Bill Barnwell has an excellent piece at Grantland.com about what professional football might look like in the future without the NFL.

Before you think the NFL is too big to fail, consider that it could also tumble like a house of cards for reasons Barnwell outlines. A brief portion of what he wrote:

Suppose for a moment the NFL collapsed as part of a lockout when the vast majority of its players agreed to go play in a newly formed league with new franchises,3 all of which are suspiciously similar to NFL franchises that would then be left without players. NFL fans have failed to support secondary leagues like the XFL and UFL in the past 15 years because the quality of play was inferior and the leagues lacked star-caliber talent, but what if that weren't the case? To use modern-day players as an example, would fans in Wisconsin support the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, or would they root for Aaron Rodgers, Jordy Nelson, and Clay Matthews suiting up in green-and-yellow jerseys for the Green Bay Football Club at Camp Randall Stadium on Sundays?4Perhaps more important, which team would they want to watch in the comfort of their homes? My suspicion is that the stars would win out over the laundry in most cases.

It's also worth noting that Barnwell scoffs at the notion of getting upset at the NFL's non-profit status, saying it barely does the league any good. Read the whole piece. It's worth your time, and you'll learn things.