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The Alliance of American Football League is Coming

Brandon Contes

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Just a few months after Vince McMahon confirmed an XFL reboot, a third football league is now in the works. Charlie Ebersol, son of Dick Ebersol, announced The Alliance of American Football league will begin in less than a year. Dick Ebersol, the NBC executive and Vince McMahon’s partner in the 1999 version of the XFL, will serve as a league adviser.

“The Alliance of American Football represents a fundamental shift in the way we approach professional sports,” said Charlie Ebersol, founder and CEO of The Alliance of American Football. “We believe fans and players are what’s most important, so our approach is simple — we’ve created an Alliance where fans and players share in the success of their teams.”

One of the failures of the original XFL was their rush to inception. The league was announced on February 3, 2000 and kicked off February 3, 2001. While McMahon’s second attempt at the XFL will wait until 2020 to debut, Ebersol’s Alliance of American Football will launch in less than one year on February 9, 2019.

Filling two leagues with players who don’t make the NFL seems like a tall task. Football fans crave the sport, but if the talent isn’t up to par, it won’t take long for viewers to lose interest. Ebersol, however, believes there is no shortage of professional level football players available.

“This is not a development league,” Ebersol said. “There are tens of thousands of players who don’t have a job, which translates into hundreds of Kurt Warners.”

Upstart leagues will attempt to capitalize on the NFL’s recent ratings decline and correct what they believe the NFL is doing wrong. Player safety and an improved viewing experience for consumers with 60 percent less commercials are ways The Alliance of American Football hopes to attract fans.

The new spring football league’s announcement included an impressive list of financial investments from Silicon Valley firms and a media rights agreement with CBS. The Alliance of American Football will partner with CBS which will broadcast the league opener, championship game, and air one regular season contest on CBS Sports Network each week. Other games during the three month season will be available live on the free Alliance app.

“As the Alliance of American Football launches next February we are excited to become the official television partner, adding more football to our robust programming line-up with a great package that includes two primetime games on CBS, as well as a full slate of regular-season spring football on CBS Sports Network,” said CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus. “With Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian at the helm we are confident that the product they will deliver will be entertaining, exciting, engaging and something that fans will really enjoy.”

Former NFL executive Bill Polian will help oversee the league, with future hall-of-famer Troy Polamalu directing the player side. J.K. Mckay, a retired wide receiver who went on to become a trial lawyer and General Manager of the XFL’s Los Angeles Xtreme, will help oversee the league’s teams.

The league will consist of eight franchises with 50 players on each roster. Locations for each team were not announced, but that information is expected to be released within the next three months.

Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.

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Colorado Rockies & DirecTV Reach Agreement to Carry Games on TV

“Colorado sports fans have made DIRECTV the top destination for their favorite local teams. We will continue to work with MLB…so fans can get their games.”

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Colorado Rockies

Breathe easy, Rockies fans — you will be able to watch your club on linear TV this year. At the buzzer, DirecTV and the Colorado Rockies agreed on terms to distribute the team’s games throughout its local service.

Starting today, DirecTV Choice subscribers across Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Southern Idaho, Western Nebraska, and Northern New Mexico can now watch the Rockies on a special channel simply titled, “ROCKIES.” The games will be available on DirecTV and DirecTV STREAM via channel 683.

“Colorado sports fans have made DIRECTV the top destination to get all their favorite local teams,” said Rob Thun, chief content officer of DIRECTV. “We will continue to work with MLB, the NBA, NHL, and other top leagues and their local franchises so the most avid fans can get the games they want while other customers have more choice over the content they want to pay to have in their homes.”

Reports just days ago out of Colorado said there were “no guarantees” the Rockies would not find a TV home in time for Opening Day following the sunsetting of AT&T SportsNet. The only other way to watch the team is to use its direct-to-consumer Rockies.tv streaming service, which fans say is too pricey for a team that lost 103 games last season. Luckily, the team was able to secure a TV home for 2024, though the future is still uncertain.

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Erin Andrews Reveals Infertility Journey in Emotional ‘Today Show’ Interview

FOX reporter Erin Andrews sat down with ‘The Today Show’s’ Kristen Welker to discuss her journey, how Welker’s own journey inspired her, and more.

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Erin Andrews

FOX reporter Erin Andrews shared her story of infertility and surrogacy with NBC’s Today Show. Last summer, Andrews and her husband welcomed a baby boy via surrogate after trying for a decade to get pregnant via IVF, during which she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2016. Today, she sat down with Kristen Welker to discuss her journey, how Welker’s own journey inspired her, and more.

Andrews says Welker’s announcement on the Today Show made her think a baby could be possible. “I remember Kristin Welker’s announcement on your show,” Andrews said last year, “and I actually watched that the morning Mac was born, because that just hit me.”

When they finally sat down, Welker asked Andrews why her journey resonated with the sports reporter so much:

“Because I see myself in you. Kristen, the video of you moderating debates after you’re waiting on bad news or maybe you just received it, that’s me. I can tell you every stand-up I’ve done at a football game where I’ve gotten the news that it didn’t work. I’d be talking about Tom Brady going for this record and my record is that I still was failing…I would have chest pains every time I was waiting for the call if it worked, and I knew it wouldn’t work.

Erin Andrews on ‘Today’

Andrews knew surrogacy was the only path to having a child. Although her family’s first attempt failed, her second attempt was a success, and she got to hear her child’s heartbeat for the very first time. The pair discuss the complex emotions that come with surrogacy, saying that bonds with their child could be affected because they didn’t carry their child. However, Welker assured Andrews that those feelings go away once you can talk to your child.

Once her son was born in June, who Andrews called, “a miracle,” she then talks about her child glowingly, talking about how he is just like mom — vocal. “He’s all me,” she says.

Andrews supports Baby Quest, a non-profit that grants money to families in need of IVF or surrogacy to have a baby but don’t have the funds to pursue these expensive treatments. Both Andrews and Welker acknowledged how difficult and unattainable their journies are for some families — and Andrews even used the NFL’s “My Cleats, My Cause” initiative to raise awareness for her cause.

“People don’t need to feel embarrassed that they have a surrogate or are looking for other help,” Andrews said.

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Curt Menefee and Joel Klatt to be Lead Fox Sports UFL Broadcast Team

Curt Menefee, Joel Klatt, and Brock Huard will make up the first XFL on FOX announce team, while Kevin Kugler, Devin Gardner, and Jake Butt are the #2 team.

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FOX is ready for the United Football League (UFL) season and recently announced its broadcast lineup for the upcoming season. Curt Menefee returns to the booth alongside Joel Klatt to make up the primary UFL commentary team. Joining Menefee and Klatt from the sidelines will be former NFL and University of Washington QB Brock Huard.

Menefee and Klatt will call the season-opening matchup between the defending two-time USFL Champion Birmingham Stallions and the reigning XFL Champion Arlington Renegades on Saturday, Mar. 30 at 1 p.m. ET. The second team of Kevin Kugler and former Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner will call the second game of the day when the St. Louis Battlehawks take on the Michigan Panthers at 4:00 p.m. ET on FOX. Former Denver Broncos tight end Jake Butt will man the sidelines for that game.

Former NFL and USC QB Mark Sanchez was also mentioned in the FOX news release but details of his involvement were not made clear.

The UFL season kicks off on FOX this weekend and continues over on ESPN. Both networks will split coverage of the league all season long.

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