American Patriot League

The American Patriot League (APL) is a planned professional American football league. The World Professional Football Association was created as a single entity corporation that will manage the business of the APL. The APL consists of eight franchises that are divided into two divisions: Freedom Division and Liberty Division. Each team will play a 12 game schedule consisting of 6 home games and 6 away games. The 2019 inaugural season was supposed to last from April 6 thru June 8, with the playoffs from June 15 thru June 23. The original plan for the Championship Game was to have it played on the campus of the United States Naval Academy in Maryland during the 4th of July weekend. Instead, the Championship Game was moved to Canton, Ohio and was to be played on July 6. In February 2019, the APL made an announcement that they were postponing the start of their inaugural 2019 season until 2020.

The APL management team consists of former football players Keon Lattimore, Marques Ogden, Bob Golic, and Director of Football Operations David Holloway. Golic stated that none of the players who make an APL roster will be allowed to kneel during the national anthem, a marked contrast from current NFL policy. All team nicknames will be chosen by the fans as part of a naming contest.

To incentivize players from leaving the league for other leagues, the APL plans to offer lifetime health coverage for anyone who stays at least five seasons, along with a minimum salary of $50,000 a season to all players.

Part of the league’s strategy for financial survival includes establishing itself in markets where there’s a passion for football and where there aren’t many (if any) other pro sports franchises in place. Those are the main reasons, according to Ogden, why the league preferred Daytona Beach to Orlando. Broadcasts will be available with a paid subscription to the Awesome Cloud Network.

While the 2019 season had yet to begin, the WPFA was already making plans to add additional team cities to the APL in 2020.