Camping World Stadium is being proposed by the XFL as the home for a potential Orlando franchiseGETTY IMAGES
Orlando Venues Exec Dir Allen Johnson said that officials from Vince McMahon's proposed XFL have "reached out about possibly putting a team" in Camping World Stadium, according to Mike Bianchi of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. This comes in the wake of "another start-up league -- the Alliance of American Football -- announcing last month that it is putting a team in UCF's Spectrum Stadium." Orlando received a call from WWE Senior VP/Special Events and former Central Florida Sports Commission CEO John Saboor "about the possibility of Orlando getting an XFL team." Johnson said, "We were told that there is preliminary, high-level interest in Orlando and they would get back to us at a later date. They did mention in the call that they were aware of the other league (the Alliance) and felt that the Orlando market could support two teams" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 5/2). In Phoenix, Jeff Metcalfe notes talks are "being held" between Arizona State and the AAF that could "return professional football to Sun Devil Stadium" for the first time since '05. ASU Exec Senior Associate AD Jean Boyd said that a final agreement with the AAF "has not been reached" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 5/2).
FUTURISTIC FOOTBALL: In Florida, Laurence Reisman wrote tech startup Your Call Football will hold three Thursday night games starting tomorrow at 8:30pm ET, where fans will be able to "call offensive plays on their smartphones." The May kickoffs will "help determine whether the company can financially thrive getting about 90 hungry, former NFL, CFL and college players together as live-action figures in a video game played on phones." Fans have 10 seconds "to make the call" after former NFLer Merril Hoge and former NFL coach Mike Sherman "load a bundle of three plays in the app, depending on the situation." Similar to fantasy football, fans "compete against each other in game- or season-long contests and set up their own leagues." Asked about when fans pick a play he would not have chosen, Hoge said, "You roll with the punches." Reisman wrote Your Call Football is "more about innovation," so it is "ironic the company is spending six weeks at Historic Dodgertown." The phone app is "innovative." Fans can "watch the live stream in the top part of the app or follow the game in a more static fashion." A few ads are "strategically placed," and a bell rings when the coach "sends his bundles, including diagrams, to fans, and they pop up on the screen." The "real high-tech stuff" comes from Chicago-based software company Phenix, which "claims to stream video with almost no lag time" (TCPALM.com, 4/27).
