In the same vein of mixing sports and business and The Big 12 Network comes a new football league that are going to be connected to, and play at college campuses.
We’ve heard rumblings about folks at NC State being a little fearful of having a little too much debt connected to renovations at Carter-Finley Stadium. Well, it doesn’t take too much time to make a dent into some debt service by leasing out the nice new stadium.
SMQ has a nice commentary on the new league that is accessible by clicking here. (We also noticed that one of our quotes were being used by SMQ to market the site. Thanks!)
You can click on the official website of the new league here. You can even vote for schools that you would like to see host a team…like NC State, whom the N&O is reporting has been contacted about the league.
How does the N&O know this? Well, Lee Fowler told them! Of course!
Athletics director Lee Fowler said Wednesday that NCSU has held discussions with officials of the fledgling All American Football League about the use of the Wolfpack stadium. Should the stadium be leased, Fowler said it could bring in a “ballpark figure” of $2 million to $3 million a year for the school.
“We have told them we’re willing to allow it,” Fowler said. “They will not use our practice facilities or any other facility, only the stadium for the six or seven games to be played each year. We’re looking at it strongly and told them we would be on board.”
It sounds as though UNC-Chapel Hill has not been contacted about the new league. This would make sense as parking in Chapel Hill will be a severe impediment to success for the league. Conceptually, NC State’s participation in this league could (indirectly) be used as a built-in recruiting advantage; how nice would it be to have an “inside track” to $100k a year after college to play football if the player isn’t NFL material?
Of course, all area players would be welcome on the team and support the team…but, NC State’s role (and therefore access to the league) would definitely be differentiated from other schools in the area.
Noon Update: Lots of folks on the internet talking about this topic…so, we will try to keep this entry updated. 850 The Buzz Blog recalled the echoes of the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks of the early 1990s.
