MUScoop
MUScoop => The Superbar => Topic started by: TAMU, Knower of Ball on January 25, 2018, 10:26:12 AM
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https://bustedcoverage.com/2018/01/25/vince-mcmahon-pro-football-league-xfl-announcement-report/
Looks like the return of the XFL is going to be announced later today. I know football is the most watched sport in the country....but is there really more room in lives for more football?
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No. This will fail like the last one did. And the MAGA crowd isn't going to watch enough bad football just because people are standing for the anthem.
And really, what markets out there aren't served sufficiently by either professional or college football?
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USFL, XFL 1.0, Arena football as a major sport..... where are they now? It isn't like there is a vast, untapped pool of talent that isn't getting a chance. It will last a couple of years, tops, and then do the inevitable fade into oblivion.
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Just what this country needs...'cause we don't already have enough sports to watch....
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Article with quotes from Vince:
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/22213241/vince-mcmahon-gimmick-free-xfl-return-2020
Honestly, I don't know how Vince makes this a profitable venture.
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"The AFL is a joke. Nothing will ever come of it. There's no room for more teams, let alone another league."
-Someone's grandpa in the 1960s
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"The AFL is a joke. Nothing will ever come of it. There's no room for more teams, let alone another league."
-Someone's grandpa in the 1960s
Yes because the state of football and televised sports now is JUST LIKE what is was in 1960.
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And really, what markets out there aren't served sufficiently by either professional or college football?
I'm also struggling to find the markets. I guess maybe San Antonio, Louisville, Oklahoma City, Raleigh, and Portland...where fans will be disinterested during their NBA or college basketball teams' peak season.
And if they do go to football markets during the NFL's off season...good luck getting people interested in a fledgling league that starts in January in cold weather cities that don't do football in domes....and also have NBA, NHL, and college basketball going on. That leaves...the NFL's abandoned Oakland, San Diego, and St. Louis?
USFL, XFL 1.0, Arena football as a major sport..... where are they now? It isn't like there is a vast, untapped pool of talent that isn't getting a chance. It will last a couple of years, tops, and then do the inevitable fade into oblivion.
Add the most recent experiment not even a decade ago, the UFL. They managed to secure the best talent not on NFL rosters and some big names that were washed out of the NFL. Had guys like Jeff Garcia, Daunte Culpepper, Josh McCown. Marty Schottenheimer, Dennis Green, Jim Fassel coaching. Still crapped out after a couple years.
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I think the competition is good though, the NFL needs someone like Vince to push it, become fresher. The original XFL brought some technical innovations we see the NFL use today. I don't think the league ultimately succeeds, but I appreciate what Vince is trying to do with his own money.
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For people saying there is zero room. It's the only major sport without some sort of minor league team. The MLB has 100s of affiliated minor teams, hockey has 3 (?) minor leagues between Canada and the US. The NBA is growing their own minor league system. Albeit attendence and care levels are way lower then the minor systems of mlb and nhl.
Why is it we have room for all these teams but none for football? I'm surprised none of the other leagues hit Texas. That place would be football heaven for a minor league.
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I would think the minor league is college football. High school football also draws a lot of attention in some areas. I have a hard time seeing what will be unique about this to make it any more popular than Arena Football.
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For people saying there is zero room. It's the only major sport without some sort of minor league team. The MLB has 100s of affiliated minor teams, hockey has 3 (?) minor leagues between Canada and the US. The NBA is growing their own minor league system. Albeit attendence and care levels are way lower then the minor systems of mlb and nhl.
Why is it we have room for all these teams but none for football? I'm surprised none of the other leagues hit Texas. That place would be football heaven for a minor league.
I don't disagree with this in principle.
The issue, I think, is that all of those minor leagues exist largely in the background, while the XFL is going to try to develop a following. I go to 1-2 minor league baseball games every year and have never watched one on TV. I have never attended a G League game and have never watched one on TV. I've been to probably a half dozen minor league hockey games in the past 30 years (and none in the last 10) and have never watched one on TV. Maybe I'm wrong about this, but I figure that is fairly typical of the average sports fan.
So, you're correct, there is probably some room for minor league football. If Vince McMahon is willing to bankroll and operate a football league that likely will have sparse crowds and negligible television viewership (like all the other minor leagues), they he can probably succeed. If that's the bar he's setting, he can achieve that; perhaps even better given the popularity of football. But if he's wanting the XFL to be a competing "major league" (or even a replacement for the NFL), I believe he will fail in spectacular fashion just like those that have tried before. Because, as you said, there are minor leagues in all the other professional sports. But, there really aren't any competing "major(ish)" leagues in any of the other sports.
However, two additional complicating factors: 1) the other minor leagues generally exist with the support of the major leagues (if not near-total financial subsidies). 2) football is significantly more expensive to operate than other sports, making it harder for a team to succeed economically.
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i am surprised by how well hockey has done in the "warm" states. arizona, california, florida, tennessee. just win baby-eyn'a?
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I think the competition is good though, the NFL needs someone like Vince to push it, become fresher. The original XFL brought some technical innovations we see the NFL use today. I don't think the league ultimately succeeds, but I appreciate what Vince is trying to do with his own money.
Those technical innovations in the old XFL had zero to due with Vince though. It was all NBC.
NBC smartly used the XFL as a testing ground knowing they would get another shot at an NFL broadcasting contract in the near future. That happen, and they brought that innovation to Sunday Night Football.
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USFL, XFL 1.0, Arena football as a major sport..... where are they now? It isn't like there is a vast, untapped pool of talent that isn't getting a chance. It will last a couple of years, tops, and then do the inevitable fade into oblivion.
Arena Football is still around. It had a strong 10 year run or so in the 90's.
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i am surprised by how well hockey has done in the "warm" states. arizona, california, florida, tennessee. just win baby-eyn'a?
Not sure if you can include AZ in that. Their crowds are purely snowbirds (at least the two games I went to were) and they're nowhere near as successful as the other warm teams have been.
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Yeah Arizona only still has a team because the NHL intervened.
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Independent of Vince and the anthem stuff, I think there is a nugget of an opportunity here. Think about all the issues with the NFL right now outside of the anthem stuff, things like sexual assault, concussion issues, overly violent game, high ticket prices, tell me what a catch is, etc. All the stuff people yell about Goodell never fixing.
What if they come up with a way for the XFL to be a safer game? Could they entice some talent from the NFL concerned about their long term health(the Chris Borlands of the world)? What if they have a workforce that has fewer social negatives (Vince claims you can't have a criminal record and play in his league)? Would people watch the XFL because it's morally superior?
At a minimum the XFL would force the NFL to address some long standing concerns if done right.
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i am surprised by how well hockey has done in the "warm" states. arizona, california, florida, tennessee. just win baby-eyn'a?
That's debatable. The Coyotes are somehow still in existence despite being the biggest money-losing team. They would have relocated already were it not for the NHL basically make them stay to see if they can get another new arena deal. The Panthers are only still in Miami only because of a unusually generous annual taxpayer payments to the team that ends sometime in the 2020,s. Tampa and the California teams are doing well, but they are in very large metro areas. Carolina is struggling and was just sold and is another team that the NHL is basically temporarily being prevented from moving.
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Carolina is struggling and was just sold and is another team that the NHL is basically temporarily being prevented from moving.
Yep, it was no secret the (now former) owner wanted to take them to Quebec City two years ago. Could probably do ok in Raleigh if they were competitive, but as is nobody cares unless the team from where they transplanted from is in town. New owner is basically being asked to pump a bunch of cash in to change everything, and if it doesn't work he might be able to send the receipt to Bettman to get a move.
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Independent of Vince and the anthem stuff, I think there is a nugget of an opportunity here. Think about all the issues with the NFL right now outside of the anthem stuff, things like sexual assault, concussion issues, overly violent game, high ticket prices, tell me what a catch is, etc. All the stuff people yell about Goodell never fixing.
What if they come up with a way for the XFL to be a safer game? Could they entice some talent from the NFL concerned about their long term health(the Chris Borlands of the world)? What if they have a workforce that has fewer social negatives (Vince claims you can't have a criminal record and play in his league)? Would people watch the XFL because it's morally superior?
At a minimum the XFL would force the NFL to address some long standing concerns if done right.
The biggest problem with the NFL is cord cutting. The XFL isn't fixing that.
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The biggest problem with the NFL is cord cutting. The XFL isn't fixing that.
Why not? XFL can't get on Netflix/Hulu/Amazon?
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Why not? XFL can't get on Netflix/Hulu/Amazon?
Cool. Those rights fees are miniscule compared to what is paid to the NFL however.
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Cool. Those rights fees are miniscule compared to what is paid to the NFL however.
So what? I'm not saying the XFL is going to generate NFL like revenue....but that doesn't mean it can't be a viable business on a smaller revenue stream, especially initially.
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I would think the minor league is college football. High school football also draws a lot of attention in some areas. I have a hard time seeing what will be unique about this to make it any more popular than Arena Football.
Yep.
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So what? I'm not saying the XFL is going to generate NFL like revenue....but that doesn't mean it can't be a viable business on a smaller revenue stream, especially initially.
You won't attract talent from the NFL offering less compensation.
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You won't attract talent from the NFL offering less compensation.
Very well might get 3rd stringers if the strike happens in 2020.
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You won't attract talent from the NFL offering less compensation.
Not at first no, but again if you couple it with a safe sport, you might get some.
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Yep, it was no secret the (now former) owner wanted to take them to Quebec City two years ago. Could probably do ok in Raleigh if they were competitive, but as is nobody cares unless the team from where they transplanted from is in town. New owner is basically being asked to pump a bunch of cash in to change everything, and if it doesn't work he might be able to send the receipt to Bettman to get a move.
They should go back to Hartford. They sell retro Whalers gear all over New England.
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They should go back to Hartford. They sell retro Whalers gear all over New England.
Whalers gear is one of the best selling in the NHL. It's not just all over New England.
Hartford was like the Green Bay of the NHL. They never should have moved in the first place.