The Spring League pro football’s ‘secret sauce’
- Tom Rife: Livin' the Team
- May 13, 2021
- 694
So at the very least, you watched bits and pieces of the recent National Football League Draft (either in person on the lakefront in Cleveland or in the comfy contours of that Lazy Boy you “broke in” 20 years ago). Could it have been more obvious the NFL doesn’t need its own feeder system?
College football stars far and wide — some more showy than others — nervously waited for their names to be called. They trusted the exposure they banked on Saturdays would land in the game’s ultimate cash cauldron on Sundays.
Fact is they could have steered clear of all those long practices and pesky college exams. All they had to do was pay the $2,000 registration fee and take the bypass to The Spring League. As a Conqueror, Jouster, Aviator or Sea Lion, as a Blue, General, Aviator or Alpha, they could have gotten six weeks of national television exposure, with free housing and meals included.
A paycheck? No. Unknown to most viewers, players in the TSL — now showing on a FOX platform near you — are not compensated. Not one penny.
They may get to wear jazzy uniforms and learn real plays. They may look really fast (even during the slo-mo replays). The brutal collisions may appear to be professional.
Yet professional is a word that must be followed by another word — developmental — in order to apply to the TSL.
You may ask, “How could this be? Aren’t these athletes risking life and limb in these games?”
You bet they are. Then again, since the league was formed in 2017, a grand total of 104 men have gone on to sign NFL contracts. That may not sound like a feeder system, but it is an outlet, an opportunity for some.
Incidentally, any player who has been in an NFL training camp in the last three years does not have to pay the $2,000 registration fee. Athletes who wish to be considered for The Spring League are, however, asked to submit biographical and statistical information as part of the application process.
(That last part is probably designed to keep pudgy newspaper slugs, who have never played a down in their life, from applying.)
The Spring League, which has no tangible legal ties to the NFL, is proof America’s appetite for football has grown far beyond any measure of understanding. FOX televises the games, and the network says people are watching. These eyeballs no doubt are the same oddballs who cherish the opportunity to see Tucker Carlson reruns well into the wee hours.
For the record, the eight teams (divided into North and South divisions) have no affiliation or relationship with — or loyalty from — any particular city or fan base. All games are played in the “hub” cities — either Indianapolis or Houston.
At present the shoe-string league needs no ticket revenue to subsist. The TSL’s new agreement with FOX covers the cost of doing business. And to be sure, it’s a titillating business model. The financial obligations that resulted in the demise of such ventures as the XFL and the AAF (Alliance of American Football) simply don’t exist.
As coy TSL founder and chief executive Brian Woods told the Reuters news agency, “We have definitely found the secret sauce in terms of operating a professional football league.”
OK, so the honorable Mr. Woods left out the all-important word “developmental.” In the old days, this brand of football was more apt to be called “semi-pro” ball. Many such operations had varying degrees of legitimacy.
For those inquiring minds that simply have to know, this is week two of the 2021 TSL season. The championship game is set for 3 p.m. on June 19.
Will it be the Alphas against the Generals? The Conquerors against the Blues?
Will Tucker Carlson do the play-by-play?
Is it too late for Aaron Rodgers to sign up?