SAN DIEGO — The Alliance of American Football has ended its first season prematurely and told most employees that they will be terminated as of Wednesday.

Employees were notified of the decision in a letter from the AAF board on Tuesday afternoon. The board essentially is majority owner Tom Dundon, who also owns the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes.

The letter, obtained by The Associated Press, gave no reason for ending the inaugural season, only that the decision was made “after careful consideration.” It also said a small staff would remain to seek new investment capital and “restructure our business. Should those efforts prove successful, we look forward to working with many of you on season two.”

The abrupt end to the latest spring league after just eight weeks stunned co-founder Bill Polian, the former NFL executive who built a Super Bowl winner with Indianapolis.

“I’m extremely disappointed,” Polian told The Associated Press by phone from Charlotte, North Carolina.

“On the one hand it was kind of our wildest fantasies come true. It all came true and now it’s all come crashing down.”

Asked why the league was shutting down, Polian said he’s heard “only that it’s about the money.”

The league had teams in Orlando, Atlanta, San Diego, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, Birmingham and Memphis.

The AAF seemed to have a better chance of surviving than other alternative leagues, such as the USFL and the World League, because of the people and philosophies involved.