Team Euphoria pose for photographers at a
news conference announcing plans for Lingerie Bowl
Billed as "true fantasy football", league will feature
teams of women across the US playing American football in
co-ordinated underwear, including garters, along with helmets and
some token protective padding.
Members of America's existing professional women's football
leagues are unlikely to be either worried or impressed by the
newcomers, however, as sporting ability appears far less of a
concern than looks when it comes to recruiting players.
The new league is a spin-off from the annual Lingerie Bowl,
which was started five years ago as a racier alternative to the
official Super Bowl half-time show.
Lingerie Bowl organisers said after the controversial Super Bowl
half-time show in which Janet Jackson bared a breast, the official
programme became "extraordinarily conservative with ageing rockers
such as Tom Petty, Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones" that
failed to wow fans or critics.
So an alternative "championship" was born, a 35-minute game
featuring underwear-clad models and celebrities as well as current
and former National Football League stars. Aired it on a
pay-per-view television, it has become a Super Bowl staple
attracting millions of viewers, organisers say.
The Lingerie League will feature 10 teams with names that sound
more like deodorant brands than sports clubs: Chicago Bliss, New
England Euphoria, Tampa Breeze, Dallas Desire, Los Angeles
Temptation, San Diego Seduction and Seattle Mist to name a few.
Try-outs, or auditions, have so far drawn young women including
models and dancers. Those attending a session in Seattle
interviewed by CNN were blunt about the game's appeal - "probably
half-naked women playing football would be my guess," said one -
but denied they felt exploited.
Training is taken very seriously
"Obviously first and foremost it's a visually driven brand, so
you have to have the beauty," league spokesman Kyle Bolin told
Florida's St Petersburg Times.
"But you have to be athletic. It's a whole different breed when
you're asking models to play tackle. So you have to (have) a little
bit upstairs."
He also denied the league was sexist. "This is not fluff. They
take it very seriously. They're not out there worrying about
fingernails being broken, but they're worried about their necks
being broken."
It is not clear how the league will be funded - the website
contains links to "sponsor contact" and "investor relations" - but
season tickets are already on sale.
The concept originated from the hugely successful Super
Bowl halftime alternative television special called
the Lingerie Bowl, a pay-per-view event which was
broadcast at the same time as the Super
Bowl XXXVIII halftime show. The event featured two
teams of models playing an American football game while
dressed in lingerie. The two original teams
were Team Dream and Team
Euphoria. Team Dream won the first game with a score
of 6-0.
The League is an extension of this idea. The league was
expanded to four teams in 2005:
2008
The league announced it would expand to ten teams in 2008,
adding:
The Lingerie Football League will kick off its inaugural season
in Fall 2009 with ten franchises including Los Angeles Temptation,
Phoenix Scorch, Seattle Mist, San Diego Seduction, Dallas Desire,
New England Euphoria, Chicago Bliss, Atlanta Steam, Miami Caliente
and Tampa Breeze. LFL games are set to air on cable television in
Fall 2009.
