FFL
Current season or competition: 2021 FFL season | |
 | |
| Sport | Amorian football (Florian rules) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2018 |
| Inaugural season | 2018 |
| No. of teams | 32 (From 2024) |
| Nation(s) |
 Floria |
| Most recent champion(s) | Westlake Patriots |
| Most titles | Westlake Patriots (2) |
| Qualification | President Bowl |
| TV partner(s) |
Red Sports Sportsworld FFL Network ESN |
| Related competitions | National College Football Association |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
The Florian Football League (FFL; Alexandrian: Ligue Florian de football, LFF) is a professional Gridiron football league consisting of 24 teams, all listed in major Florian cities and divided equally between two conferences. The league is one of the five major professional sports leagues in Floria and is the highest level of professional gridiron football in the world. The league has a 17-week regular season running from early September to late December and following the conclusion of the regular season, 12 teams (top two teams from each conference plus four wildcards) advance to the playoffs, culminating in the President Bowl which is held on the first Sunday of February and is played between the champions of each conference.
The league was formed in 2018 originally as the Florian National Football League (FNFL) following traditional Amorian football rules but before the start of the 2019 FFL season the league decided to create its own rules of gridiron football and eventually renamed itself the Florian Football League. The current champions are Westlake Patriots for winning President Bowl II in the league's second season.
History
Teams
The Florian Football League consists of 24 clubs divided into two conferences of twelve each. Each conference is divided into three divisions of four clubs each. Every FFL team is based in the Florian mainland and the league is the only major sports league in the Florian Republic to be truly based in the mainland alone. The 32 teams are organised into eight geographic divisions of four teams each. These divisions are further organized into two conferences, the Apollonian Conference and National Conference.
| FFL Apollonian Conference clubs | ||||||
| Division | Colours | Club | Established | Location | Stadium | Capacity* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | Birmingham Bears | 2020 | Birmingham | Eastpak Stadium | 34,500 | |
| Las Andreas Redhawks | 2019 | Las Andreas | Las Andreas Park | 52,000 | ||
| Longsight Lions | 2020 | Longsight | Steinfield | 54,074 | ||
| Victoria Buccaneers | 2019 | Victoria City | Victoria Stadium | 65,000 | ||
| Central | Newmarsh Broncos | 2018 | Newmarsh | Newmarsh Olympic Stadium | 60,000 | |
| Newmarsh Jets | 2018 | Newmarsh | Newmarsh Olympic Stadium | 60,000 | ||
| Northcliff Falcons | 2018 | Northcliff | Northcliff United Stadium | 83,000 | ||
| Westlake Patriots | 2018 | Westlake | Noir Group Stadium | 66,829 | ||
| West | Coldley Cowboys | 2019 | Coldley | Florian Telecom Stadium | 80,000 | |
| Havenbarrow Dolphins | 2018 | Havenbarrow | Havenbarrow Dolphins Stadium | 65,000 | ||
| Meadowedge Colts | 2018 | Meadowedge | Meadowedge Stadium | 45,500 | ||
| Northcliff Brownbears | 2018 | Northcliff | FastEnergy Arena | 67,895 | ||
| FFL National Conference clubs | ||||||
| Division | Colours | Club | Established | Location | Stadium | Capacity* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | Dragonmoor Chargers | 2018 | Dragonmoor | Thomas Lemery Stadium Dragonmoor Stadium (2021 onwards) |
55,000 | |
| Dragonmoor Raiders | 2018 | Dragonmoor | Red Bear Park Dragonmoor Stadium (2021 onwards) |
60,000 | ||
| Oldhaven Ravens | 2018 | Oldhaven | Oldhaven Park | 72,000 | ||
| Oldhaven Titans | 2018 | Oldhaven | Oldhaven Park | 72,000 | ||
| Central | Blackoak Buffalo | 2018 | Blackoak | City of Blackoak Stadium | 55,097 | |
| Blackoak Tigers | 2018 | Blackoak | Hook Solutions Stadium | 65,515 | ||
| Bridgemoor Cardinals | 2020 | Bridgemoor | Agricultural Institute of Bridgemoor Stadium | 63,000 | ||
| Stonehall Rams | 2018 | Stonehall | Stonehall Hotspur Stadium | 54,329 | ||
| West | Echo City Chiefs | 2019 | Echo City | Archery Field | 76,000 | |
| Newhedge Steelers | 2018 | Newhedge | Ketchup Field | 69,690 | ||
| Northsilver Jaguars | 2018 | Northsilver | Northsilver Stadium | 45,000 | ||
| Vice City Superhawks | 2020 | Vice City | Millennium Field | 68,740 | ||
Season format
The FFL season format consists of a four-week preseason, a seventeen-week regular season, and a twelve-team single-elimination playoff culminating in the President Bowl, the league's championship game.
Pre season
Each FFL team is required to schedule four preseason games, two of which must be at its home stadium. Preseason games are exhibition matches and do not count towards regular-season totals. Because the preseason does not count towards standings, teams generally do not focus on winning games; instead, they are used by coaches to evaluate their teams and by players to show their performance, both to their current team and to other teams if they get cut.
Regular season
Currently, the seventeen opponents each team faces over the 17 game regular-season schedule are set using a pre-determined formula: The league runs a seventeen-week, 192-game regular season. The season traditionally begins a week after the first Monday in September and concludes are week after Christmas. Most FFL games are played on Sundays, with a Monday night game typically held at least once a week and Thursday night games occurring on most weeks as well.
Playoffs
Following the conclusion of the regular season, the NFL Playoffs, a twelve-team single-elimination tournament, is then held. Six teams from each conference are selected: The winners of six divisions and three wildcards. These teams are seeded according to overall record, with the division champions always ranking higher than any of the wild card teams. The top two seeds from each conference are awarded a bye week, while the remaining six teams (seeded 2–7) from each conference compete in the first round of the playoffs, the Wild Card round, with the third seed competing against the sixth seed and the fourth seed competing against the fifth seed. The winners of the Wild Card round advance to the Divisional Round, which matches the lower seeded team against the first seed and the higher seeded team against the second seed. The winners of those games then compete in the Conference Championships, with the higher remaining seed hosting the lower remaining seed. The Apollonia Conference and National Conference champions then compete in the President Bowl to determine the league champion.
Media coverage
In the Confederate States of Floria, the FFL has a substantial television contract with major TV networks,Red Sports, ESN and Sportsworld. The contract covers every regular season and playoff game with Sportsworld covering Apollonian Conference games and National Conference games covered by Red Sports. All FFL matches are shown on designated channels and red button services. Matches played on Thursday nights and Saturday nights are broadcast on the FFL Network whilst Monday night games are provided by ESN. All matches are televised nationwide unlike the other major competitions in the country. Matches can be streamed on a streaming service similar to what is used in the Florian Super League, for countries which do not have a broadcasting deal with the league.
Draft
The League operates an entry draft for college players who have graduated. Unlike the ICHL, there is no draft lottery and the team which finishes last in the overall standings receives the first pick. There is a total of three rounds. Undrafted players may enter the League as a free agent and a total of four rookie free agents are allowed to be signed for each team.
