FXFL hopes to pave way to NFL minor-league system

The NFL has tried in the past to create a developmental league, including a failed foray overseas with NFL Europe, but hasn't managed to put a sustainable system in place, the way other major North American pro sports leagues have. 

Sports Illustrated's Peter Bukowski explains how Brian Woods, an attorney and commissioner of the nascent Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL), believes he has a solution.

The FXFL will launch its inaugural campaign this year, as a place for young players to develop their skills playing professional football in the States, as opposed to working out at home or going to the CFL.

Because the league is still in its infant stages, nobody is entirely sure yet how it will work. But the framework is starting to come together. Per an Associated Press profile from last month, the league will feature six teams (in the New York and Boston areas; Austin, Texas; Portland, Oregon; Omaha, Nebraska; and an undetermined city in Florida), with 40-man rosters, who will each play six-game schedules in the fall. 

"Player salaries will be low," writes Bukowski, "no more than about $1,250 per week, and the league will not rely on ad revenue from television contracts to stay afloat." 

And only players three or fewer years removed from college will be eligible to play.

The idea is to go into cities where sports infrastructure is already in place, a city with a minor league baseball team for example, and partner with them to provide a field as well as a fan-friendly atmosphere.

The NFL reportedly has no specific plans in place to partner with the FXFL, or any other developmental league, but, per Bukowski, "the league is always talking about how player development could be improved."

Meanwhile, Troy Vincent, the NFL’s director of player operations, said that "for all this football talent around, we have to create another platform for developing it... Maybe it’s a spring league; we’ll look to see if there is an appetite for it."

"Our long-term goal is to establish a partnership with the NFL," Woods told the Associated Press, “and we feel can do that on many platforms. It would give them a way to work with younger players that they don’t currently have. We can help them train prospective NFL officials...

"We can be a testing ground for proposed rules, too."

Tommie Harris, a former Pro Bowl defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears, and former St. Louis Rams defensive back Eric Bassey became the first FXFL owners last month, when they attained control of the Austin-based franchise.