Major League Football (MLFB) did not even make it through the end of training camp before it was no more. I’ll give you a moment to recover from the shock of that information.
Another spring football league failing is hardly news; we’ve seen it far too often to be surprised by the outcome. But MLFB officials proclaimed it was different; again, stop me if you’ve heard this before. They touted they were different than other such leagues because it was a publicly traded company, as though that had any bearing.
They were so sure of success that they attempted to build momentum for its spring schedule with a limited-schedule summer dress rehearsal, and they took to the stage in Mobile with training camp and promises.
The curtain closed just before training camp ended, taking with it any perceived momentum, not to mention the summer season. Players were locked out of their hotel rooms because league officials had not paid the bills. And players were left on their own to find a place to stay or to get back home and to wonder what had happened.
Earlier that day they had been on the football field practicing, looking to make their team’s final roster and be on the field for the Aug. 9 opener. A few hours later, all that was gone, through no fault of their own.
The disappointment in all of this is not that MLFB’s summer season — and perhaps the league in general going forward — was erased. There weren’t fans lining up at what is now called Ladd-Peebles Sports and Entertainment Complex to protest the fact no games would be played or demand refunds for their season tickets. The reaction to the news from the general public fell mostly in the “oh, well” category, if it was noticed at all.
The loss of the projected economic impact to the city — estimated at $3 million to $4 million when the league announced Mobile was the fourth and final city to join MLFB and would host the league’s training camp with all four teams — is not the biggest aspect of this story either. Clearly, that kind of impact would have been a plus for the city as it offered a new revenue stream, but that may also have been a generous estimate.
The focus of MLFB folding its tent should be placed on the players themselves. They are the ones who have suffered the biggest loss, not the league. They are the ones who placed the greatest investment in the promise of MLFB, not the shareholders. They are the ones who are most affected by the failures that led to the season being canceled before it actually began.
Yes, there are local businesses, most notably area hotels, restaurants, bars and others, who had hoped they would receive, and perhaps even adjusted budgets in anticipation of, the perceived revenues associated with having the Alabama Airborne team and the MLFB training camp in town. But those businesses also knew this was a one-month influx.
The players joined the league as an investment in their futures, an avenue they hoped — one they were promised — would provide an opportunity for them to enhance their professional football opportunities.
A mission statement is available on the mlfb.com home page, which states:
“Major League Football is a publicly traded company that is operating as a professional football league. The mission is to give the opportunity to football players, coaches, trainers and front office personnel the best training and guidance possible. Then, through our original broadcasts, give those participants exposure to the NFL and others so they can advance their potential.”
That promise was broken, in a flash.
MLFB sold itself as an avenue for players — and as the mission statement implies, coaches, trainers and front office people, too — an opportunity to be seen, an opportunity to make a step forward in their dream of one day earning a spot in another professional football league. It might be the NFL, but it could also be the CFL or the USFL or some other opportunity to move forward, to keep their dream alive.
Last Wednesday afternoon, they were locked out of their dream and told to go home. Without financial assistance and without a backup plan.
An email from MLFB Chief Operating Officer Steve Videtich to players, which was posted on the MLFB Virginia Armada Twitter page, suggested the league, at that time, could not “accommodate any travel flights” and recommended the players “make arrangements to get yourselves home as soon as possible.” The email later noted, “I apologize for all of this, and please know that this was dumped on us the same that it was you guys. We are just as frustrated and upset. Thanks!”
That last part is doubtful, of course, even with the nice exclamation point on the “thanks” ending; the COO is getting paid. The players did not, beyond a possible stipend while in training camp.
It took the league office 24 hours or so to provide a statement as to its status, with President/CEO Frank Murtha stating in a press release, “Major League Football regrets to announce that full funding for the 2022 Training Camp and opening of the 2022 season was not completed as planned.”
I’m not a business major or expert by any means, but if bills can’t be paid for a three-week training camp, not even taking into consideration the four-game regular season itself, wouldn’t that red flag have been quite noticeable before training camp began?
Murtha cited an “unexpected delay” as the reason camp and the start of the 2022 season was shut down. He would end the press release with the statement, “This is a temporary delay in operations, and I am working tirelessly to correct this situation. As I have said, our first goal is to take care of all of the players and coaches and get them back home. Every waking moment is dedicated to working on solutions.”
The guess here is he must be sleeping a lot. Certainly, some must have been asleep at the wheel going into this venture to attempt to push it through and yet have it fail, have the money run out, before the end of a short training camp.
It would appear MLFB’s plans for a spring season beginning in April with perhaps as many as four more teams added to the league are in serious jeopardy. And does Mobile still want to be a part of the league should it survive?
Listen, in the future, anyone attempting to start a professional football league in the month of August with teams in the South needs to recognize the power of high school football and its draw (the season begins here on Aug. 18) and the fact that college teams are beginning fall camp and football fans here cast their interest in the game in one or both of those directions, not to a four-game, four-team upstart league.
Maybe there will be greater interest in a spring league. Maybe. But there are a lot of fences to be mended — and some outstanding debts to be paid. There are also players who must be convinced to trust those who didn’t live up to their end of the bargain, those who tossed their mission statement in the trash.
The players involved in MLFB have gained some experience, but it wasn’t the type for which they signed up. And that’s the biggest disappointment, the greatest deficit among the league’s unpaid bills.
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