Almost all the stuff that made the Alliance of American Football a league — the helmets, shoulder pads, Gatorade water coolers, jerseys, rolls of athletic tape and numerous other items — sold Wednesday in a San Antonio bankruptcy court auction at a bargain-basement price.

The collection of equipment, the detritus of yet another failed football startup, fetched $455,000.

The winning bidder, Jerry Kurz, was a former commissioner of the Arena Football League, which fielded the San Antonio Talons earlier this decade before the team folded.

The AAF’s San Antonio Commanders thrilled Alamodome crowds during its short season earlier this year — average attendance at its four home games was 27,700 — but tepid ticket sales in its other host cities and other problems doomed the league. Six AAF-related companies filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in San Antonio in April.

Kurz and his clients beat out the XFL, backed by wrestling impresario Vince McMahon, and Major League Football during the sale conducted by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Craig Gargotta.

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Kurz bid on behalf of NCM Wireless Inc., a Miami merchandise broker.

The auction started with a $395,000 offer from NCM. Bidding rose in increments of $10,000 and both Alpha Entertainment, parent of the XFL, and Major League Football submitted bids. The entire proceeding took less than three minutes.

After the hearing, Kurz was reluctant to talk about his clients and their plans for the equipment.

“It was a bid on behalf of a number of clients that I represent,” said Kurz, who is an attorney and president of Gridiron Sports Consulting of Glenview, Ill. His company is providing consulting “for a number of (indoor football) leagues,” he said.

“The number of clients that I represent that will eventually get the equipment don’t want it disclosed yet because it’s not timely,” he said. “Just like any business that’s new, they want to be able to do announcements about their league and their sport on their time frame, not mine.”

Kurz added, “I think there’s room for plenty of football leagues, and we’ll do everything we can to support any one that’s out there.”

NCM has until 5 p.m. Monday to close on its purchase. If the deal falls through, the court will accept Alpha Entertainment’s $445,000 bid. A previous version of the XFL lasted one season in 2001.

Bankruptcy trustee Randy Osherow in May asked the judge to approve a sale of the assets to the XFL’s parent company for $375,000. Alpha Entertainment even paid a $37,500 deposit. Osherow hoped higher offers would follow, though.

NCM then submitted an offer of $395,000, which was the starting point for Wednesday’s sale.

“I thought it was a very successful sale,” Osherow said.

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When the six AAF-related companies filed for bankruptcy liquidation in San Antonio, one listed $11.4 million in assets and $48.4 million in liabilities.

The cash-strapped league shut down operations April 2. Besides running out of money, the AAF was unable to reach an agreement with the National Football League to become an official development league.

Frank Murtha, Major League Football’s principal executive officer, bid on behalf of his league. But he dropped out of the bidding after submitting a $405,000 offer.

“This was an attractive potential opportunity for us,” Murtha said, declining to elaborate because Major League Football is publicly traded.

Murtha wouldn’t say if San Antonio is under consideration for a Major League Football franchise, but he was impressed by the support the Commanders garnered from fans. The league has signed leases in Norfolk, Va., and Little Rock, Ark.

“Our business plan is to be in non-NFL, non-Major League Baseball cities to start with,” he said. The plan is for the league’s season to run from April through early July.

Major League Football’s budget for its entire first season will be about $20 million, or about what the AAF was spending each week, Murtha said.

Patrick Danner is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering banking and civil courts. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPD