Alliance of American Football starts in February

Pro football — actual games — won’t disappear from TV screens, mobile devices and the American consciousness once the Super Bowl ends next February.

The Alliance of American Football will kick off the following Sunday. On network television (CBS) as well as through a multitude of free digital platforms.

Yes, spring football. We know, from the USFL to the World League to the XFL, the idea has not worked. Here’s why the Alliance has a strong chance of succeeding: the folks involved.

The Alliance is the creation of Pro Football Hall of Famer Bill Polian, one of the most respected and accomplished executives in NFL history, and Charlie Ebersol, a longtime TV and film producer. Ebersol’s father, Dick, defined NBC Sports’ programming for more than two decades and created “Sunday Night Football.” Dick Ebersol, who also pioneered NBC’s Olympic broadcasts, will

serve on the board of directors.

Former players such as Justin Tuck, Hines Ward and Jared Allen will have significant roles in a league the younger Ebersol calls a “true partnership.”

“That’s the best way a league can perform and will be ultimately the key to success, having an interwoven product,” he said.

“Whenever you have an endeavor that involves the kind of teamwork football involves,” Polian adds, “it implies a partnership, the need to get their buy-in and do things, particularly in a startup, that represent their best interest ... to make sure players know we have their best interests at heart. That is the guiding philosophy.”

Co-founder Polian, who built the Bills, Colts and Panthers into Super Bowl teams, will oversee the football side, helped by former player and front office

executive J.K. McKay, who has been involved in other startups.

The league will have eight teams — cities and stadia to be announced, though look for complementary sites, not NFL venues, and warmer climates given the February-late April schedule. Rosters will be culled from NFL cuts to the 53man maximum after preseason, which Polian calls “the core of our constituency”; collegians who have gone undrafted, including underclassmen who have lost any remaining eligibility; players looking to return to the sport; and free agents from the CFL or elsewhere.

The Alliance will own all contracts and players will be dispersed in a variety of manners. If someone played in the NFL or in college for a Florida team or school, he would likely wind up on a Florida-based franchise, for example. There also will be a mechanism after those allocations for a team to get rights to a certain player.