The Return of the XFL?

[Eldon]

In an era when everything from "Star Wars" to "Lethal Weapon" to "Ghostbusters" is getting the full reboot-refresh, it comes as absolutely zero surprise that there's suddenly talk of a new XFL.

Deadspin's David Bixenspan further noted that McMahon filed for two new XFL trademarks earlier this year. Curious indeed.

This could all be coincidence, or it could be McMahon seeing a market opportunity — football fans sick of the NFL — and exploiting it.


https://sports.yahoo.com/xfl-coming-back-new-rumors-surfacing-145457041.html

[forgetful]

In an era when everything from "Star Wars" to "Lethal Weapon" to "Ghostbusters" is getting the full reboot-refresh, it comes as absolutely zero surprise that there's suddenly talk of a new XFL.

Deadspin's David Bixenspan further noted that McMahon filed for two new XFL trademarks earlier this year. Curious indeed.

This could all be coincidence, or it could be McMahon seeing a market opportunity — football fans sick of the NFL — and exploiting it.


https://sports.yahoo.com/xfl-coming-back-new-rumors-surfacing-145457041.html

I think you will see something like this come back.  Would also not be shocked to see Trump involved.  He was adamant about tax breaks being included in the deal that focused on sports franchises.  A weirdly specific inclusion, and with his attacks on the NFL and ties to McMahon, would not be surprised to see a new competitor in the football sector.

[Herman Cain]

Who will ever forget the XFL's most famous player, named " He Hate me".

[tower912]

Please, no.   More unwatchable football?      Ack. 

[Jockey]

Just what Amurica needs. A game whose goal is to injure players.

[hairy worthen]

Please, no.   More unwatchable football?      Ack.

well maybe if you weren't a lions fan it might  be more watchable.

[Tugg Speedman]

Vince McMahon Considers XFL Relaunch As NFL Fans Evaporate

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-12-17/vince-mcmahon-considers-xfl-relaunch-nfl-fans-evaporate

WWE owner Vince McMahon is considering bringing back his ill-fated football league, the XFL, amid sagging NFL viewership and a racially charged kneeling epidemic of players who won't stand for the National Anthem which began during the summer 2016 pre-season. In a recent "30 for 30" documentary about the XFL, McMahon and his partner in the 2001 endeavor - former NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol, pondered the possibility of relaunching the league once promoted as having fewer rules and rougher play than other leagues.

[Eldon]

There was a hilarious skit by Conan O'Brien called "XFL Survivor" that, unfortunately, is not on YouTube. 

The idea of the show was that whoever can last the longest in a room watching XFL "highlights" wins the grand prize.  Ahh, Conan.  A true comedic genius.

Anyway, one good thing about the XFL was the use of the skycam in football.  IIRC, it was the XFL that pioneered its use. 

Who knows.  Maybe some competition will spur some new ideas, thus making football watchable again (I stopped watching once Favre retired for the final time).

[🏀]

There was a hilarious skit by Conan O'Brien called "XFL Survivor" that, unfortunately, is not on YouTube. 

The idea of the show was that whoever can last the longest in a room watching XFL "highlights" wins the grand prize.  Ahh, Conan.  A true comedic genius.

Anyway, one good thing about the XFL was the use of the skycam in football.  IIRC, it was the XFL that pioneered its use. 

Who knows.  Maybe some competition will spur some new ideas, thus making football watchable again (I stopped watching once Favre retired for the final time).

Fantastic bit.

[Benny B]

Just what Amurica needs. A game whose goal is to injure players.

Last I checked, NFL is still leading the XFL in the CTE column.

To be sure, I do agree with the sentiment... society already has both UFC for rednecks who like to watch other people get hurt and the NFL for everyone who likes to watch other people get hurt.  Alas, indeed 'tis only the rednecks who are still buying the top-end DirecTV and cable packages, so of course the powers that be will give them yet another sport to watch.

The premier of "Ow My Balls" is inevitable.

[Jockey]

Last I checked, NFL is still leading the XFL in the CTE column.

Very astute observation!

NFL = 97 years              XFL = 1 year

[tower912]

Because with so many practice squads, Canadian football leagues, etc, there is still so many employable quarterbacks out there who simply aren't being given a chance.     And running backs.    And wide receivers.   etc.     Seriously, name 15 quarterbacks who are good enough to be playing in the NFL but currently are not on a NFL roster. 

Like it did last time, it will look like football played by the scabs during the last big strike.   At best.   Is there a market to watch second rate football?       Hell, second rate bowl games aren't making much money.   

The only way this has a chance of succeeding is if it is perceived as a legitimate developmental league for the NFL.   

[RJax55]

The 30 for 30 "This Is the XFL" is pretty good and rather insightful. It dealt with the challenges and blunders the league faced in a pretty straight-forward manner.

While there's an audience for rougher, more old-school football, as Tower says, there's no audience for bad football. The XFL already proved that.

While the league was a joke, the ratings and interest Week 1 were very high. The ratings for the first game actually outpaced NBC's initial projections. Whether it was genuine interest or just curiosity, it did capture the attention of the general public. But, then the games started. And, the football was crapty.

While the NFL product has certainly fallen since 2001, the XFL game-play was horrid. Even worse than a 2nd half preseason game. A rebirth would need to up the quality of play significantly, and I have a hard time seeing how that would be feasible. Especially, if you are advocating a game that has more hitting and less player protection.

Its funny, one of the only real in-game innovations that the XFL had was the opening game scrum, but even that became a liability. The coaches said that nearly half the guys that participated ended up being seriously hurt. Coaches were initially using their best athletes, but had to stop that as the injuries began to mount.

[D'Lo Brown]

Because with so many practice squads, Canadian football leagues, etc, there is still so many employable quarterbacks out there who simply aren't being given a chance.     And running backs.    And wide receivers.   etc.     Seriously, name 15 quarterbacks who are good enough to be playing in the NFL but currently are not on a NFL roster. 

Like it did last time, it will look like football played by the scabs during the last big strike.   At best.   Is there a market to watch second rate football?       Hell, second rate bowl games aren't making much money.   

The only way this has a chance of succeeding is if it is perceived as a legitimate developmental league for the NFL.

I get your point but respectfully disagree. There are many ways in which an XFL, ZFL, or any well-funded, well-thought out league could capitalize on inefficiencies in the overall system.

Point #1: The NFL is ruled by conservatism. NCAAF is not governed by a strict "pro-style" system on offense, defense, or special teams. Therefore, there are plenty of great college players that can't adapt to the rigid pro system and fail. They are still great football players. Example: there are a ton of excellent option QBs who could thrive professionally... In an option offense. You can make a similar point with other players across the field: smaller offensive/defensive linemen, multi-use athletes, and players that are best at positions non-existent in the NFL (fullback, wingback, exotic defensive positions). In an established secondary league, they could get talented players. Manziel was a first round pick - talented, just not at all a fit in the NFL.

Point #1a: As a result of running "college-style" schemes, many players would have easier transitions to the XFL since those concepts have been baked into their heads since age 6.

Point #2: There are a ton of players that dropped out of college/had legal troubles/generally did not follow the path needed to reach or stay in the NFL. Ray Rice and Greg Hardy come to mind, there are many others. Also, what about players that come from other countries? It's nearly impossible to find your way directly to the NFL unless you went to an American college. Only Americans can play football?

Point #3: NFL teams each train up 90 players for months, then pare down to 53 all on the same day. All of these players want to keep playing football but, many won't until the next training camp. Give them any option other than the couch/waiting tables and they will take it.

Point #4: I don't know anything about how the XFL teams trained, practiced, prepared. I assume it was substandard, especially to today's standards. The game has become significantly more structured even in the last 15 years. Coaches are more knowledgeable and practices are run more thoughtfully at every level. If they can find experienced coaching staffs and learn from their mistakes, IMO, the product itself would be watchable (and as a result of some of the above points, perhaps differentiated from the NFL).

There are a ton of other factors beyond the game itself, those will decide if a new league would be successful. I personally don't really buy the "extreme" approach since that really won't sustain itself in the long-term (as seen when excitement for the XFL was huge when it first started but then people realized it was basically exactly the same game still). I would personally focus more on grabbing some name-brand players, including the controversial ones, and some good college coaches... In the social media era the controversies and weird stories would work in their favor

[#UnleashSean]

Only Americans can play football?

Judging by the world football championship results, yes.

America has won every competition (By a very large amount in all but one case. Reasons behind the double ot win) 50-7 against Canada and 59-12 against Japan. In 2015 they outscored opponents 154-24. 

Oh and that's with incredible restrictions placed on the American team - Note this is only for the American team, Canada is allowed full use of any player from their country.

The national team was selected to encompass a cross-section of amateur football in the United States, and as such USA Football used strict criteria to select team members. Interestingly, this does not allow the top American football players in the United States to compete as the restrictions include:

Professionals from any US or Canadian league were ineligible
Player must have graduated from college—current college players were ineligible
All levels of NCAA and NAIA athletics were required to be represented, not just FBS
Players must be no more than one year removed from college
These criteria are applied to make international tournaments more competitive.

[Pakuni]

Who the heck is going to finance another XFL, especially given the train wreck that was the first XFL?

[tower912]

I get your point but respectfully disagree. There are many ways in which an XFL, ZFL, or any well-funded, well-thought out league could capitalize on inefficiencies in the overall system.

Point #1: The NFL is ruled by conservatism. NCAAF is not governed by a strict "pro-style" system on offense, defense, or special teams. Therefore, there are plenty of great college players that can't adapt to the rigid pro system and fail. They are still great football players. Example: there are a ton of excellent option QBs who could thrive professionally... In an option offense. You can make a similar point with other players across the field: smaller offensive/defensive linemen, multi-use athletes, and players that are best at positions non-existent in the NFL (fullback, wingback, exotic defensive positions). In an established secondary league, they could get talented players. Manziel was a first round pick - talented, just not at all a fit in the NFL.

Point #1a: As a result of running "college-style" schemes, many players would have easier transitions to the XFL since those concepts have been baked into their heads since age 6.

Point #2: There are a ton of players that dropped out of college/had legal troubles/generally did not follow the path needed to reach or stay in the NFL. Ray Rice and Greg Hardy come to mind, there are many others. Also, what about players that come from other countries? It's nearly impossible to find your way directly to the NFL unless you went to an American college. Only Americans can play football?

Point #3: NFL teams each train up 90 players for months, then pare down to 53 all on the same day. All of these players want to keep playing football but, many won't until the next training camp. Give them any option other than the couch/waiting tables and they will take it.

Point #4: I don't know anything about how the XFL teams trained, practiced, prepared. I assume it was substandard, especially to today's standards. The game has become significantly more structured even in the last 15 years. Coaches are more knowledgeable and practices are run more thoughtfully at every level. If they can find experienced coaching staffs and learn from their mistakes, IMO, the product itself would be watchable (and as a result of some of the above points, perhaps differentiated from the NFL).

There are a ton of other factors beyond the game itself, those will decide if a new league would be successful. I personally don't really buy the "extreme" approach since that really won't sustain itself in the long-term (as seen when excitement for the XFL was huge when it first started but then people realized it was basically exactly the same game still). I would personally focus more on grabbing some name-brand players, including the controversial ones, and some good college coaches... In the social media era the controversies and weird stories would work in their favor

So you like the part about it being perceived as a legitimate development league. 

[forgetful]

Who the heck is going to finance another XFL, especially given the train wreck that was the first XFL?

As noted above, I would not be surprised at all if much of the financing came from DJT.

[GB Warrior]

Here's where this all fails - there aren't even 16 good quarterbacks in the NFL today... You're telling me you're going to start a league with lower pay and less safety restrictions with someone off the scrap heap that couldn't make it in the NFL? It's your money...

[MU82]

I hope the XFL comes back. I've been yearning for another sports league to ignore.

This time, they'd better do things right.

Each team is required to have at least 3 neo-Nazi defensive starters and 3 Jewish offensive starters.

Halftime shows will involve whichever children of Sarah Palin aren't in prison at the moment punching their father in the face.

Monday night games are Weiner Nights. Get your photo snapped with America's favorite bulge!

Tuesday night games are Trump's Broads Nights. All women get their P's grabbed for free, and no extra charge for the Tic-Tacs.

I could go on all day ...

[D'Lo Brown]

Here's where this all fails - there aren't even 16 good quarterbacks in the NFL today... You're telling me you're going to start a league with lower pay and less safety restrictions with someone off the scrap heap that couldn't make it in the NFL? It's your money...

No. Who's to say that they will all run a strictly pro-style offense. You don't need a pocket QB to win. See: entire college game.

The reason the NFL doesn't employ many option-based attacks is mainly due to the fear of injuring the franchise player. Not an issue for any other league, which opens up the opportunity to employ a star college QB that couldn't make the adjustment to pro-style dropback QB.

Let me put this another way. NFL teams make the QB the focal point of the offense. It is an offensive scheme, it's not a fact of reality. The truth is that the XFL could just as well employ an offense like you see at major college programs, where read plays or options are stressed alongside the threat of the long pass.

I'm just saying, only need to open your mind a bit with respect to the offensive scheme.

[GB Warrior]

I get the concept, and I'll even spot you that there are quarterbacks that would do well in that type of system. Unfortunately one of them would be explicitly banned in the league's constitution   
 

But you're going to run into a situation where you'd have to recruit players to league that's fundamentally against their health and safety, to a league without the track record and safety net of popularity. And you'd need stars. To do both of these things, you'd have to offer salaries incomensurate with the revenue you're generating in the league's early years.

Gee, this story sounds eerily familiar, but I can't place it... I'll hang up and listen...

[Spotcheck Billy]

Who the heck is going to finance another XFL, especially given the train wreck that was the first XFL?

^ This. The original XFL got lucky by netting a contract with a desperate NBC and when NBC pulled out after the terrible ratings in season 1 the league collapsed. This is the $$$ any league would need.

[GGGG]

Things that are painfully obvious...

1. Nobody wants more football.  The AFL was successful because it was in markets largely unserved by the NFL.  Since then, no league has been successful.  WFL, USFL, XFL, UFL, American CFL expansion.  None lasted more than four seasons.

2.  While some people were turned off by the anthem protests, people aren't going to latch on to a new league simply because they make players stand for the anthem.  Well maybe some ultra-MAGAs, but that's about it.

3.  Very few people are going to watch this because people want more violent hits.  That premise was proven false the last time this idea was trotted out.

With teams in every market, and an extraordinary number of games on television, the market for new professional sports leagues in the United State is close to zero.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

I don't think XFLII would work but if it did:

-let the wide receiver get a running start like the Canadian League.
-Make a catch a catch.  No more NFL crazy catch rules.
-Hot cheerleaders (Think The Replacements).
-Live looks inside the Huddle.  "Catch the ball.  Catch the ball."  "Tackle him.  Tackle him."
-Incorporate sports betting into the game watching experience.  XFL/DraftKings app would let you place bets from your couch.  (Hell, use bitcoins)
-No suspensions for weed.
-Get streaming from Netflix/Amazon/etc.  Exclusive streaming.  Get a money bags like Bezos on this, it will be profitable.
-Follow Johnny Manziel around for a week while drinking, run the tape at high speed and have an old ragtime piano tune playing.