Wikipedia

American Patriot League

For the collegiate athletic conference, see Patriot League.

The American Patriot League (APL) is a planned professional American football minor league, which is owned by The World Professional Football Association, a single entity corporation, that will manage the business of the APL.[1] It was initially planned to launch in 2019.

American Patriot League
SportAmerican football
Founded2018
First season2023 (planned)
No. of teams8 (planned)
CountryUnited States
Official websiteaplfootball.us

The season is supposed to run from April through June as a 14-game season, featuring eight team divided into two divisions: Freedom and Liberty.[2]

History

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Premise

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The APL will be a single entity corporation, that will consist eight franchises that will be divided into two divisions: Freedom Division and Liberty Division.[2] Each team will play a 14 game schedule consisting of 7 home games and 7 away games. The WPFA had plans to add additional team cities to the APL in 2020 and 2021.[3] To incentivize players from leaving the league for other leagues, the APL plans to offer lifetime health coverage for anyone who stays at least five seasons, along with a minimum salary of $50,000 a season to all players.

The APL management team consists of former football players Keon Lattimore, Marques Ogden, Bob Golic, and Director of Football Operations David Holloway.[4] Golic stated that none of the players who make an APL roster will be allowed to kneel during the national anthem. All team nicknames will be chosen by the fans as part of a naming contest.

Part of the league’s strategy for financial survival includes establishing itself in markets where there is a passion for football and where there are not many (if any) other pro sports franchises in place. Those are the main reasons, according to Ogden, why the league preferred Daytona Beach to Orlando.[2]

2019 canceled season

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The 2019 inaugural season was supposed to last from April 6 through June 8, with the playoffs from June 15 through June 23. The original plan for the Championship Game was to have it played on Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium at the campus of the United States Naval Academy in Maryland during the 4th of July weekend. Instead, the Championship Game was moved to Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium at Canton, Ohio and was to be played on July 6.[5] Broadcasts would've been available with a paid subscription to the Awesome Cloud Network.

Daytona Beach, Florida and Mobile, Alabama were the first locations to be announced by the league,[6] while Sacramento California, Shreveport, Louisiana,[7] Houston, Texas, Canton, Ohio[8] and Ypsilanti, Michigan announced on later date, with an eighth team ("Mystery City") was to be announced as of June 5, 2020. The APL cancelled their planned Little Rock, Arkansas showcase on October 27-28, 2018 but did conduct the two other showcases in Houston on November (10-11)[9] and December (1-2)[10] and added Daytona Beach (January 5-6, 2019),[11] Houston (January 12-13, 2019)[12] and Cocoa Beach, Florida (February 1-10, 2019) showcases,[13] that never materialized. On January the league started allocating players to the teams,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20] while training camps would been held at Cocoa Beach between January 31 to March 2, 2019.[21]

In February 2019, the APL made an announcement that they were postponing the start of their inaugural 2019 season until 2020,[22] and later postponed it again to 2022, then 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the December 2021 announcement the league hasn’t posted anything on its website in regards to the league rebooting anytime soon.

Teams

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Club City Stadium Capacity Head coach
Canton Canton, Ohio Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium 23,000 Jamie Thomas
Daytona Beach[23] Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Stadium 9,601 Linwood Wright
Houston Houston, Texas Rice Stadium 47,000 Joe Nixon
Mobile[24] Mobile, Alabama Ladd–Peebles Stadium 33,471 Tim Beckman
Mystery City TBA TBA TBA TBA
Sacramento Sacramento, California Hughes Stadium 20,311 Duncan Anderson
Shreveport Shreveport, Louisiana Independence Stadium 49,565 Erin Henderson
Ypsilanti Ypsilanti, Michigan Rynearson Stadium 30,200 TBA
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Locations of teams for the 2019 APL season

Young Superstars League

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The league plans to operate their own minor developmental league called Young Superstars League (YSL). the league will allow players between the age 18-25 years old to play in an organized league of their own and developing the skills necessary to compete in the APL.[25]

YSL will be designed for players that cannot afford to pay for college or may not want to spend time there. The league will allocate funds for players that would like to pursue a college education or business trade after or during their playing days, and will have tutors and online college courses for players so they can continue their education and studies all year.

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References

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  1. ^ "World Professional Football Association". wpfa.us.
  2. ^ a b c "Daytona Becomes 1st City In New Spring Football League". NewDaytonaBeach.com. October 9, 2018. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  3. ^ "World Professional Football Association". wpfa.us.
  4. ^ "Management". American Patriot League.
  5. ^ "About". American Patriot League.
  6. ^ "Mobile joins new professional football league". WKRG. November 19, 2018.
  7. ^ "Alright #APL Patriots, Team Announcement #4: Shreveport, Louisiana! Home games will be at Independence Stadium".
  8. ^ "Well hey y'all Happy Friday! It's been a minute. Where do we begin? New team: Canton OH! New team: Houston, TX! Team colors announced!".
  9. ^ "APL Inspiration: Players and Coaches Short interviews with players and coaches from Houston Tryouts 1, talking about the birth of the league and its bright future".
  10. ^ "More videos are up, check out the APL Tryouts II".
  11. ^ "New Pro Football League Holding Player Tryouts In Daytona Beach". December 8, 2018.
  12. ^ "Due to overwhelming interest we are going to have two more tryouts in January instead of one. Daytona Beach, FL - January 5-6 Houston, TX - January 12-13=New Pro Football League Holding Player Tryouts In Daytona Beach".
  13. ^ American Patriot League [@AmPatLeague] (January 5, 2019). "Happy New Year everyone! We're back. ANNOUNCEMENT: Tryout camps are rescheduled and combined due to huge demand (800+ players!). Moved to Cocoa Beach, FL, February 1-10, 2019" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ "Daytona Players". Archived from the original on May 27, 2019.
  15. ^ "Mobile Players". Archived from the original on May 27, 2019.
  16. ^ "Sacramento Players". Archived from the original on May 27, 2019.
  17. ^ "Shreveport Players". Archived from the original on May 27, 2019.
  18. ^ "Canton Players". Archived from the original on May 27, 2019.
  19. ^ "Houston Players". Archived from the original on May 27, 2019.
  20. ^ "Ypsilanti Players". Archived from the original on May 27, 2019.
  21. ^ "Training camps are now officially scheduled! January 31 to March 2, Cocoa Beach, FL".
  22. ^ "2020 Season". American Patriot League.
  23. ^ "Daytona getting team in new pro football league". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  24. ^ "Mobile-based football team will play in American Patriot League". FOX10News. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  25. ^ "World Professional Football Association". wpfa.us.
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