1968 League Meetings - Part 1

1968 League Meetings - Part 1

The 1968 NAAF league meetings entered a new format this offseason. The first day or so was dedicated to members of the league, owners, players, and coaches, proposing potential changes to the league’s rules and regulations. After discussions on the topics over the week, they will be voted upon at the end to decide which rules to take into effect. (yes, that means you guys will have a chance to vote on these rules).

Here were the main proposals and news to come from the first day of meetings.

MINNEAPOLIS STADIUM UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Last offseason, the University of Minneapolis and potential football team owner Kris Matheson had put together a proposal for a new stadium at the city’s largest university. The proposal was a strong one, but still wasn’t a sure go, however with the NAAF’s help in producing some funds, the city approved the new building. Over the last year, the stadium had been under construction and should be complete for the University to play some games this season. 

At this point, it seems already set in stone that the NAAF will be adding a Minneapolis team in the near future. However, Jameson is not keen on expanding by 1 team again and would rather have a pair of teams to go forward with. Jameson is hoping to add a team that is also out west to help grow the game along with Minneapolis. However, it has been difficult to find a city with the stadium and potential to have a team, especially with the GLFL taking up most major Midwestern cities. Most proposals the league has seen, have not been all that strong. Most need to build a stadium but may not have the financial backing. The NAAF would normally step in, but they are already running a bit low following the Minneapolis deal.

However, here have been the strongest proposals

Grand Rapids, MI - Back in the 1957 expansion process, David Harrison had been looking to have football return to the city, but a new stadium was very much needed and Harrison was not willing to make it happen for an NAAF team. A decade later, and now his son Daniel Harrison is making a push for the return of football. This time, there is a greater willingness to build a new stadium to house a team, however, Daniel isn’t quite as well off as his father was, so there will certainly be a need for financial support to make it happen.

Des Moines, IA - This proposal is a long shot at this point, however, because of its proximity to Minneapolis, Des Moines has stayed in the conversation. They do have a potential ownership group led by Duncan Brown, but they are not quite as invested in getting a football team to the city. They seem to be more on the safe side and would not be willing to eat too many losses if the team does struggle. However, if it does work then it could be a very interesting spot.

Kansas City, KS/MO - Kansas City is probably the biggest market that is up for grabs at the moment. It also appears to have the best backing behind it. The potential owner Jacob Cross is hoping to bring the team to the city. Despite the city already had a baseball park, they will need a new stadium as the baseball team doesn’t want to have the field changing during the summer season. Luckily, a farming company, Powell Mills, is coming to assist Mr. Cross in helping the funding of the new stadium, however, there are still some concerns behind the overall bid with Powell Mills being a fairly young company, and not the most influential sponsor at this point. 

Omaha, NE - This bid has been a bit more under the radar, but there is a proposal to have the team play out of Major Nebraska University. Harry Colson is a Dean at the university and has a pretty cost-effective proposal, with the school’s stadium that is relatively new and able to field the NAAF’s larger field. As a whole, Omaha is not the biggest market for sure, but it still holds a candle over locations like London and Halifax, which have had success. The best part is, that this proposal could be the cheapest and could even fast-track the expansion to 1968 rather than waiting until 1969 by having the stadium ready to go.

Quebec City, QC - While a move out west is the most likely, there are still the usual suspects out East that may be able to sneak their way into the conversation if the Western markets fail. Quebec City has been a hybrid football heartland that would no doubt support a team. They do still have a good stadium, which has been used for hybrid football for many years now. The stadium is still on the smaller side, but it’s still an option, similar to Omaha, that could fast track the expansion to next season. The downside for Quebec at this point is the concern that a professional team could harm the strong semi-pro/college culture in the city which has been a major help to the development of players of the year. 

Portland, ME - Portland has always found itself in strong contention for a team, but the desire to bring a team to the city has subdued over the years from both the NAAF and the likely ownerships, mainly led by Phillip Dockson, but it remains an option in Jameson’s book. The faltering interest is likely due to the NAAF’s growth and the several failed attempts from the city in the past. This is still a location that does need a new stadium to really be able to house a team long-term. 

I won’t be having an actual vote for the expansion city, but feel free to give your feedback and thoughts, I will still take those into account when making the final decision. 

NEW RULE PROPOSALS

BYE WEEK
The players and coaches came together with a proposal to look at adding a regular bye week to the regular season. The players specifically stated that they liked the bye weeks that were present during the 1964 season when the league had an odd number of teams. They specifically noted how the game is getting faster and more dangerous, and with that comes more injuries. The hope is a week off for teams could help to give a bit more time to recover and some time to see family during the season. A majority of the voting members are in agreement to add a bye week, however, they are not sure when the week should occur. 

There are several options that were looked at which still need to be decided:

Option 1 - Mid-Season Break - The first option would be a simple break between weeks 6 and 7. This would mean there would be no games played during the week and the season would resume in week 7. 
Pros: Simple for Scheduling, Overall fair with everyone having the same week off. Plus more of the league members could take the week off as well.
Cons: Could be a tough one to pass with TV deals

Option 2 - Mid-Season Half-Break - The second option would be a similar break, except week 7 would be split into 2 weeks with half of the teams getting the first week off, and then the next week would be off for the other 6 teams. 
Pros: Still relatively fair, Still games every week, could lead to a higher watch rate with teams having the week off.
Cons: Not quite as fair as the complete break, league members will not be able to have the week off. 

Option 3 - Rolling Bye Weeks - The third option would see a rotation of 2-4 teams getting a bye week between Week 4 and Week 9. (This is similar to how the NFL does it)
Pros: Keeps the most games going throughout the season. 
Cons: Less fair, some teams have early by week while others have later weeks, tougher to schedule.

Option 4 - Trade Deadline Break - Like the first option this would be a hard break with every team getting a break, however, this time the break occurs over the trade deadline.
Pros: Fair week off and allows traded players to have more time to adjust to new teams, better to help players heal later in the season.
Cons: Could be a tough week off for those potentially getting moved instead of being a proper break.

SALARY RULE CHANGES

The NAAF currently has a rule in which a player can call for at least a $500 raise in annual salary if they are to have their contract extended prior to hitting the open market. There are some players that wish to have that raise amount increased to $1,000 for this season. It does seem like a good idea as a whole to help players be paid better, however, there are some other players that feel as though the rule could cause more of those fringe players to enter free agency more frequently and could lead to less stability which isn’t necessarily a good thing for those players. It would help if the salary cap does increase allowing teams to spend more, the new cap is yet to be determined. The existing rule rarely affects the higher paid players as they usually exceed the rise by a significant amount anyway, so there may not be very many benefits to making this change. 

REMOVAL OF COIN TOSS

There is a potential rule change that would see the removal of the traditional coin toss at the start of games. It will likely be replaced with giving the home team the first choice as if they won the coin toss. Of course, the traditionalists in the league are against a change to the classic pre-game event. However, there are just as many who wouldn't mind the change, which just adds to a team having home-field advantage.