Apollos address ticket refund questions in statement about AAF suspension

Apollos had best record in first-year league

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Alliance of American Football has suspended all of its operations, players and coaches confirmed Tuesday.

At 7-1, the Orlando Apollos had the best record in the league, which was nearing the end of its first season.

Tom Dundon, who became the AAF's majority owner in February, said last week that the league was in danger of folding.

The Apollos released a statement regarding the suspension of the league:

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.
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.

#TakeAim
Sincerely,

Steve Spurrier, Head Coach
Tim Ruskell, General Manager
Michael Waddell, Team President

 

The Apollos conducted a walk-through at Camping World Stadium in Orlando before they received the news about the league suspending operations.

Head coach Steve Spurrier addressed the media briefly Tuesday afternoon.

"All the players and coaches, we're disappointed. We were led to believe that the Alliance was well-funded and that we would be able to go through the season -- actually, we thought that we could go through two or three years -- but obviously a lot of stuff has happened beyond our control," Spurrier said.

Apollos wideout Charles Johnson tweeted, "(Shaking my head). Let us be great. Sometimes it’s not about money, power. It’s about the love for the game and the love for others.  Let us play!!"

"We've got to be the champs, right," Spurrier said jokingly, referring to the fact that his team had the best record in the leauge. "It's sad to end this way."

Watch News 6 and stay with ClickOrlando.com for updates.

 


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