Before any other conversation could occur within the league meetings, Mark Livingston of the Wolves presented the NAAF with their desire to further their partnership into a full merger. The conversation moved quickly as both leagues certainly saw the benefit of a permanent arrangement, especially with a Kansas City expansion still up in the air. The details of the deal would be worked out over the course of the meetings as both sides saw it as a great opportunity to make some changes to the league as a whole. Eventually, they would have a final proposal which the league voted on. The new deal passed convincingly, as the NAAF officially entered a new era with 18 full members of the league.
NAAF Changes
The new deal brought a plethora of new changes to the NAAF, and how its season would function. Below is a list of the biggest changes:
The former WFU teams will remain with Minnesota in the West Division, making the 1970 division alignment a permanent situation.
14 Games: The upcoming season will see the regular season schedule grow from 12 games to 14 games. This includes the same 8 games against their division with an additional game against each other division (3 per division).
Minimum Wage Increase: With the addition of 2 more games, the minimum wage will increase from $7,500 to $10,000, with the potential to increase if league revenues continue to rise as well.
Rookie Deal Increases: Further bonuses for higher draft picks will also take place over a player’s 3-year rookie deal, more details are to be ironed out at a later date, but an immediate boost will apply to all current players.
Mackenzie Cup: While the WFU teams still wanted to have a dedicated game to compete for the Mackenzie Cup, the rest of the league was not as happy about the playoff format from last season, Minnesota specifically who had to play a much stronger opponent in Vancouver than they felt if they got to play (8) Ottawa. While Norman Mackenzie of the Rangers proposed an option of the top 2 former WFU teams making it and competing for the cup, again the league didn’t like the idea as if it was used last season the Winnipeg Falcons would have made the playoffs at 5-6-1, while Ottawa and Louisville miss at 7-5. In the end, the decision would be that the Mackenzie Cup will be awarded to the highest-finishing WFU team during the regular season.
Beyond those specific changes, the WFU teams will also be included in the 1971 draft. Players out of Western Canadian Schools will also be able to easily apply/declare for the NAAF draft. The NAAF and the Western Canadian schools will also be working together to start to make the transition to hybrid rules come the 1972 college season.
With the WFU teams now included, here is the 1971 draft order:
1 - Calgary
2 - London
3 - Regina
4 - Halifax
5 - Montreal
6 - Toronto
7 - Edmonton
8 - Winnipeg
9 - Boston
10 - Louisville
11 - Ottawa
12 - Providence
13 - Buffalo
14 - Minnesota
15 - Indiana
16 - Pittsburgh
17 - Vancouver
18 - Long Island
Also, all former WFU players are now able to become full members of the NAAF and receive the benefits of being member players in the league. This will also allow the new teams to easily sign and trade with the rest of the NAAF.
CALGARY NAME CHANGE
The last thing that was touched on was that the league wasn’t super stoked about having two teams with the Tigers' nickname. Tyler McNeil was more than willing to make a change to the name for Calgary, having not been overly attached to the Tigers name that the team has had for many years before he became the owner.
ACFL
HAMMERS IN TROUBLE
The Blacksmiths set the mark for the best attendance numbers in Pittsburgh for the first time in a while. Their competitors, the Pittsburgh Hammers have continued to see attendance decline. Another part of the Hammers’ organization was in decline, and that was the investors. The Hammers for a long time have had a collective group as ownership. The group had previously included current Blacksmiths’ owner William Braddock, but just like Braddock who eventually pulled out for the opportunities in the NAAF, other investors have been jumping ship. The ACFL has had to start to step in and help the failing organization from going belly up. However, with more and more investors pulling out, the league is now the majority owner. At this point, the league is going to be looking for a new ownership group to take on the team, and they certainly will not stop at the city limits, meaning the end could be in sight for a historic franchise.
POTENTIAL PARTNERSHIP WITH SOUTHERN FOOTBALL LEAGUE
With the NAAF’s temporary agreement with the WFU that was agreed to last offseason, the ACFL was quick to find a response. Their response was to head south and begin talks with the Southern Football League about a potential merger. The 6 Southern teams and the league have shown interest in a partnership, especially to help grow both leagues to start to compete with the NAAF appearing to pull away a little from the rest. An agreement has not been officially made, but many expect by next offseason, the two leagues will have something set in stone.
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