Unless you are chronically online in the arena & indoor football world, you may have missed this story, but Inside the Arena reported that AF1 will be bringing in the Las Vegas Kings for the 2025 season
Before we get too far down the rabbit hole, let's get ahead of this. When reached out to for comment, an AF1 source offered the following statement:
"Only teams/markets announced by the league through our official channels are our AF1 markets and members of the League"
"We will not comment on any discussions or communications that we have had with potential candidates for expansion. With the expanded interest in AF1 membership we have had wide ranging conversations with multiple teams/markets and it wouldn't be professional to comment on every conversation and the nature of the conversation."
Now, off the jump -- this was a head scratcher. Unless you are very deep in the indoor / arena / minor league football world, you may not know who the Las Vegas Kings are.
Las Vegas Kings TLDR: The Las Vegas Kings are a start up football franchise that is attempting to field both an outdoor team and an indoor football team in Nevada.
But here's the kicker: they were announced as a member of the newly formed International Football Alliance, which is an outdoor football league that will be debuting in 2025 -- but they were quietly removed from the league page. So now they might not be?
A little while back, team officials for the Kings were at AF1's Arena Football University summit in Chicago -- and didn't do themselves any favors when they prematurely suggested that they received an invite to join the league WHILE in Chicago.
League officials were not thrilled with that.
So what's the best way to overcome pre-maturely suggesting you received an invite to the league? BY DOING IT AGAIN, BABY!
In a since deleted post on Facebook, the Las Vegas Kings posted the following:
Oh boy. There's a lot to digest here. Let's break it down piece by piece.
The Intro:
Call me old school, but if you open a statement about you joining a new league and your first words are "Yooo, Vegas!" -- I'm immediately out.
The Announcement: "I'm beyond proud to announce that our very own Las Vegas Kings have been invited to join the AF1". VEGAS, DID YOU NOT LEARN YOUR LESSON THE FIRST TIME.
Of all the markets that should know that you should absolutely not double down with the same bad strategy, it's Las Vegas. "This time I have a blackjack strategy that is foolproof!"
The Investment:
"To take it to the next level, we're opening up an exclusive investment opportunity for the first $100k, which will secure a 5% ownership stake in the Las Vegas Kings at a $20m valuation once we join the AF1"
God that was painful to read. Where to begin.
First off, RED FLAG CITY immediately asking for money in the same post you are allegedly joining the new league. The AF1 has made it abundantly clear that financial viability is paramount to be able to join the league.
Second, that valuation is a CRAZY. I beg you, Las Vegas Kings, watch a single episode of Shark Tank you will understand how coocoo bananas that valuation is.
Same, Robert. Same.
To make matters worse, the investment doesn't add up. With valuations, the amount invested at the amount of equity awarded equals the alleged valuation.
$100k at 5%. There are 20 5% in 100%, so multiply the $100k invest by 20.
That only equals $2m -- which is closer, but not in the same galaxy as $20m. RED. FLAG.
CITY.
I love arena football, but joining any league absolutely does not drive up valuation by 10x. Even Grant Cardone couldn't sell that.
The Close:
As all great salesmen do, they finish their pitch off with "DM me for more info"
I gotta be honest, if I am the AF1 and I was remotely considering this team -- I'm not anymore after reading that.
Now, maybe they just lack common sense when it comes to posting on social media. But being an optimist here, you can get a social media manager for that and get the coach/owner as far away from the social media handles as possible.
So maybe it's not all bad. But as our guy WookieDrives points out, the AF1 literally has a team called the Kings already lol
Now, the CFL used to have 2 teams called the Roughriders back in the day(Saskatchewan & Ottawa), so it's not unheard of, but man it is highly uncommon and is probably unideal from a branding perspective both as a league and a team.
So for those keeping track at home:
Las Vegas Kings have prematurely suggested they are joining the league twice now
They are already asking for investment money (red flag city)
There's already a team in the AF1 called the Kings in Monterrey.
I almost forgot to mention that the Kings are also attempting to enter a market with an established IFL team, the Vegas Knight Hawks.
All of the above AND they are entering a market that already has a team? Oof.
This just seems like a franchise that is not ready to join the AF1. The volatility with the owner jumping the gun on multiple occasions, not having a defined home arena, asking for investment money -- now just doesn't seem like the right time. After the hellacious 2024 season that the AF1 teams experienced, volatility is not what the league needs.
Maybe they do eventually join the AF1, but the folks that follow the arena & indoor football have seen this story play out time and time again with teams like the Kings.
It usually doesn't end well.
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