The AFL Curse
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Allow me to be the first person to stay on-topic (for Gip's sanity) and say that if the stadium in the '64 AFL Title Game looks familiar, it's Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium - used in the movie 'The Natural' as the New York Knights home stadium.
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Allow me to be the first person to stay on-topic (for Gip's sanity) and say that if the stadium in the '64 AFL Title Game looks familiar, it's Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium - used in the movie 'The Natural' as the New York Knights home stadium.
Allow me to be the first person to stay on-topic (for Gip's sanity) and say that if the stadium in the '64 AFL Title Game looks familiar, it's Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium - used in the movie 'The Natural' as the New York Knights home stadium.
True.
But they used Milwaukee's old stadium in Major League to depict Cleveland Municipal Stadium
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How did the AFL's TV ratings compare to the NFL's?
How did the AFL's TV ratings compare to the NFL's?
Hell....I don't even know if they had ratings back in the 60s. I suspect they did. I do believe that the AFL had their games shown on NBC....I recall, I think, Kurt Gowdy calling games. They were successful enough to lure a lot of big names to play for them: Joe Namath in particular. They also got Rick Norton QB who the Browns drafted in the second round to sign with the Dolphins. He was a big name out of college...but did nothing as a pro. Same for Jack Concannon.
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How did the AFL's TV ratings compare to the NFL's?
Hell....I don't even know if they had ratings back in the 60s. I suspect they did. I do believe that the AFL had their games shown on NBC....I recall, I think, Kurt Gowdy calling games. They were successful enough to lure a lot of big names to play for them: Joe Namath in particular. They also got Rick Norton QB who the Browns drafted in the second round to sign with the Dolphins. He was a big name out of college...but did nothing as a pro. Same for Jack Concannon.
Hell....I don't even know if they had ratings back in the 60s. I suspect they did. I do believe that the AFL had their games shown on NBC....I recall, I think, Kurt Gowdy calling games. They were successful enough to lure a lot of big names to play for them: Joe Namath in particular. They also got Rick Norton QB who the Browns drafted in the second round to sign with the Dolphins. He was a big name out of college...but did nothing as a pro. Same for Jack Concannon.
I started looking up the history of the merger after you posted this thread and was surprised that the NFL came to the AFL first about merging, and that by and large the owners of AFL teams had far more money than the NFL owners.
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Hell....I don't even know if they had ratings back in the 60s. I suspect they did. I do believe that the AFL had their games shown on NBC....I recall, I think, Kurt Gowdy calling games. They were successful enough to lure a lot of big names to play for them: Joe Namath in particular. They also got Rick Norton QB who the Browns drafted in the second round to sign with the Dolphins. He was a big name out of college...but did nothing as a pro. Same for Jack Concannon.
I started looking up the history of the merger after you posted this thread and was surprised that the NFL came to the AFL first about merging, and that by and large the owners of AFL teams had far more money than the NFL owners.
I started looking up the history of the merger after you posted this thread and was surprised that the NFL came to the AFL first about merging, and that by and large the owners of AFL teams had far more money than the NFL owners.
The AFL owners WERE a bunch of rich guys who put together the league: Hunt, Adams, Wilson and others.....where a lot of NFL owners were old line NFL families where football was there only holding: Halas, Rooney, Bidwill, Mara, George Preston Marshall....and a few guys like Modell who had bought their team on a shoestring but were not otherwise that wealthy.....not like the AFL guys. So the AFL guys really had he deeper pockets to a great extent.
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Per Forbes Magazine...at one time these were the Top 15 wealthiest NFL owners:
15. Jeff Lurie...Eagles
14. Dan Snyder...Redskins
13. Jim Irsay...Colts
12. Tom Benson....Saints....Benson now deceased
11. Jimmy Haslam...Browns
10. Robert McNair....Houston....now deceased
9. Arthur Blank....Falcons
8. Steven Bisciotti...Ravens
7. The Pegulas...Buffalo
6. Jerry Jones....Dallas
5. Robert Kraft...New England
4. Shahid Khan....Jacksonville
3. Steve Ross....Dolphins
2. Stan Kroenke...Rams
1. Paul Allen...Seahawks...now deceased.
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Some notes on the above:
A. Tom Benson's widow, Gayle, says she will continue to own and operate the Saints (and the N.O. Pelicans) as long as she is alive
B. Likewise, Robert McNair's wife, Janice will continue to own the Houston Texans...but their son Calvin McNair will become the chairman and operator of that franchise.
C. The Seahawks were owned actually by the Paul Allen Trust....and now his sister Jody Allen has become the effective owner of the team...and has stated no intention to sell the franchise.
So each of these teams will remain in the families that have owned them. (ala the Rooneys, Maras, and other franchises). Compare to the Bills that were sold after the death of Ralph Wilson to the Pegulas.
Another of the original AFL owners died not too long ago: Bud Adams, owner of the Titans of Tennessee. There was some family infighting...but it appears that Amy Adams Struk, daughter of Bud, has taken control. A sister, Susan Adams Smith apparently sold her interest in the team to Amy.
And further FYI, here is the list of NFL owners by length of ownership (the Packers, being a community owned entity have the longest tenure, naturally):
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