APL Launch Delayed Until Spring 2020

Posted

Daytona Beach, FL - It looks like Daytona Beach will have to wait at least a year before professional football comes to town.

The American Patriot League has delayed its launch to the spring of 2020, according to a letter posted recently on its website.

David Holloway - the APL's Director of Football Operations - says pushing the start date back one year will help ensure the league's long-term success.

"[The] logistics of putting a new league together have been met with more disbelief than support," Holloway added. "That has not stopped us from moving forward into our future."

Daytona Beach was the first city awarded a franchise during the press conference announcing the APL's formation last October, with home games to be played at Daytona Stadium.

Since then, the league has established teams in five other cities, including Mobile (Alabama), Sacramento (California), Shreveport (Louisiana), Canton (Ohio) and Houston (Texas). At least two more are expected to join before the league begins play.

Color schemes have also been revealed for the six teams announced, but team nicknames have not. League officials have been holding a "name the team" contest online for all franchises, with Daytona's receiving over 170 submissions. It's not clear at this point when the finalists will be named.

Tryouts which were supposed to begin this February in Cocoa will not take place, but Holloway did promise tryouts will happen sometime this spring.

"We want to make sure [the] APL is putting serious talent with serious players on the field next spring," Holloway noted. "We'll be holding press conferences, special events and concerts in each city to build up momentum and exposure."

Players who have already tried out for the league last year will be drafted and assigned to teams sometime this spring as well, per Holloway.

featured