The Alliance of American Football joined the list of pro football leagues in the United States, past and present, trying to carve out a spot in the football market without competing directly with the National Football League.

This weekend, AAF teams played their first-ever regular season games, one week after the NFL’s season ended. A novel concept, their two Saturday night games on CBS did OK in the ratings, averaging 2.9 million viewers apiece in a 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. time slot on the East Coast. They outperformed the NBA on ABC with 2.52 million viewers. However, even with some early attention directed toward the league, odds are the AAF, and the XFL, which starts up in 2020, for that matter, will not last.