Alliance Of American Football (AAF) Bankruptcy Case: Final Update
It’s a tale as old as time in the wild world of startup sports leagues: big dreams, bigger promises, and an even bigger crash. Remember the Alliance of American Football (AAF)? Of course, you don’t, but for a glorious eight weeks in 2019, it was a thing. Now, after years of legal mudslinging, the final chapter has been written.
The Ruling On the AAF Bankruptcy Case
A Texas bankruptcy judge has finally ruled on the chaotic implosion of the AAF, and let’s just say Carolina Hurricanes & Portland Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon is walking away practically unscathed. The man who swooped in as the league’s supposed savior, only to pull the plug faster than a referee blows a whistle, has largely dodged a $180 million bullet.
For those who’ve forgotten the saga, and we don’t blame you, the AAF was meant to be spring football’s next big hit. But after just a few weeks, it became painfully obvious the league was hemorrhaging cash.
Enter Tom Dundon, a billionaire with “world-class business acumen,” who injected about $70 million to keep the lights on. The league’s founder, Charlie Ebersol, seemed to think this was just a down payment on a $250 million promise. Dundon, apparently, remembered that conversation a little differently.
The $1 Slap on the Wrist
The creditors and a bankruptcy trustee, Randolph Osherow, tried to pin the league’s collapse on Dundon, claiming he orchestrated the whole thing to snatch up the league’s tech assets and player contracts. They alleged fraud, breach of contract, and all sorts of other legal nastiness.
The court did find Dundon guilty of a little something: breaching his fiduciary duty of loyalty. It turns out he was handing out free advertising during AAF broadcasts to his buddies and related businesses like TopGolf and Carvana. It’s the kind of move that makes you wonder if he was running a professional football league or a costly friendship club.
Since the league was already a financial black hole, the judge ruled that the self-dealing didn’t cause any additional harm. So, the penalty was nominal damages of one dollar that Dundon had to pay. The 199-page ruling reads like a script for a business thriller, filled with conflicting testimonies and questionable decisions.
Judge Craig Gargotta painted a vivid picture of the key players. He described Ebersol as “charismatic” and “smart,” but also “confused and disorganized” on the stand. He questioned why Ebersol, so concerned for his players, would let them take the field knowing there wasn’t enough money in the bank to pay them.
Why the Alliance of American Football (AAF) Was Doomed
Let’s be honest, the AAF was a financial disaster waiting to happen. It rushed its launch to beat the XFL, racked up massive debts, and was run, as one executive put it, “like a 10-year business rather than a startup.”
Even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell chimed in, testifying that spring football leagues are “inherently problematic and unsuccessful.” When the commissioner of the biggest league on the planet says your idea is a long shot, maybe you should listen.
The Key Takeaways Here
So, after six years of legal battles, what’s the takeaway? Billionaires usually win; startup football leagues are a graveyard for investors’ money, and sometimes the most significant financial disasters in sports history end not with a bang but with a single dollar changing hands.
The AAF is now just another cautionary tale, a footnote in the long, sad history of leagues that tried and failed to capture America’s offseason attention. And Tom Dundon? He’s probably somewhere polishing his Stanley Cup rings, one dollar richer.
