Feel Bad for the Undrafted Rookies and Fringe Guys

[SunsetBengal]

(07-26-2020, 11:29 AM)fredtoast Wrote: I think something like that is coming.

The NBA has had a developmental league for a while, but just this year a lot of top high school prospects are skipping college and going directly to the D-league.  It does not pay a lot, but they can work on their game 100% of the time instead of just the very limited hours they get to practice in college.  If the Arena Leagues really are folding (did not hear about that) then there would be a ready made market.

Of the 5 major sports leagues, the NFL is the only one that does not have it's own developmental system.  MLB, NBA, NHL, and even MLS all offer developmental leagues as an alternate route to their primary league as an alternative to only having the NCAA as the only viable route to preparing players for major league competition.

The NFL has gotten by for a long time, by having CFB provide them a steady stream of pro-ready talent, all while requiring no financial investment or expenditure on their own part.  I first had this idea while watching a couple of XFL games, earlier this year.  It seems to me that the NFL could have easily absorbed a ready made league like the XFL into their umbrella.  Not only would they have expanded opportunity for player development, but also increased their already huge market share of the American sports dollar.