It doesn’t seem to make sense that the Alliance of American Football is shutting down after less than a season, and the news that football operations were being suspended Tuesday leaves scores of questions that may never be answered.

"I am extremely disappointed to learn Tom Dundon has decided to suspend all football operations of the Alliance of American Football," AAF co-founder Bill Polian said in a statement Tuesday. "When Mr. Dundon took over, it was the belief of my co-founder, Charlie Ebersol, and myself that we would finish the season, pay our creditors, and make the necessary adjustments to move forward in a manner that made economic sense for all.

"The momentum generated by our players, coaches and football staff had us well positioned for future success. Regrettably, we will not have that opportunity."

Dundon, the owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, made the decision to suspend operations amid an inability to reach an agreement with the NFL Players Association to use younger NFL players in the AAF. He pledged a $250 million investment after the opening week of the season.

There were AAF teams in eight cities, including Arizona, and the teams were heading into Week 9 of a 10-week season. The Hotshots were 5-3 and in first place in the Western Conference.

QUESTION: Who’s to blame?

ANSWER: It’s impossible to say, but right now it looks like Dundon is going to catch the rap.

Dundon recently bought into the league for $250 million and has publicly sparred with the NFL Players Association.

He said NFLPA rules would block his league from becoming a pipeline to the NFL.

Analysts and observers have said all along that the AAF could thrive as an NFL feeder system.

The spat has been considered a move by Dundon to force an NFL partnership — and if it was, the strong-arm strategy clearly backfired.

Of course, there were reports that the AAF was struggling to make payroll before Dundon showed up, so maybe he staved off the inevitable for a few months?

Dundon hasn’t issued a statement.

Neither has the league.

Q: Wasn’t there a plan?

A: AAF founder Charlie Ebersol has been saying all along that the league had a plan for sustainability that would last several years, not weeks. He further said that plan didn’t have anything to do with ticket sales.

Ebersol said he had learned lessons from his father, Dick Ebersol, who years ago helped run the XFL.

He talked about apps and fantasy sports and gambling all being a feature of the fan experience, providing him with a revenue path almost like a tech startup.

Charlie Ebersol hasn’t issued a statement.

Q: Who owns those apps and the data they collected, anyway?

A: One would assume Ebersol would make a claim that it’s his tech and data, because all of that was his idea. But then wouldn’t Dundon have a claim, too, as the majority owner?

The immediate guess here is that it’ll get sorted out in court, a process that could take years.

Q: So, what’s next?

A: Good people who had nothing to do with this will start floating their resumes. Whether the league has folded or is just suspending operations, hundreds of people across the nation are going to miss paychecks.

Each team has 50 players, a dozen or so coaches and trainers, and another dozen or so operations staffers. If the league is done, none of them have jobs right now.

Q: Anybody else hurting?

A: People who work at CBS can’t be happy. They had a game on the schedule Saturday that would have led into the Final Four.

There also will be programming gaps on the NFL Network and TNT.

Q: At least the players can be ready for NFL offseason workouts, right?

A: Some, sure. But what about guys who are hurt? They don’t have access to the training staffs that had been treating them. And what about the money they would have been counting on for the rest of the season? They have no way to make that up.

Q: Any chance the league could make a comeback?

A: Of course, there’s a chance. The suspension is a day-to-day thing. But a comeback doesn’t seem likely at the moment.

What’s more likely is that the AAF staff and players end up in the reconstituted XFL, which has been planning to launch in 2020.

Even that’s nothing more than an educated guess.

For now, it seems like the Alliance is just another failed “FL,” joining the World Football League, United States Football League and United Football League.

It’s too bad, too. America’s appetite for football seems insatiable. Another opportunity for people to earn a living at it would have been a good thing.

Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @WritingMoore.

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