AAF Standings: Orlando Apollos & Birmingham Iron in Lead For Week 3

AAF/Getty Orlando Apollos QB Garrett Gilbert

Just two undefeated teams remain in the latest AAF standings. The Arizona Hotshots snapped their perfect season after being upset 23-15 by the Salt Lake Stallions.

The Orlando Apollos will put their streak to the test against the winless Memphis Express. The Birmingham Iron are also undefeated and take on an Atlanta Legends team that is looking for their first win. The final game of Week 3 are two 1-1 teams as the San Antonio Commanders take on the San Diego Fleet.

Orlando has been the talk of the league thanks to Steve Spurrier’s “Sun and Gun” offense. We will see if the offense can remain hot despite temporarily moving their operations to Georgia. Thanks to complicated Florida compensation rules, Orlando will have to host half of their practices in Georgia to avoid legal action, per the Orlando Sentinel.

AAF officials say the reason this is even an issue is because Florida, unlike many other states, will not cover professional athletes under its workers’ compensation laws. In Florida, professional athletes are not categorized as employees, which means state law prevents pro athletes from filing workers’ comp claims for injuries incurred while on the job.

According to AAF officials, other more established professional leagues who have teams in the state — such as the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball — all have managed to find insurance companies that will insure their entire leagues. The AAF, because it is a start-up league in the perilously dangerous sport of football, has been unable to locate a company that will insure all eight teams in the league. Moving forward, the league hopes to identify and contract such a company so the Apollos can train full-time in Orlando.

The AAF announced the league had received a $250 million investment from Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon. Spurrier noted Dundon’s offer came through after another investor backed out.

“I think what happened is an original investor that sort of, I think, led (AAF founder) Charlie Ebersol into believing he could come up with the money to get us through the first year, sort of bailed out,” Spurrier said, per the Daily Memphian. “He didn’t have (the money), and we found Tom Dundon, owner of the Hurricanes in the National Hockey League. I think (Dundon) liked the idea so well, he became the majority owner (of the league), and now we’re all set to go for quite a while.”

Here’s a look at the current AAF standings.

AAF Standings: East Division

AAF Standings: West Division