Event Date: February 12th, 1996
Event Description: Vataha Announces New Grid League
Source: Football Report
The All American Football League, an entity born after the demise of the American based teams from the Canadian Football League, was unveiled yesterday with plans to begin play in eight cities this year.“We've taken football and put it into a corporate structure. That's something nobody has done before,” said Randy Vataha, the Boston based businessman who is putting the league together with the aid of former USFL founder David Dixon, as well as owners from the now defunct CFL-USA franchises.
“We will be a single-entity structure -- everything is controlled through the league office and we'll have a revenue-sharing program. If we draw 20,000 a game, we can break even just on ticket sales.”
A.A.F.L. franchises have been approved for Memphis, Birmingham, Houston, New Orleans and San Antonio. Each franchise will have a strict budget and salary cap. The average salary in the league is expected to be around $45,000.
In addition, the AAFL plans to utilize a regional concept in allocating players, so that college stars can play close to the area in which they attended school.
John Ralston, a former NFL and USFL head coach and executive who will serve as the league commissioner, said "ownership groups are in place in the Bay Area and Miami, with two other applicants waiting for final approval."
“We will play in mostly warm weather markets that want football based on American-style rules and that have a yearning for professional football,' said Art Williams, owner of the Birmingham Barracudas franchise.
Also committing to the new league were Jim Speros owner of the Stallions franchise, Steve Ehrhart president of the Memphis club, and Fred Anderson formerly of the WLAF and CFL.
more to come......