New AAF boss: NFL players’ union needs to provide players if Alliance should continue

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — The new majority owner of the Alliance of American Football calls the future of the young league bleak if it cannot use players from NFL rosters on its team.

USA Today reported Wednesday Tom Dundon, who also owns the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes and invested $250 million in the league earlier this year, told them the AAF cannot be a development league if the NFL Players’ Association would not allow its players to take part in the new league.

Dundon stated one of the league’s options is to discontinue if it cannot get the union’s cooperation.

The union did not have an official response to the report, but an anonymous official told the paper the union serious concerns about the risks involved in having NFL players playing in the AAF.

That official said playing in the Alliance would violate the collective bargaining agreement the union has with the NFL.

Dundon is expected to make a decision on the matter by the end of the week.

The AAF’s game play is to become comparable to what AAA class of minor league baseball is to Major League Baseball.

It’s not clear if there are financial implications spurring Dundon’s consideration to pull the plug on the Alliance.