It looks like the league is operating much more cheaply than in years past regarding player salaries (but still charging the fans just as much). If the below story is true, this league is DOA.
The Arena Football League enjoyed a 22-year run as the NFL's little cousin until, following the 2008 season and spurred on by the recession, the indoor, shortened-field version of the game packed it in. Now it's planning a triumphant return, giving many of the players something that's in short supply these days: jobs. But as we discovered, not all of them are so psyched that the AFL is back.
What we found out is that the resurrected AFL is less of a phoenix and more of a vampire. We spoke to Jeremy Unertl, a five-year veteran of the league and former All-Arena defensive back, who also spent time with the Green Bay Packers, the Baltimore Ravens and the UFL's California Redwoods, about the realities of being an Arena Football League player, and why the new league is thirsty for blood.
"Hearing the AFL was coming back, I had a mixed reaction," Unertl tells us. "I love arena football, but the capacity in which it's coming back is a joke. The average fan just knows that the teams are back -- and they got to keep the names, which is a huge deal for their marketing -- but the players know differently. The league is a shadow of its former existence.
"A lot of guys took a lot of pride in the league," he goes on. "You could make a good living, perfect your craft. We felt a lot of ownership of the league."
So how good is a "good living," and how bad is it now? Unertl warns us that we'll be shocked.
"The numbers are unbelievable. My last year in the AFL, I made $140,000. This year, they're offering $400 a game." He went on to explain that in the new league, players are all offered the same salary -- each team works on that $400 flat pay scale, which means that for a 16-game season, the average AFL player is going to take home a whopping $6,400 a year.
But what about the above-average AFL star?
"Each team gets three franchise tags. Those guys get $1,000 a game," Unertl explains, before mentioning that he's been offered a franchise deal that he's deeply conflicted about accepting. "I'm supposed to play for $16,000 a year? The risk/reward thing is hard to deal with. If you've never been injured, maybe it's different, but it's a brutal game."
It's hard to imagine a high-quality football game being played by guys who make $6,400 a year for their work on the field -- if for no other reason than we reckon that even Peyton Manning would look a little wobbly out there if he had to spend forty hours a week at Radio Shack during the season. So would Unertl describe the new AFL as more of a hobby league? "Most definitely," he says. "A lot of these guys are local, they work day jobs, and they practice at night."
One person who disagrees with that assessment, however, is Jerry Kurz, the new AFL's commissioner.
"Not true!" he insists when asked if the lower salary means that the product on the field is going to be sub-par. "Look at Division I NCAA football. Those kids go to school during the year, right? They're busy, and they still turn in a pretty high-quality product. " He also adds that, while the base salary is low, the league also provides housing and meals, in addition to the salary -- so theoretically, a savvy player could squirrel away his $6,400 until the season's over.
Ultimately, Kurz counters Unertl. "If a player says they can't live on that wage, why are they playing? If they say they can't, with housing and food covered, they need to move on with their life."
Which is exactly what Unertl is considering: He's expecting an offer from the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts, as well as the offer of a higher-paying franchise opportunity with the AFL's Spokane Shock, a small-market team that would allow him the opportunity to pursue some work with his finance degree, and build a resume that doesn't involve football.
"I'm 31 years old," he says. "I need to start thinking about what's next." Still, like the young players he admonishes, he admits that there's still a pull to get back on the field. "Once you're in it, you just want to play and have fun. I'll probably play this year."
The Arena Football League enjoyed a 22-year run as the NFL's little cousin until, following the 2008 season and spurred on by the recession, the indoor, shortened-field version of the game packed it in. Now it's planning a triumphant return, giving many of the players something that's in short supply these days: jobs. But as we discovered, not all of them are so psyched that the AFL is back.
What we found out is that the resurrected AFL is less of a phoenix and more of a vampire. We spoke to Jeremy Unertl, a five-year veteran of the league and former All-Arena defensive back, who also spent time with the Green Bay Packers, the Baltimore Ravens and the UFL's California Redwoods, about the realities of being an Arena Football League player, and why the new league is thirsty for blood.
"Hearing the AFL was coming back, I had a mixed reaction," Unertl tells us. "I love arena football, but the capacity in which it's coming back is a joke. The average fan just knows that the teams are back -- and they got to keep the names, which is a huge deal for their marketing -- but the players know differently. The league is a shadow of its former existence.
"A lot of guys took a lot of pride in the league," he goes on. "You could make a good living, perfect your craft. We felt a lot of ownership of the league."
So how good is a "good living," and how bad is it now? Unertl warns us that we'll be shocked.
"The numbers are unbelievable. My last year in the AFL, I made $140,000. This year, they're offering $400 a game." He went on to explain that in the new league, players are all offered the same salary -- each team works on that $400 flat pay scale, which means that for a 16-game season, the average AFL player is going to take home a whopping $6,400 a year.
But what about the above-average AFL star?
"Each team gets three franchise tags. Those guys get $1,000 a game," Unertl explains, before mentioning that he's been offered a franchise deal that he's deeply conflicted about accepting. "I'm supposed to play for $16,000 a year? The risk/reward thing is hard to deal with. If you've never been injured, maybe it's different, but it's a brutal game."
It's hard to imagine a high-quality football game being played by guys who make $6,400 a year for their work on the field -- if for no other reason than we reckon that even Peyton Manning would look a little wobbly out there if he had to spend forty hours a week at Radio Shack during the season. So would Unertl describe the new AFL as more of a hobby league? "Most definitely," he says. "A lot of these guys are local, they work day jobs, and they practice at night."
One person who disagrees with that assessment, however, is Jerry Kurz, the new AFL's commissioner.
"Not true!" he insists when asked if the lower salary means that the product on the field is going to be sub-par. "Look at Division I NCAA football. Those kids go to school during the year, right? They're busy, and they still turn in a pretty high-quality product. " He also adds that, while the base salary is low, the league also provides housing and meals, in addition to the salary -- so theoretically, a savvy player could squirrel away his $6,400 until the season's over.
Ultimately, Kurz counters Unertl. "If a player says they can't live on that wage, why are they playing? If they say they can't, with housing and food covered, they need to move on with their life."
Which is exactly what Unertl is considering: He's expecting an offer from the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts, as well as the offer of a higher-paying franchise opportunity with the AFL's Spokane Shock, a small-market team that would allow him the opportunity to pursue some work with his finance degree, and build a resume that doesn't involve football.
"I'm 31 years old," he says. "I need to start thinking about what's next." Still, like the young players he admonishes, he admits that there's still a pull to get back on the field. "Once you're in it, you just want to play and have fun. I'll probably play this year."
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. I'm going to take a wait and see approach to this. The player union dissolved after the league folded so I can see how this is happening, but at the same time the nfl network thing is a big deal. Guess its time to go back to working on the NHL probability map and black box model...
