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| Estadio Azteca, Mexico City |
DECEMBER 29, 2011 - The Pan-American Football League, a new spring football league with teams in 32 markets, plans to kick off its inaugural season in the spring of 2012. Teams will be grouped into two conferences with two "sections" and four divisions each. Every team will play an 18-game schedule, including two games against each of its three divisional rivals.
The new league will incorporate several rule changes designed to make play more exciting and interesting. As in Canadian football, more than one offensive back can be in motion at once, and backs may be moving toward the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped (though they may not cross it).
PAFL scoring rules are also slightly different. On extra points, the defensive team may score a point by blocking the kick. Similarly, the defense can score three points by blocking a field goal attempt - but must then kick off to the opponent. The team blocking the kick is given the choice between accepting three points and relinquishing the ball or taking possession (without the points) at the point where the ball is whistled dead.
Players are selected using a draft, with preference being given to schools in a given team's region. These regional draft picks will solidify each team's local identity and help it build a following among community members who have followed local players at the high school and college levels.
The PAFL is the only football league scheduled to field teams in the United States, Canada and Mexico during the 2012 season. Ciudad Mexico Azteca will play its games in Estadio Azteca, with seating for 105,000 fans. At the other end of the spectrum, the Thunder Bay Icebreakers will play several home games at Fort William Stadium, which has a seating capacity of just 3,500. Modeled after the NFL's Green Bay Packers, the Icebreakers are owned by the Thunder Bay community at large. The franchise is exploring the possibility of expanding Fort William Stadium or building a larger facility. In the meantime, some home games will be played at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis.
Other franchises outside the contiguous 48 states include the New Brunswick Neptunes (Moncton, New Brunswick), the Halifax Hellhounds, the Waikiki Waveriders (Honolulu, Hawaii) and the Arctic Circle Aurora (Anchorage, Alaska). Franchises proposed for Quebec City, Quebec, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, did not complete the required application process or tender the franchise fee and will not compete in the 2012 season.
Three teams from each section will qualify for the playoffs, for a total of 12 teams in all. The team with the best record in each section will receive a first-round bye, advancing to play the winner of a game between the other division winner and a "wild-card" team. The playoffs will culminate in the first Pan-Am Bowl, scheduled for late summer. The winner will claim the Red Grange Trophy, named for pro football’s first superstar.
Grange was a trailblazer who served as the centerpiece for one of the earliest professional football leagues, the first circuit to bear the name American Football League. In the tradition of those early years, the PAFL has awarded franchises to owners in large and small markets alike. An innovative profit-sharing plan will allow teams in areas with smaller population bases to compete effectively with franchises based in major metropolitan areas such as New York City and Los Angeles.
Among the smaller markets represented are Pottsville, Pa., and Canton, Ohio, which fielded two legendary teams in the early National Football League.
More details on franchise locations, rules, schedules and other information will be forthcoming soon. Keep checking this site for updates on the PAFL, football for the new millennium.
