Dundon makes investment in new Alliance of American Football

[snovalleyhockeyfan]

Canes' owner invests $250 million, will chair AAF

The Hurricanes owner reported to have made a $250 million investment into the new league and will become the chairman of it. Adds that the league was in danger of missing payroll last week before Dundon stepped in with the cash.

Discuss.

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[Centrum Hockey]

If they are all ready almost missing payroll then it’s more likely that the xfl and aff will canablize each other

 

[MNNumbers]

I have little to add, except that I think that any investment in alternative American Football leagues is going to be difficult to find return for.

Generally, if I were to judge, this suggests to me that Dundon either is not very good at choosing his sports investments, or he has enough wealth that it doesn't matter, and he is merely playing.

 

[spencermeisner]

So he wants to be a lower payroll team when it comes to the NHL, but he'll toss 250m$ at the AAF?

 

[Hockeyholic]

Isn't this the same guy that ordered the Habs to wear their white jerseys in Montreal? Could the Habs have refused , and forced the Canes to wear their whites? Because I am pretty sure he can't dictate what the home team decides.

Regardless, this dude is starting to become very irritating. Good on him for this though.

 

[Bookie21]

$250 million isn't a big sum for Dundon, it's a vanity purchase, something to keep him occupied

 

[Ahoy there]

That's 25% of his reported wealth. I'll be extremely upset if major investments are not made in players that can instantly make us a dangerous team.

I cannot speak for this investment, but I do wonder if a buyout/merger is the exit strategy. Didn't MMA sell for many billion recently?

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Isn't this the same guy that ordered the Habs to wear their white jerseys in Montreal? Could the Habs have refused , and forced the Canes to wear their whites?

He didn't "order the Habs" to do anything. He put in a request asking if his team could wear its red jerseys and the Canadiens wear their white jerseys; Montreal said OK and the NHL approved it.

And yes, Montreal could have told him no. Kind of like other teams have done with the same request.

 

[tony d]

Heard this, good for him. Still it doesn't look good that a new thing can't make payroll in Week 1 of its first season.

 

[Mightygoose]

Crazy that the league thretenthre on going under not even a quarter of the way through it's first season.

If Dundon saw this as an opportunity, why didn't he invest before the launch?

Curious to see how long he can take on the losses. If he doesn't win a cup with the Canes in the near future, he'll have a champ every year as long as he wants to.

Touchdown celebrations may be fun to watch now

 

[Bookie21]

Crazy that the league thretenthre on going under not even a quarter of the way through it's first season.

If Dundon saw this as an opportunity, why didn't he invest before the launch?

Curious to see how long he can take on the losses. If he doesn't win a cup with the Canes in the near future, he'll have a champ every year as long as he wants to.

Touchdown celebrations may be fun to watch now

He didn't invest before the season, because by the sounds of it values slumped, and he got in on pennies on the dollar

 

[Hockeyholic]

He didn't "order the Habs" to do anything. He put in a request asking if his team could wear its red jerseys and the Canadiens wear their white jerseys; Montreal said OK and the NHL approved it.

And yes, Montreal could have told him no. Kind of like other teams have done with the same request.

There was an article where it was reported he "Ordered" Montreal to wear their Whites. Forget the name of the publisher.

 

[Svechhammer]

If Dundon saw this as an opportunity, why didn't he invest before the launch?

Because smart investors wait for the value to bottom out so they can maximize the earning potential of their investment. Kind of like how he waited to buy into the NHL until he found the right opportunity that allowed his investment to buy not just a team but an arena as well.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

hasn't the "can't make payroll" thing been refuted

 

[Legionnaire11]

AAF gets $250 million investment from Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon, dismisses report of financial difficulty

 

[Legionnaire11]

I hate the kind of damage that an irresponsible journalist can cause. That article from The Athletic should be retracted and an apology issued. Too bad every media outlet ran with it and the league is now having to work double time to fix the damage caused. This should have just been a great day for the league to announce Dundon and the financial strength he's bringing, instead they're having to assure everyone that the league isn't folding, unreal.

 

[Canes]

There was an article where it was reported he "Ordered" Montreal to wear their Whites. Forget the name of the publisher.

Maybe the word "ordered" got lost in translation? Because as has already been said, he can't order another franchise to do anything. The Canes just ask the home team if they'll wear white so the Canes can wear their home jerseys, and most franchises are nice enough to do so with the NHL's approval. That's basically the extent of the situation.

 

[Braun]

Dunder Mifflin eh?

 

[eddygee]

To those who are saying it's been refuted it can be refuted but I'd error on the side of caution in believing the AAF. They aren't going to come out and say Yup we are short on cash and we needed help so please come in invest in our business. Lol kinda Baghdad Bob. The part about players not receiving their paycheck due to moving to a new pay system screams BS . It's the type of things you hear about from established US leagues years after they've made it in a historical documentary, where some old-timer goes on about "Can you believe this from where we are today? Man things were so bad we almost folded week 2 we seriously didn't have money to pay guys " Of course they aren't going to cop to it nor would I or should they. I don't work for them, but the Athletic has some of the best journalist out there now in sports IMHO.

 

[Legionnaire11]

To those are saying it's been refuted it can be refuted but I'd error on the side of caution in believing the AAF. They aren't going to come out and say Yup we are short on cash and we needed help so please come in invest in our business. Lol kinda Baghdad Bob. The part about players not receiving their paycheck due to moving to a new pay system screams BS . It's the type of things you hear about a established US league in a historical documentary, where some old-timer goes on about "Can you believe this from where we are today? Man things were so bad we almost folded week 2 we seriously didn't have money to pay guys ? Of course they aren't going to cop to it nor would I or should they. I don't work for them, but the Athletic has some of the best journalist out there now in sports IMHO.

But the whole situation lines up more with what the Alliance and Dundon are saying than what the Athletic is saying.

Do you really think that the league ran into financial trouble in week 2 and Dundon just decided with minimal negotiating to not only settle up whatever current issues there are, but to inject about 4-5 seasons worth of funding on top of that?

This was in the works long before the league got started. Dundon didn't just put up 25% of his networth on a league that is already failing.

So yes, I believe what the league is saying. I believe someone at the Athletic has a connection to an agent who panicked when payday was late and irresponsibly ran an article with inly half of the story.

 

[eddygee]

But the whole situation lines up more with what the Alliance and Dundon are saying than what the Athletic is saying.

Do you really think that the league ran into financial trouble in week 2 and Dundon just decided with minimal negotiating to not only settle up whatever current issues there are, but to inject about 4-5 seasons worth of funding on top of that?

This was in the works long before the league got started. Dundon didn't just put up 25% of his networth on a league that is already failing.

So yes, I believe what the league is saying. I believe someone at the Athletic has a connection to an agent who panicked when payday was late and irresponsibly ran an article with inly half of the story.

Ummm Idk man I can see both sides now that you frame it that way But I definitely can believe the financial trouble given 100% failure rate of these type of football leagues after a yr or two. Yup most definitely can.

 

[nickp91]

I really want to see the XFL and AAF go Head to Head in terms of Players and Ratings and see if one or both can survive

 

[Legionnaire11]

I really want to see the XFL and AAF go Head to Head in terms of Players and Ratings and see if one or both can survive

I'd bet heavily on Alliance surviving longer as their goal is to compliment the NFL and eventually partner with them in terms of NFL teams loaning practice squad players to AAF teams for development and doing so in non-NFL markets.

XFL is going head-to-head against the NFL in NFL cities and already stated that they have no interest in becoming an NFL feeder.

 

[Legionnaire11]

Said Ebersol to the Sentinel:

We are a start-up, and start-ups raise money in pieces — there’s a Series A piece, Series B, Series C, etc. After the success of the first week, we had a number of investors come to us and offer us all kinds of different investments. Tom Dundon showed up and said, ‘Do you want to continue to raise Series B, Series C and Series D or do you want to raise Series Infinity right now and be taken care of from now on.’ That was an offer I was not going to refuse.

 

[eddygee]

I'd bet heavily on Alliance surviving longer as their goal is to compliment the NFL and eventually partner with them in terms of NFL teams loaning practice squad players to AAF teams for development and doing so in non-NFL markets.

XFL is going head-to-head against the NFL in NFL cities and already stated that they have no interest in becoming an NFL feeder.

So sort of - quasi AAA NBA D-league then. That'd be smart.