 offense in the mid-2000s by using a loophole in rules concerning allowable punting formations to design an offensive scheme in which "All 11" players were potentially eligible receivers. While some high school coaches began to adopt the offense, many more felt that it was "unsportsmanlike" and "against the spirit of the rules". In 2009, the loophole which allowed the A-11 to be used was closed by the National Federation of State High School Associations by a 46-2 vote.[6][7] In 2011, Bryan and Humphries began planning a professional football league that allowed the A-11 offense, which they felt made for a safer and more wide-open game.[8]

Introduction and TV deal

The creation of the A11FL was announced on April 16, 2013 with a call for investments and business partners.[9] The league was designed to start as single-owner entity in which all franchises were to be owned and operated by the league office.

At press conference on February 6, 2014, A11FL commissioner Scott McKibben announced six of its eight inaugural teams, leaving the final two teams and home stadiums to be announced at a later date.[10] At the same press conference, McKibben announced that the league had reached an agreement with ESPN to broadcast two "showcase games" and the 2015 regular season.[11] The showcase games were scheduled to be played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa in May 2014 and at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas in June 2014.[12]

Time out / folding

The league announced via Twitter on March 28, 2014 that it would be redirecting efforts towards a "new opportunity" that would "secure the formation of the league for many years". On April 11, 2014, the league announced via Facebook that "things are coming together just as we said in our announcement. No need to read between the lines. Big news ahead." Later that same April, the A11FL canceled its two showcase games and announced that previously introduced franchises in San Francisco and Los Angeles would not be included in the league due to the cost of workers' compensation insurance in California. However, commissioner McKibben stated at the time that the A11FL still planned on fielding eight teams for its inaugural season, which was still planned for the spring of 2015.[3]

On July 9, 2014, the league announced via Facebook that it was dropping the A11FL name and the A-11 offense would attempt to "rebrand" as a "new league", effectively folding the A11FL.[4] The league released what would have been the logos for the eight originally proposed teams on December 28, 2014, in an effort to promote the graphic design company that had designed the logos.[13] In February 2015, the A11FL announced via Facebook that officials of the league were planning on organizing a different football league not based on the A-11 offense. No further plans or news about the proposed league have been announced since then.

Key personnel

  • Fred Walker – Chairman[14]
  • Scott McKibben – CEO/Commissioner
  • Mike Keller – President & COO
  • Kurt Bryan – Founder & Executive VP of League Development
  • Steve Humphries – Founder
  • Chris Schuring – CTO

Clubs

The league had announced seven of its eight planned teams before pulling franchises in Los Angeles and Oakland due to California's workers compensation laws. The name and location of the eighth planned franchise had yet to be announced when the league folded. Five of the proposed clubs borrowed names and design elements from franchises in the 1980s United States Football League which would have been a very controversial move, adding the risk of legal copyright owner and logo issues. The Sea Lions and Staggs being the two exceptions with a newly created original names.

References

  1. ↑ "A11FL Fan Guide V1" (PDF). A11FL. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 15, 2013. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
  2. ↑ Eric Young. "New pro football league forms. When is kickoff? In two years". San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Spring pro league scraps showcase game at Ray-Jay | Tampa Bay Times
  4. 1 2 A11FL Facebook page
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ Weinreb, Michael (March 5, 2009). "Banning the A-11 offense is a bad idea". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  7. ↑ Piedmont's innovative A-11 offense loses appeal
  8. ↑ The case for a future pro football league based on the A-11 Offense. A11Offense.com. Retrieved from the Internet Archive March 23, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Media Alert:Business Leaders, Sports Executives and Entrepreneurs form A11FL". MarketWired.com. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  10. ↑ "Bay Area lands new professional football team". San Jose Mercury News. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  11. ↑ "ESPN2 to Televise A11FL Games". ESPN.com. 6 February 2014. Archived from the original on 6 February 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  12. ↑ "New A11 pro football league will have Bay Area". San Francisco Examiner. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  13. ↑ https://www.behance.net/gallery/20776693/Denver-Gold-Official-A11FL-Brand
  14. ↑ "About A11FL". A11FL. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
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