Moving the game from Las Vegas to The Star in Frisco will mean sacrificing 24,000 seatsTHE STAR IN FRISCO
The AAF announced that its April 27 title game, originally set to be played at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, "will switch" to The Star in Frisco, according to Barry Wilner of the AP. After Hurricanes Owner Tom Dundon joined the league last month as Chair, he "helped arrange for the championship game's move to Texas" during a meeting with Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones at the NFL Combine. Fans who purchased tickets to the game in Las Vegas "will receive full refunds." One of the AAF's long-term goals "would include an affiliation with the NFL," and having Jones, one of the NFL's "most powerful owners, in its corner can't hurt." Jones "plans to attend the title game after finishing his work" as GM as the three-day NFL Draft ends earlier that Saturday (AP, 3/20). CBSSPORTS.com's Ben Kercheval wrote the AAF's decision to move the game from Las Vegas is "interesting, to say the least." The league has been "open about its relationship with betting and one of its key investors" is MGM Resorts Int'l. Going from Sam Boyd Stadium to The Star in Frisco is a "big drop in seating capacity, as well -- three times, in fact, from 36,000 to 12,000." However, Frisco is "far more centralized for the entire AAF landscape" and the Dallas-Ft. Worth area has been a "mecca for football events" (CBSSPORTS.com, 3/20).
