Major League Football (MLFB) has generated some big time press over the last few days – but not for the right reasons. On Thursday, the league was abruptly interrupted. It was revealed that the MLFB had not paid hotels in the city of Mobile, Alabama, where all four teams were practicing.
Within just a few hours, a collapse was inevitable. Players were kicked out of their hotel rooms, with nowhere to go. While the MLFB stayed silent for the first 24 hours, multiple reports made it clear: the organization was in grave danger.
Sources: The #MLFB seems to be officially shutting down, at least for now. Players are being sent away with nowhere to go. As of this afternoon, players have been told that the "league just collapsed", and that their "contract means nothing if the league doesn't exist".
— James Larsen (@JamesLarsenMI) July 28, 2022
Then, on Friday, the MLFB finally released a statement. It didn’t hold much weight to it, as the phrasing was quite vague. Most of what was said was fluff, not providing anyone with solutions for these major problems.
BREAKING: Official statement from the #MLFB, per @adampelletier.
As expected, the MLFB is not continuing with their plans as of right now. pic.twitter.com/XxpGKSnqdz
— James Larsen (@JamesLarsenMI) July 29, 2022
Throughout the chaos, players were left on their own. In contrast to their statement, it was obvious that the league wasn’t doing anything to reconcile the situation. Multiple players, coaches, staff, etc. were stuck to figure things out on their own. Some coaches paid out of their own pockets for players, while others were stranded for days until they could find a way to get home.
Multiple sources have confirmed with me that, despite the MLFB's claims that they are working to help players get home quickly, nothing is actually being done. The #MLFB is looking more like smoke and mirrors with each passing moment. These players deserve better.
— James Larsen (@JamesLarsenMI) July 29, 2022
Since releasing that statement, the league has gone quiet. While Frank Murtha (CEO of the MLFB) claims that they are doing everything in their power to rectify the wrong, multiple sources have confirmed with us that this is not the case.
So, what in the world is going on over at the MLFB? Is Frank Murtha going to shut the league down? Sadly, more questions than answers currently exist. That being said, let’s look at the facts that we know about now; and what they mean for the league’s future.
MLFB Likely Done
As we reported yesterday morning, everything points towards the MLFB being shut down for good. There’s plenty of reasons for this conclusion to be made, which we will get to throughout this article. However, major sources close to the situation at hand have confirmed what we believe to be true: the MLFB will not be able to recover from this fiasco.
Obviously, Frank has lost the trust of everyone involved. His ego is too large to admit that the MLFB is over.
One source close to the situation said: "They've done nothing but lie to us…Frank doesn't want to tell the truth because he wants more people to give money." #MLFB
— James Larsen (@JamesLarsenMI) July 30, 2022
While Frank claims to be working hard to help his #MLFB players, this isn't true. Hardly anyone has even had contact with him; he is silent.
Source: "I haven't talked to Frank…the fact he didn't get on the first flight to Mobile yesterday told me everything I need to know."
— James Larsen (@JamesLarsenMI) July 30, 2022
To be quite frank, (no pun intended…), Frank Murtha has lost the trust of essentially everyone involved, and rightfully so. No one is reasonably going to have any desire to return to a league that lied to them, misled them – and then left them with no support.
As one of our sources said; Frank should have been on the first flight to Mobile to help clear this situation up. Instead, he laughed in player’s faces on the phone, when they called him to get clarity as to what was going on.
Financial State: Disastrous
If anyone shouldn’t be laughing, it’s Frank. The MLFB released their Annual 10-K Form alongside their statement – and it’s pretty bad. Actually, it’s worse than pretty bad. As of April 30th of this year, the MLFB has an accumulated deficit of $30 million, without playing a single game.
So as of 4/30 #MLFB had $673,181 on hand with the supposed $10M coming.
Oh, and an accumulated deficit of $30M without playing a game.
— No Gas, No Squeegee (@kendovision) July 29, 2022
As if things didn’t look sketchy enough, Josh Boutwell did a bit of digging, just to find this:
Here's another nice little MLFB fact for ya… while Murtha is stranding athletes (who he paid $50 per week) and coaches in Mobile and not paying hotels and vendors, he gave himself a nice little $396K salary the past two years. Absolutely disgusting. https://t.co/gBeUuw4Ziu pic.twitter.com/gtIuj9vlpp
— Josh Boutwell (@joshbmessenger) July 29, 2022
So, the MLFB paid their players only $50, for 13 straight days of practice in the Alabama Heat. Then, they leave these athletes, coaches, and personnel by the wayside. Meanwhile, Murtha has paid himself almost $400 grand over the course of the past two years.
"They left us to defend for ourselves"
MLFB CEO Frank Murtha released a statement Friday saying the league's "first goal is to take care of all of the players/coaches & get them back home"
Meanwhile, we spoke w/players at MOB Airport who paid their own way/have heard nothing pic.twitter.com/8w0orHMsHS
— Simone Eli (@SimoneEli_TV) July 30, 2022
To put it in perspective, the league’s rumored hotel debt is around $80,000. Apparently, the MLFB can afford to pay Frank over $200k this year alone, yet they can’t provide coverage for their players who already went out of their way to get to Alabama? Make it make sense. It doesn’t.
Players Treated Miserably
Sadly, the players have been treated in the worst possible way. This goes way back to when training camps started. Many people have confirmed with us that the MLFB didn’t even provide food to the players on certain days, as they were left to fend for themselves multiple times before and after practices.
Hearing from multiple players that the situation is as bad as it looks. And, it appears that the #MLFB has been quite disorganized since training camps began.
— James Larsen (@JamesLarsenMI) July 28, 2022
The league continued to lie to its athletes, saying that things would be paid for and taken care of. Obviously, this never happened. Sadly, the MLFB seems to be built upon smoke and mirrors, and now the athletes are paying for it.
Quote from #MLFB Player:
"Supposedly from our coach he said they have the money to pay for everything the just didn’t pay it on time. They were going to pay everything on Monday but the hotels wouldn’t wait. We are all going home but they said that we will try to have a season."
— James Larsen (@JamesLarsenMI) July 28, 2022
Yesterday, an official email sent to players was released to the public. In its contents, we can see that the league clearly doesn’t have any way to financially cover for this mess.
Here's an official MLFB e-mail sent to players; per @VAArmadaMlfb. Clearly, the league isn't even in a position to get their players home.
Say what you want about the #MLFB's future, but it's hard to ignore these massive financial shortcomings. Not looking good. pic.twitter.com/K8rK3DlLYS
— James Larsen (@JamesLarsenMI) July 30, 2022
Even though Frank said that the league plans on contacting the players to compensate for their inconveniences, it’s hard to tell if that is actually the truth. So far, Murtha has not done anything to confirm that the players are in his best interest.
They aren't for my player, he is still in Alabama and is paying out of pocket to rent a car tomorrow.
— Virginia Vintage Gal (@VirginiaVintag1) July 29, 2022
Now, this isn’t to say that the MLFB as a whole is responsible. There are many people across the board who are doing whatever they can to help the situation at hand.
With bad comes good, Heard news that Steve V. Is working very hard and has been buying flights for players source came directly from multiple players #MLFB
— MLFB Virginia Armada (@VAArmadaMlfb) July 31, 2022
Rumor has it that tomorrow will bring more information, and possibly some financial clarity. Hopefully, we will see the league at least take accountability for treating their players the way they did.
Final Thoughts
Things look pretty bleak for the MLFB right now. Again, everything that we’ve collected and discovered over the past few days has pointed towards a dark future.
Sadly, these issues likely could have been avoided, had the league provided more financial stability. The MLFB was supposed to have $10 million in credit on the way, but we have no idea where that is. Even if it arrives, the odds of the MLFB having access to all of it right away are extremely low. Any investors the organization may have had on the horizon won’t be showing up now.
The tough part about all of this, is the opportunities good people have been robbed of. Players, coaches, etc. left stable positions, or left other options on the table to pursue the MLFB. Now, the league is in serious trouble, with nothing to look forward to.
Feel bad for my friends in Mobile. I considered leaving an excellent job to coach in the #MLFB, but luckily decided to stay put due to uncertainty if the league would happen. Sadly my doubts were legitimate. I can't imagine how many people left good jobs for this. This is wrong.
— Stan Bedwell (@stanbedwell) July 28, 2022
Even if this entire debacle was because of a funding delay, the league has handled the situation terribly. The MLFB should be ashamed of themselves for not ensuring that their players would be treated in a professional manner. Hopefully, they do something to make up for the damages caused – but, these scars will remain for a while.
As reports continue to surface, we will keep the public as informed as possible. Our sincere apologies go out to all the families, athletes, and personnel impacted by this situation.
Do you think this is the end for the MLFB? How can the league possibly return from a disaster like this? Let us know down in the comments below, or join the conversation on Discord!