Does the NFL have a minor league?
563405#3
Gridiron football does not operate on a league system. Different professional leagues play by very different sets of rules in different seasons (the NFL plays 11-a-side on a 100-yard field in autumn and early winter, the CFL uses 12-a-side on a 110-yard field in summer and early fall, while arena football and the minor indoor leagues each play 8-a-side on a 50-yard field in the spring and early summer). There have been attempts at forming true minor leagues for the professional game (most recently with 2017's The Spring League); none so far have been able to balance the major leagues' requests with the ability to maintain financial solvency.
League system
641277#5
Several minor or developmental leagues, independent of the NFL, have come and gone, such as the recent United Football League and the Fall Experimental Football League, but none have lasted more than a few seasons.
On November 27, 2016, it was reported by CBS Sports that the NFL will present formal proposals for a developmental league or in-season academy (with Troy Vincent prepared to make recommendations) in 2017. Vincent stated "We are ready to socialize our findings to the respective committees at the Pro Bowl, Senior Bowl, and combine" he also stated "We have some viable potential options that are ready to share with the Competition Committee, the Coaches Subcommittee and with some of our active and former players", "Our goal is to create a platform that addresses the entire football community--coaches, officials, front office personnel and players--is essential to the long-term sustainability of our game."
Minor league
49468434#29
In contrast with the other major sports, the National Football League does not maintain an official minor league system. The only league to have served as a minor league to the entire NFL was the NFL Europe League; NFL Europe teams were not assigned an individual NFL squad for an affiliation, but instead received prospects from all of the NFL's teams, who played in Europe during the offseason, then returned stateside in time for training camp. Individual NFL teams over the course of their history signed affiliation deals with the American Association in the 1930s, the Association of Professional Football Leagues in the 1940s, and the Atlantic Coast Football League in the 1960s. In addition to these leagues, NFL owners also operated franchises in the Arena Football League in the 2000s (decade); this arrangement differed in that the AFL teams were not directly used for player development. Arena football had its own minor league, arenafootball2, for most of the same decade.
Professional sports leagues in the United States
641277#2
While there are various semi-professional football leagues, none have any affiliation with the National Football League (NFL). The NFL and its teams have had working relationships with several independent leagues in the past, including the Association of Professional Football Leagues, the Atlantic Coast Football League, and most recently, the league owned-and-operated NFL Europe. In modern times, the NFL has developed players not ready for the active roster through each team's practice squad.
Minor league
49468434#31
A number of leagues have been "de facto" minor leagues without explicitly identifying as minor leagues themselves. The United Football League, which played from 2009 to 2012, had ambiguous goals in regard to its attempt to challenge the NFL as a major league and eventually settled into a position in pro football's second tier, below the NFL but above most other leagues. Two upcoming leagues, the Alliance of American Football in 2019 and the XFL in 2020 (the latter of which shares the name and some ownership with a previous XFL that played one season in 2001), are likewise in a similar level of uncertainty; the AAF so far has signed far fewer NFL players "per capita" than the UFL did, while the XFL has not signed any players yet.
Professional sports leagues in the United States
641277#3
Many consider the Arena Football League to have been a "de facto" minor league, since several NFL owners had teams in it in the mid-2000s, prior to its bankruptcy and restructuring. Arena football is played under very different conditions, and the AFL had its own minor league, af2, until 2009. Several other independent indoor football leagues that play a similar game exist.
Minor league
18039775#3
The NFL has not operated any developmental leagues since the folding of the NFL Europe League in 2007, and as of 2017 no independent minor professional leagues exist. From the time of NFL Europe's exit from the U.S. market in 1992 until the founding of the Stars Football League in 2011, there were no minor American football leagues anywhere in the country (the SFL ceased operations after its 2013 season; the Fall Experimental Football League played two seasons in 2014 and 2015).
American football in the United States
9314339#69
The National Football League is the only one of the four major sports leagues that does not have a formalized farm system. The source for almost all NFL players is college football. Drafted players from college immediately join the main team; if they fail to make the regular season roster, a limited number of players may be assigned to the practice squad. NFL teams rarely recruit players from other gridiron football leagues. American football also has the least global reach for prospects, with one exception being several players from other codes of football primarily as kickers and punters. The league's teams backed the World League (later known as NFL Europe) in the 1990s and 2000s, and purchased teams in the Arena Football League for a period in the 2000s.
Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada
714842#9
The following charts list movements of franchises in the modern eras of the major North American sports leagues. It does not include:The history of the NFL fully incorporates that of the fourth American Football League, which began operation in 1960 with eight teams and became by far the most successful rival to the NFL. In 1966, the two leagues agreed to a merger that took full effect in 1970. All teams from the 1960–1969 AFL were brought intact to the NFL, and the current NFL recognizes all AFL records and statistics as its own.Relocations in the NHL have been unique in that most of the teams have changed their names after relocating, as opposed to keeping their identity with the old market. Only one NHL team that relocated—both in the pre-Original Six era and in the modern era—kept its name: the Calgary Flames.
Relocation of professional sports teams
38297196#1
The National Football League held a monopoly on professional football in the United States for most of the 1950s, a rare occurrence for a league that had at least one competing league in every year since 1934. By 1960, a group of potential professional football owners that would become known as the Foolish Club had become frustrated with their efforts to buy into the NFL (some were NFL franchise minority owners such as Harry Wismer and Ralph Wilson; others, such as Lamar Hunt and Bud Adams, had tried but failed to buy NFL teams) and formed a new league, the American Football League. It was the eighth professional football league to use the name and the fourth to be universally considered a major-league competitor to the NFL. The AFL would prove to be the NFL's most formidable challenger to date.
List of American and Canadian cities by defunct football franchises