Sometimes, the greatest technological innovations come from the most random of origins.

Yes, much like the adult film industry revolutionized everything from the rise of videotape to the Internet and e-commerce, a new professional sports league is serving as the litmus test for what could be significant advancements in instantaneous data collection and disbursement.

Two weeks ago, the Alliance of American Football (AAF) debuted before the public.

I’m probably not the only person that had no idea this league existed until the first weekend’s slate of games were complete and sports media debated the pros and cons of the AAF on Monday morning.

By most metrics, the AAF debut was pretty good.

The average viewership for games on TV was 3.25 million – more than an NBA broadcast in the same time slot.

And while attendance was tepid, with four games averaging just shy of 20,000 butts in the seats, it wasn’t a laughing stock and people who watched seemed to enjoy it.

However, for the people running the league, the in-game product isn’t important.

In fact, it’s probably the least important aspect of the AAF.

You see, the AAF isn’t so much a sports league as it is a technology company that is using sports as the vessel to promote and advance its position in the marketplace.

Don’t take it from me. Take it from Charlie Ebersol, co-founder of the AAF.

Ebersol described the AAF’s business model as an “iceberg,” adding that, “10 percent of what the company is, is above water publicly.”

So if only 10 percent of a sports league’s bottom line is reliant on, you know, sports, where is the other 90 percent going?

The answer shouldn’t surprise you: gambling technology software.

Because while nobody truly cares about the outcome of the Salt Lake Stallions and the Birmingham Iron – yes, those are two actual AAF teams – the gambling aspect, particularly the technology the AAF plans to implement to make gambling on games even more immediate and immersive, is where the league becomes lucrative.

Ultimately, the AAF wants to fully develop an app that allows consumers to bet on games live, as they happen, from play-to-play, without the delay of a TV broadcast.

The app is currently available to gamblers in Nevada, but the AAF is hoping to expand nationwide thanks to a Supreme Court ruling last year that loosened the regulations on sports betting and allowed each state to set up its own framework.

But it’s not just having an app that makes betting on games easier, it’s the type of bets and the data-driven model that has caused major stakeholders such as venture capitalists from Silicon Valley, engineers from Tesla and Lockheed Martin to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into a football league.

Las Vegas wasn’t to be left out, as MGM Resorts International, one of the three biggest casino corporations, got on board and holds the exclusive license for AAF’s gambling technology.

A big piece of that technology is called “predictive casting.” This comes from players actually wearing data-collection technology during games that produces instant odds for a slew of potential side bets.

Those odds come from data of past plays, data based on a team’s formation, and data based on which personnel are on the field.

And the bets can run from everything from whether the next play will be a run or a pass, to whether the current drive will end in a punt or a touchdown.

And because those odds are ultimately shaped by data collected every second of every game, it gives them a sense of legitimacy.

After all, in today’s world, nearly everything is data-driven, so why not capture data about every possible facet of a football game and churn that data in probabilities?

Also, with that model, it’s easy to see why gamblers are interested in the AAF even though most of them couldn’t name a single player on the field at any given time.

When you can bet on virtually anything, who cares whose playing?

It’s Vegas. You could find degenerates that would take action on which ant made it across The Strip first.

Gambling is it’s own end game. However, it’s not the only end game.

Because while the AAF probably won’t be around in 10 years, it’s the technology, the 90 percent, that has investors licking their chop and opening their wallets.

The type of data-collection software the AAF is implementing isn’t brand new, but the sheer scope of collection and delivery of data has countless applications in everyday life across an array of different platforms.

“You’re talking about tens of millions of points of data that we’ve figured out how to compress and deliver in real time,” Ebersol said. “Any industry that needs to take that level of data and then compress it and deliver it can use that application.”

Those hardly sound like the words of a person committed to a long-term vision of a professional sports league.

Ebersol isn’t a fool. Nor are his investors.

The AAF is a jumping-off point for much bigger things. It’s a guinea pig; a low-risk proposition that allows for the introduction and implementation of the true product – the software.

If the AAF folds in a year or two, it won’t matter, so long as Ebersol and his app have produced the deliverables necessary to prove its worth in the marketplace.

And based on the $500 million investors have poured in already, it seems the brains in the room are already bullish on the idea.

So, if you’re missing football and want to fill the void by watching the Orlando Apollos square off against the San Antonio Commanders – I promise, these are real teams – by all means, enjoy.

Just don’t get used to it.

Ebersol is 10 percent sports league owner and 90 percent businessman.

It’s like if Bill Gates started a basketball league: you know there is more to the story than sports and you know the nerds are one step ahead of everybody else, about to cash in, again.