Do you think an "anything goes" sports league is possible in the next 10-20 years?

[Via]

In light of what's happening in the NFL and the NHL, and considering the average sports fan's appetite for "big hits": do you think some new big money media entity could possibly get a foothold on American professional sports by securing an iron clad "play at your own risk" waiver? Would US sports fans flock to that sort of thing, or are they hip to the head trauma argument?

Isn't this what the USFL needed all of those years ago?

 

[Printer Bandit]

 

[Newbian]

If it's a female stripper league then one can only hope.

 

[Via]

You have to think big, man.

The major sports have been protected for decades, and I assume that they've made trillions of dollars during that time. .... (maybe hundreds of billions, I don't know about triillions).

If I read the American public correctly - the appetite exists for this sort of thing.

 

[techs]

I think it would be easier to just move it to a country that allowed it. Heck, the NFL could just buy a small country with what it makes.

Imagine the countries lining up to give tax breaks to a kill or be killed NFL league.

 

[AViking]

Didn't they try this with the XFL? It bombed.

 

[spaceman]

anything to speedup our decline

 

[Scotteq]

For the OP: http://calvinandhobbes.wikia.com/wiki/Calvinball

If it's a female stripper league then one can only hope.

You're Welcome.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AfkKjA...&sa=X&ei=MVhmUsf6E-j54APLuoGgCg&ved=0CBQQqwQ#

 

[sourceninja]

If people just want to see bit hits, why not watch combat sports? Their are events every weekend and there is no off season.

 

[z1ggy]

UFC. People getting kicked in the face and knocked silly. What more do you want besides that?

 

[Via]

Ultimate fighting will never been even a 10th as big as football in the US. People love football and people love to see guys have the snot knocked out of them. It's almost religion here.

I probably titled this thread badly. I should have written "could a new football league that finds a way around liability issues finally make an inroad, taking advantage of all of the NFL's troubles?"

I've heard in various places that it's impossible to avoid culpability because waivers are never iron-clad, but maybe they could fly the players to Grenada or somewhere with lax liability laws to sign the papers? Would the game have to be played where the waivers are signed?

 

[purbeast0]

it will never happen.

a. go to the nfl where they will make X amount of dollars and come out healthier when they are done.
b. go to the "xfl" where they will make x/100 amount of dollars and come out less healthier when they are done.

it's pretty obvious which league the good players would go to.

 

[Crono]

Well, the answer is actually yes. By 2024 it wouldn't surprise me if we see something like that pop up somewhere in the world, and then the internet could easily spread the popularity.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Rollerball!! It's coming.

 

[smackababy]

The new league would be full of fair below average players (only the best college players make it to the teams as it is) and have far shorter careers. Yeah, it would be exciting to see a few big hits, but the players would constantly be injured and lacking in overall skill.

People cry about the NFL being stricter each year in player safety, but then cry for weeks when their favorite player is hurt. You can't have it both ways.

Unless!!! We have a sport where people wear power armor or something and then the big hits can come out forever.

 

[Crono]

The new league would be full of fair below average players (only the best college players make it to the teams as it is) and have far shorter careers. Yeah, it would be exciting to see a few big hits, but the players would constantly be injured and lacking in overall skill.

People cry about the NFL being stricter each year in player safety, but then cry for weeks when their favorite player is hurt. You can't have it both ways.

Unless!!! We have a sport where people wear power armor or something and then the big hits can come out forever.

Unreal Tournament without the crazy weapons or respawning. But definitely robots.

 

[Via]

it will never happen.

a. go to the nfl where they will make X amount of dollars and come out healthier when they are done.
b. go to the "xfl" where they will make x/100 amount of dollars and come out less healthier when they are done.

it's pretty obvious which league the good players would go to.

But it's been proven over and over again that football players don't give a damn about their health while they're playing.

I'm positive they would follow the money.

 

[purbeast0]

But it's been proven over and over again that football players don't give a damn about their health while they're playing.

I'm positive they would follow the money.

and as i stated in my post, that is another reason they would stick with the nfl.

 

[cbrunny]

UFC? or XFL?

 

[poofyhairguy]

Isn't that what MMA is?

 

[Via]

and as i stated in my post, that is another reason they would stick with the nfl.

NFL becomes a two hand touch league, fans flock to new league that allows big hits.

Money follows.

 

[Blackjack200]

People like big hits and violence, but what they want to see the most is elite athletes competing against each other in a structured competition. Obscenely violent leagues are already available for consumption, some have already mentioned UFC and combat sports, there are also obscure minor hockey leagues in Canada that have like 10 fights a game (or at least they used to, they may be gone by now).

 

[smackababy]

NFL becomes a two hand touch league, fans flock to new league that allows big hits.

Money follows.

Not really. If you really think fans aren't fanatical about their teams and will just switch because some other league feature Brock Lesner 2.0 are going to have HUGE HITS! OMG!, you are out of touch with sports fans.

The MMA has everything a person who likes that would want and after 20 years can compete with MLS.

People aren't going to abandon years of loving an NFL team because they can't hit the QB with anymore more than their hands anymore.

 

[Theb]

UFC. People getting kicked in the face and knocked silly. What more do you want besides that?

Pretense.

 

[Blackjack200]

NFL becomes a two hand touch league, fans flock to new league that allows big hits.

Money follows.

Everyone thinks they're clever and funny when they predict the NFL taking all hits out of the game because of what's been removed so far.

What they've actually removed are mostly cheap shots. Horse collar tackes, late hits, hits on defenseless receivers, ect. are all cheap as hell.