AAF to PVD?

Christian Martinelli

Rhode Island is the smallest state in the union. It is convenient, compact, congested, charming, and corrupted.
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As a native Rhode Islander I love living here, but the biggest downside of Rhode Island is the lack of entertainment based activities. Well, besides all that corruption nonsense I guess.

We have museums, art, theatres, food, and a multitude of amazing views. All that being said, as of 2020 there will be no amusement parks, mountains for skiing or hiking, major lakes for water activities, and most importantly one less professional sports team. RI only has the P-Bruins left. They’re so irrelevant my editor had to remind me that they even existed.

Rhode Island has had a professional sports team since 1970, when the Pawtucket Red Sox were founded. They have been a beloved staple of the Ocean State over the last five decades, but after a 50 year run they will be shipped up to Worcester, Massachusetts for a new beginning.

Rhody is a state filled with ravenous sporting fanatics, especially when it comes to football. Although, there hasn’t been a professional team here since the Providence Steam Roller folded in 1933.

The New England Patriots have filled that void for years, but it is time for this great state to lay claim to another professional franchise.

The Alliance of American Football, or AAF, is an upstart semi-Pro league that is just at the beginning stages. The new league has the pieces to become extremely successful.

The AAF already has eight franchises spread out throughout the country, but they are yet to have a team in the North. Orlando, San Diego, San Antonio,Tempe, Memphis, Birmingham, Atlanta, and Salt Lake City all have teams in the inaugural season.

The teams are made out of all outcasts and guys just looking for a second chance at making an NFL roster, so the intensity is high and the skill level is decent. The AAF has implemented many interesting rules such as a faster paced game compared to the most widely recognized football league, with two point conversion attempts after every touchdown to make the game more entertaining to watch.

So far I think it’s been very exciting to watch, and the product has surprisingly come with a high quality.

This is a great start for the up-and-coming league, but if they want to be taken seriously they’re going to have to expand the number of teams in the future.

Obviously they will have to bring a team to a highly populated area like New England, and why not to a beautiful city like Providence?

Back when the Providence Steam Roller used to play, they drew in an average crowd of 3,000 people each game. That was back when football lacked popularity, and smack in the middle of the Great Depression.

The beloved Providence Friars receive an average attendance of 9,600 fans a game and I feel confident that a professional football team in Providence could double that.

There are many options to place a team of this magnitude, but I believe the playing in downtown Providence would really be special and an outstanding addition for the states shaky economy.

Brown University Stadium would be a perfect option for housing an AAF organization.

The stadium can already hold 20,000, and if necessary there can easily be room to add an extra 5,000 seats. The parking situation would be difficult like the rest of Providence, but the team would just have to build a parking lot or two to accommodate.

This seems like a no brainer to me, and if I was working in the State House I would be fighting to throw our name in the hat for an organization before the next AAF expansion. Especially after the debacle that lost Rhode Island the Pawsox a few months back, the residents of this state should be repaid for losing a landmark of that stature. Perhaps we call them the Rhode Island Raimondos... just a thought.

Rhode Island needs entertainment. Not be dramatic, but we’re a deprived people when it comes to that.

This would greatly bolster the economy, and give Rhody something to have pride about. Think about the influx of people that would be coming into the city on the weekend to watch a game; bars, restaurants, theatres, malls, and more would be slammed due to the tens of thousands coming into the city.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the AAF or any other startup league would do fantastically in RI, we’re chomping at the bit for something like this and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t happen.

Dammit. I’m not going to beg, but if I have to it’s not above me. We absolutely deserve it. But maybe we’ll have to come up with a name better than the RI Raimondos.

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