Following speculation in regards to the folding of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), it has emerged that MGM Resorts International stands to gain control of the league’s interactive gaming platform.

After the AAF suspended all football operations just eight weeks into its inaugural season, reports emerged suggesting that majority owner Tom Dundon had acquired his controlling stake in the league in order to gain control of its business technology.

However, according to a report from the Action Network, the June 2018 deal that saw the casino and hotels company MGM invest into the AAF’s technology arm, Legendary Field Exhibitions, included a provision that the casino would gain its rights should the league fold.

According to the report, that financing lien, filed with the Delaware secretary of state in October 2018, gives MGM rights to the technology’s intellectual property, including trademarks, copyrights, patents, software and firmware. MGM told the Action Network in the wake of the AAF collapse that nothing has changed since the original filing.

MGM’s three-year partnership deal with the AAF investment was attached to the technology built into the league’s app, which allowed fans to project what would happen next. MGM was reportedly lining up that real-time projection capability for use in live, in-game betting for AAF games, although that never came to fruition.

Meanwhile, the indefinite suspension of the AAF has left several stakeholders out of pocket. Players were forced to purchase their own flights home and pick-up unpaid hotel bills, with those injured whilst playing no longer covered by the league’s medical insurance.

The University of Central Florida, which housed the Orlando Apollos, now faces a bill of approximately US$1 million in unpaid rent while many vendors will also not see any of their promised revenue.

The AAF released an apology to those affected by the decision. It said: ‘We made the difficult decision to suspend all football operations for the Alliance of American Football. We understand the difficulty that this decision has caused for many people and for that we are very sorry.

‘This is not the way we wanted it to end, but we are also committed to working on solutions for all outstanding issues to the best of our ability. Due to ongoing legal processes, we are unable to comment further or share details about the decision.’