The league was set to begin play in 2019 after the announcement of several teams, but as of 2024, there have been no further developments and the project is believed to have been abandoned.

Its ownership structure is built around the premise that the current professional football landscape is dominated by billionaires; hence, its name is derived from the freedom it intended to give its players from the closely held structure of other professional leagues by offering equity stakes to players.

The FFL were financed by private funding and public offerings allowing fans to be part-owners of their respective team.

When the FFL was announced, co-founder Ricky Williams stated that there are approximately 100 initial stakeholders, including 50 former NFL players.

[citation needed] Rice, Garcia and Jackson are all former players in the United Football League.