ORLANDO, Fla. — The Alliance of American Football will be suspending operations as of Tuesday, according to multiple reports.
WFTV's Christian Bruey was at the practice for the Orlando Apollos, which played in the league, as it was cut short Tuesday upon reports the league would fold.
Coach Steve Spurrier joked to Bruey that he hoped the Apollos would be crowned champs with their 7-1 record.
The Apollos had the best record in the league and averaged more than 20,000 fans per game at Spectrum Stadium.
But with the league suspending operations, the team's final two games are in doubt.
The AAF has not completely unfolded yet, but many believe it is heading in that direction.
The league ran into financial trouble in February when one of their original investors backed out.
That's when Tom Dundon, the owner of the Carolina Hurricanes, stepped up and sunk $70 million into the league.
But after a failed attempt to create a partnership with the NFL, Dundon announced Tuesday the league was suspending operations.
The Orlando Apollos released the following statement:
On behalf of everyone with the Orlando Apollos organization, we were shocked and incredibly disappointed to learn of the decision to suspend football operations in The Alliance of American Football.
The Alliance produced a quality professional football product, and it's been our privilege to build the Orlando Apollos into a championship team with a league-best 7-1 record. The Greater Orlando community embraced our team from the beginning. Enthusiasm continued to grow throughout the season as large crowds of passionate fans supported us at Spectrum Stadium for our home games, and many others watched and rooted for the Apollos' success from afar.
While all startups encounter some challenges, we believed we could address ours in the offseason after bringing the City of Orlando a championship and a successful completion to the league's first season.<br/> We are extremely grateful to our players, coaches, staff, corporate partners and especially our fans who fervently supported us as Orlando's professional football team.
We hope to be able to share information from The Alliance about ticket refunds in the future.Thank you for your support and for believing in us.<br/>
WATCH: Steve Spurrier says the @aafAPOLLOS should be champions, if this is indeed the end of @TheAAF.#Champions #Apollos #Orlando #AAF #WFTV pic.twitter.com/KumJjOe2uA
— Christian Bruey (@CBrueyWFTV) April 2, 2019
Today, @TheAAF will suspend all football operations https://t.co/Q4DnqxdanU
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) April 2, 2019
We recorded our @aafAPOLLOS coach’s show with Steve Spurrier this morning.
— Joe Kepner (@JKepnerWFTV) April 2, 2019
Told us “business as usual” was all he had heard from the league office.
But now @ProFootballTalk is reporting the league will suspend operations today. pic.twitter.com/zOnrzIZwT0
I just spoke with Steve Spurrier, Lito Sheppard and Chris Martin, who had their practice cut short by @TheAAF news. I will post the videos shortly.
— Christian Bruey (@CBrueyWFTV) April 2, 2019
Spurrier was his usual self and joked that if this is the end, he hopes the @aafAPOLLOS, with their 7-1 record are crowned champs.
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