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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Major League Football Preps For First Season; Can It Succeed Where Others Have Failed?

Major League Football (MLFB) last week "sent out about 500 player contracts," with a draft set for tomorrow and training camp for eight as-yet-unnamed teams all together in Lakewood Ranch, Fla. beginning Feb. 16, according to Stroud, Auman & Baker of the TAMPA BAY TIMES. MLFB Senior Exec VP Frank Murtha said that league "will not have teams in NFL or MLB markets." The plan is for a 10-game season, "starting in April and finishing in late June, with a four-team playoff and championship game." Tickets will "vary by market, but the general model should be a $40 ticket." The league will "generally follow NFL rules, though they will have a shorter play clock to encourage more uptempo play, and field goals will be worth four points instead of three." Murtha said the league will pay "more than double" the per-game rate of the AFL, which is $875. That would allow for a "league-wide player payroll" of $5.4M. But Murtha said the league "has raised and budgeted significant capital, not just for Year One but beyond." Former NFLer Wes Chandler is serving as the league's president, and Murtha "confirmed several names signed to be the league's first head coaches." The league "has a TV contract" with the American Sports Network, which launched in '14 and "airs primarily college sports, along with some MLS games" (TAMPABAY.com, 1/22).

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