National Football League

SLAF Wants To Bring NFL-Level Competition To The Spring And That's Not Even Their Craziest Idea

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

The research done by BETA Research Corporation looked conclusive and compelling. According to their study, 83% of men aged 18 -34 who already watch televised sports would “make every effort to watch, or be more likely to watch, professional football in the spring.”

This study validated the hunches of longtime broadcast media executives Michael and Rex Lardner and former Madison Square Garden CFO Robert Pollichino. These decorated industry vets assumed that fans of college and pro football want 365 days of top level competition.
So they commissioned the study, proved their thesis, and soon after launched the Spring League of American Football (SLAF).

From the official SLAF website…

The SLAF is a competitive professional football league with a spring schedule and storied rivalries already established. With unique geographical boundaries for each team, players can only play within their college’s region. Ten teams and a ten game schedule, not including playoffs, sum up the foundation of this long overdue concept.

With the inaugural kick-off slated for the spring of 2018, the ten territories adhere to some of the most passionate rivalries in college sports. Players from the Texas and Southwest Region will face off against players from the Florida and Southeast Region.

“College players develop a strong following at their respective universities,” Pollichino said in a September 2016 press release. “We are capitalizing on that fan loyalty, by keeping players in the same region where they played college ball.”

This alignment provides “instant rivalry” according to the SLAF brass.

FXFL, UFL, USFL, WFL, XFL are just some of the more notable professional football leagues that have tried to compete or act as an alternative to the NFL. All have been an F-A-I-L. The Lardners and Pollichino seem confident that this time it’s going to be different — not just because of the rivalries carrying over from the collegiate level — but because of another stat from the BETA study that jumped out at the men.

BETA polled fans regarding the way they’d consume a new league. Over 20% of those questioned, men who do not already stream programming through a service like Netflix or Amazon Prime, would be likely to subscribe to a streaming service if it was the only way to view a professional sport.

“This is a league that’s perfect for streaming services,” Michael Lardner told The Outside Game, “Amazon and Netflix or any one of big streaming services is going to have to get into live sports one day. Maybe it’s a Netflix but we’re not ruling out cable TV providers. Whoever is smart enough to realize the fans want competitive football when the NFL season ends.”

Instant rivalry? Maybe. But the SLAF will need an instant audience to keep from joining the PFLG or professional football league graveyard.