Alliance Of American Football Shuts Down 8 Games Into Season
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The state’s newest professional sports franchise is no more.
The Arizona Hotshots, along with the entire Alliance of American Football (AAF), announced Tuesday it’s closing up shop.
Eight games through a 10-game regular season, the new league is suspending all football operations.
League co-founder Bill Polian confirmed the action to ESPN on Tuesday.
Majority owner Tom Dundon committed a quarter-billion dollars to the league earlier this year and was funding it on a week-to-week basis. But having already lost $70 million, Dundon — who owns the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes — reportedly balked at adding an additional $20 million to keep the AAF going through the end of the season.
The Hotshots, coached by former UCLA quarterback and coach Rick Neuheisel, had been of the AAF’s early favorites, compiling a 5-3 record and in first place in the league’s West Division.
The Hotshots were scheduled to play against Birmingham this Sunday at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe.
There has been talk of a last-ditch effort to secure funding from the National Football League Players Association, but is that even an option at this point?
Darren Rovell, senior executive producer with the Action Network, joined The Show to talk about it.
