Athletes Unlimited

[Ksyrup]

Curious if anyone is aware of these new leagues that are starting up. The softball league draft is today and the season starts tomorrow. There's going to be a volleyball league starting in 2021.

Anyway, the unique thing about these leagues is that they are individual-driven, not team-driven. It's basically fantasy sports played out on the field. Each week, the top 4 players in points draft their team for the next week and they play games, accumulating points (a combination of individual, team and MVP points determined like fantasy points), and then they determine the top 4 for that week, redraft, and play another week. I assume at the end, one player "wins" the league with the most accumulated total points.

I don't know what this is going to look like as the "future of pro sports" (much like Dippin' Dots is not the future of ice cream), but the concept is certainly unique and for softball anyway, it makes some sense. College softball has always been considered the pinnacle of the sport (especially after SB got kicked out of the Olympics) and pro leagues have failed to gain any traction. So instead of trying to build a fanbase in 4 random (and ever-changing) cities with players no one necessarily has a tie to, now you can follow your favorite former college player individually since team only marginally matters and will always change. And there's the daily/weekly fantasy sports angle to the way the league works.

ESPN2 and CBSSN will be televising most of the games, with the rest on ESPN3. So they've got a decent chance at exposure. And they have some decent sponsors as well (Geico, Nike, Carvana). It's only a 5 or 6 week deal, so maybe it will work. Also, playing all the games in one spot works perfectly for the pandemic, even though it was all planned prior to the last 6 months.

Here's the website:

Athletes Unlimited | New Leagues for the World's Best Athletes.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I read this today, and almost posted it myself with a thread title of "Possibly Dumbest Sports Thing I've Ever Read"

[thesloppy]

I am so confused.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

now you can follow your favorite former college player individually since team only marginally matters and will always change.

But set aside the name on the front of the jersey & how many (non-genetically tied) people gave the slightest damn about any of the players anyway?

That's among the more glaring issues I see with this.

[cuervo72]

This sounds like it might revolutionize the way...

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

But set aside the name on the front of the jersey & how many (non-genetically tied) people gave the slightest damn about any of the players anyway?

That's among the more glaring issues I see with this.

Like I said, for a sport like SB it actually makes some sort of sense. I don't know if it will work, but a traditional league structure definitively does not work. The only way I think it could work is creating a league of teams made up of players from regional colleges. So, a team in Orlando with players from UF, FSU etc. Something close to a post-grad college setup.

As it stands, college SB fans are way more likely to follow individual players than a team based in Cleveland made up of 20 random players.

[spleen1015]

I'm interested because I have a relationship with softball.

I won't be watching the volleyball league.

It is an interesting idea though.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

But set aside the name on the front of the jersey & how many (non-genetically tied) people gave the slightest damn about any of the players anyway?

That's among the more glaring issues I see with this.

I don't think they expect to get casual sports fans to watch. I think this is more about trying to capitalize on how well college SB draws for TV and has increased dramatically over the past 6-8 years.

So the people watching will have some investment in the players. Theoretically.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

As it stands, college SB fans are way more likely to follow individual players than a team based in Cleveland made up of 20 random players.

That's what I don't buy. Once you take the (college) team name off the front of the jersey, I don't believe the drawing power remains particularly significant.

[Ksyrup]

Oh believe me, there are a significant number of college softball fans who will be rooting for Kelly Barnhill to get called for an illegal pitch every damn ball she throws, regardless of whether she is in Gator gear or not.

[GrantDawg]

Sort of blows the idea of "team sports" out of the water.

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[molson]

I think this is basically now the NWA Battlebowl worked.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Sort of blows the idea of "team sports" out of the water.

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Well yeah, I guess that's the point. It's the "fantasy team" mindset they are going for, I suppose. Players get points for individual stats, team stats (winning an inning, etc.), and something called MVP points. So team performance matters, but the players' teams are completely interchangeable in a weekly fantasy draft-type format.

It's bizarre and I don't have any clue if it will draw an audience at all, but it's definitely thinking outside the box.