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Major League Football (MLF)

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This article is about the planned semi-professional American football league. For the professional American football league, with two cancelled seasons, see Major League Football (MLFB).
Major League Football
SportAmerican football
Founded2019
First season2025 (planned)
CommissionerAdam McLean
No. of teams24 (planned)
CountryUnited States
HeadquartersTampa, Florida
Official websitemajorleaguefootball.pro

The Major League Football (MLF) is a planned professional Fall American football minor league. The league was set to begin play in 2022 after the announcement of several teams, but made an announcement that they were postponing the start of their inaugural season until 2023[1] and later to October 2024. The start of the League was then postponed again, to September 2025.[2]

Premise

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The MLF will be a developmental "franchise-model" fall League, playing on Sundays in markets that do not have an NFL presence, with attempt to mirror the United Soccer League.[3] The league also claims it is "not a secondary or inferior league to any other professional football league, but instead, a professional football league consisting of the very best players, coaches and staff".[4]

History

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MLF website first appeared in 2020 and claimed the league would start in the fall of 2020,[5] while McLean made his first appearance in September 2021 trying to attract investors for a franchise in Louisville.[6]

In August 2022 Sacramento was the league's first announced team, with plans to play in Heart Health Park. In an interview with the Sacramento press Mclean also said that an Oakland team is slated to play at Laney College and the league is scheduled to begin in October.[7] The league will consisted of 18 teams, each playing a 16-game schedule,[8] with eight of them will make to the playoffs - four teams each from the Eastern and Western conferences (three division winners and a wild card qualifier).[7] The MLF claimed that they had secured stadiums leases in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.[9]

The league would later postpone the 2022 season to 2023, citing issues with four stadiums out of the 18 league locations.[9] The planned league markets were North Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, El Paso, Utah, Iowa, South and North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rochester, Sacramento, Oakland, San Diego and Connecticut.[9]

In 2023 interview McLean stated that the league will consist of 20 teams and they are in the process of hiring general managers, who will then hire coaches and a staff, and will conduct tryouts for prospective players in June. McLean also mentioned some of the venues secured by the league, such as: War Memorial Stadium in Arkansas, Pratt & Whitney Stadium in Connecticut, Hughes Stadium in Sacramento and Laney College Stadium in Oakland. Other location mentioned in the interview were: Portland, Iowa, Kentucky, North Carolina, Dallas, Houston, San Diego and New York.[8] In a later interview he revealed that the "Portland" franchise will be located in Hillsboro, Oregon and the team will play in Hillsboro Stadium, while the season will start on September 10, 2023 and scheduled to play 15 regular season games ending in mid to late December.[10] The league starting date was later pushed back to 2024.[11]

Teams

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In 2021 the MLF had proposed 32 teams to be split into two conferences,[3] with a buy-in for a Major League Football franchise ranges from $3 million to around $10 million.[6] The number of teams changed multiple times,[7][8][1] and as of June, 2024, the league plan is to have 24 teams for the 2025 season.[12][13]

East
North Central South
New York Charleston, West Virginia Alabama
Rochester Norfolk, Virginia Kentucky
Oklahoma Durham, North Carolina Georgia
Connecticut North Charleston, South Carolina Orlando
West
North Central South
Herriman, Utah Cedar Falls, Iowa San Diego
Sioux Falls, South Dakota St. Louis North Dakota
Nebraska Oakland San Antonio
Portland Sacramento Arkansas

Players and coaches

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The league plan to target "the best athletes" and "especially former college players", with scheduled combines for prospective players in each of the league’s markets.[7] For the first year, players will be paid as a direct reflection of gross gate revenue and corporate sponsorship, while the money will be placed in a escrow account and will be evenly distributed amongst the players, regardless of position.[10]

MLF "plans to hire up-and-coming coaches that are seeking an opportunity rather than hiring coaches with pro football experience".[7] Coaches and executives salary will be paid by the league.[10]

Rules

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According to the league website "there will be less penalties in order to speed up the pace and increase the excitement of the game".[4]

Business

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The MLF aim was to attract families and to have affordable with an average price of $50 per game.[7] As of 2023, McLean stated that the league business model will lean into revenue generated from ticket sales, with ticket prices low as $50 and high as $125.[10]

In 2023 McLean stated the league will consist of 20 league-owned teams "for at least the first two seasons before exploring sale options for buyers. We have at least a dozen potential highly-qualified financial buyers ...We want to develop the product, prove that we are the real deal, work out the kinks the first to second season to create the value. We are working on corporate sponsorships".[8]

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The MLF claims it had a trademark on the name "Major League Football" dating back to 2001 and they plan sending a cease and desist letter for trademark infringement to the Major League Football (MLFB).[14]

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report by Dan Krieger September 12, 2022". OurSports Central. 12 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Building It S1 E21". YouTube.
  3. ^ a b "Semi-Pro Major League Football Team Looking to Launch in 2022". xflnewshub.com. 18 September 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Major League Football Official website". Major League Football.
  5. ^ "COMING FALL 2020 MLF MAJOR LEAGUE FOOTBALL". Major League Football. Archived from the original on 2020-04-20.
  6. ^ a b "New pro football league looking to land franchise in Louisville". WDRB. 17 September 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "New professional football league launching this fall, includes team from Sacramento". FOX40. 4 August 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d "Pro football is coming to Sacramento this fall: What to know — and can it work?". Sacramento Bee.
  9. ^ a b c "Professional football league that would include a Sacramento team postpones season". FOX40. 7 October 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d "Major League Football is bringing the professional game back to the Portland area". Hillsboro News Times. 2 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Bob Dunning: Have you heard of Major League Football?". The Davis Enterprise. 21 October 2023.
  12. ^ "Teams". Major League Football.
  13. ^ "Tickets". Major League Football.
  14. ^ "New pro football league includes Sacramento among list of debut cities for fall games". The Sacramento Bee. 2022-08-03. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
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