Peter Thiel backs launch of new football league

Billionaire Peter Thiel’s venture firm is backing a new football league in an effort to counter the NFL. 

The Alliance of American Football is scheduled to officially launch in February 2019, the league announced on Tuesday. 

{mosads}CBS has partnered with the new league and will air two games in the network’s primetime slot, along with other games on the CBS Sports Network. 

The league is boasting increased safety for players, as well as a live-streaming application. 

Thiel’s Founder’s Fund joins other investors including the Chernin Group and former Vikings player Jared Allen.

Thiel, who is a former Trump adviser, has been one of the most influential investors in Silicon Valley.

He was one of the only Trump supporters from the tech world and was the first openly gay speaker since 2000 to address the Republican National Convention in 2016. 

“Silicon Valley is a one-party state,” Thiel said earlier this year. “That’s when you get in trouble politically in our society, when you’re all on one side.”

Reports surfaced earlier this year that Thiel was mulling creating a conservative news network to rival Fox News.