Had the Alliance of American Football survived past one season, the NFL might have owned a piece of the now-defunct league.
A complaint filed by the trustees overseeing the AAF’s bankruptcy against former AAF owner Tom Dundon highlights that the league and the NFL had a “binding term sheet” in place that would issue warrants for an NFL subsidiary to acquire a 15% stake in Ebersol Sports Media Group — the original owner of the AAF.
The warrants would give the NFL the option — but not the obligation — to buy that portion of the AAF for a previously agreed price before a set expiration date.
Under the term sheet, the AAF would also “spin out its technology development and products over time to a technology company that would provide the NFL access to those products.”
It all could have opened the door for the AAF to be an official developmental league for the NFL — but the former shuttered its operations in April 2019, two weeks before the end of its inaugural regular season.
Dundon — also the owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes — is being sued by the trustees for at least $184 million for shutting the league down when there were allegedly still financial alternatives to save it.
![[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Dec 5, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; United States of America President Donald Trump, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney watch from the stands during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Draw at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.](https://frontofficesports.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/USATSI_27745262_168416386_lowres-scaled.jpg?quality=100&w=1024)
