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The co-founder of the AAF says there are 3 things that led to the failure of other upstart pro football leagues and his league won't make the same mistakes

Tyler Lauletta   

The co-founder of the AAF says there are 3 things that led to the failure of other upstart pro football leagues and his league won't make the same mistakes
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Charlie Ebersol

Edward A. Ornelas/AAF/Getty Images

Week 1 of the Alliance of American Football was a success, and co-founder Charlie Ebersol is making sure not to repeat the mistakes of past leagues.

  • The Alliance of American Football presents the most viable secondary football league that America has seen in years.
  • The Alliance has differentiated itself from leagues that came before it in several ways, most notably in its relationship with the NFL.
  • Alliance co-founder Charlie Ebersol spoke with INSIDER about the mistakes other pro football leagues made, and how his plans to avoid them and turn into a sustainable business.

The Alliance of American Football got off to a pretty solid start.

If football fans were looking for a fix from their favorite sport after the Super Bowl, the AAF treated them to four games during its inaugural weekend. There was some solid football and a few highlight-reel plays that you'd never see in today's NFL.

Read more: The AAF had a strong first weekend, but there was only one play that everybody was talking about

Many secondary football leagues have come and gone through the years of the NFL's dominance, but the Alliance, led by co-founders Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian, know their history and are keen to avoid the mistakes of those that came before them.

Ebersol was inspired to create the league after directing the documentary "This Was the XFL" for ESPN's "30 for 30" series, which told the story of the last league to take on the NFL through the relationship between his father Dick Ebersol, a monumental executive at NBC Sports, and WWE chairman Vince McMahon.

Days before the Alliance officially kicked off, Ebersol spoke with INSIDER about the lessons he learned from other pro football leagues, identifying three big mistakes they made, and how his planned to avoid them.

Here are the mistakes the other leagues made:


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