ORLANDO, Fla. – The future of the Alliance of American Football, the league in which the Orlando Apollos play, may be in jeopardy, according to a report Wednesday in USA Today.
AAF majority owner Thomas Dundon told the media outlet that the upstart league is in danger of folding unless it gets help from the NFL Players Association.
"If the players union is not going to give us young players, we can't be a development league," Dundon told USA Today. "We are looking at our options, one of which is discontinuing the league."
In February, Dundon committed to invest $250 million into the league after reports surfaced of missed payroll for the players.
The league dismissed any notion that the Alliance was getting a financial bailout from Dundon, and said it switched payroll companies, causing the delay.
According to USA Today, the NFLPA did not respond to Dundon’s comments. However, USA Today reported a players' union official expressed serious concerns about the risks of lending active NFL players to the AAF.
Those concerns included possible injuries to active NFL players and possible violations with the current bargaining agreement between the NFL and its players' union.
The Alliance is currently in week eight of a 10-week season.
Orlando, which plays at Spectrum Stadium at UCF, and San Antonio have drawn decent crowds at their respective games. Orlando is 5-1 and travels to Memphis this weekend.
The Alliance has stated from the start it prefers to be associated with the NFL as a developmental league, but there is no current agreement between the leagues.