Vince McMahon considers move to bring back the XFL

[Mark H.]

10 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

There will never be a great salary structure from top to bottom in the CFL because of how much more valuable quarterbacks and national players are. Can find hundreds of capable american players at other positions so the value just isn't there. You can bump up the minimum salary but the guys who are the rarest will always make significantly more. 

Same thing in any league with the higher end players. I’d say an import RB with the skills of Andrew Harris would get paid quite well in this league. 

[JuranBoldenRules]

Best case scenario the AAF ends up being like the first XFL.  Plays a season and folds.  They are going to poach a bunch of CFL free agents with the CBA issues and no off-season bonuses.  The first XFL did the same thing.

[Eternal optimist]

The biggest problem salary-wise is the glut of players at every position that fall just short of NFL standards. It's really just a case of supply and demand, for every roster spot on a CFL roster, there's lots of players willing to play for what is considered a living wage at their skill level. The excess supply of football players exerts downward pressure on market contract prices. Add to that no contract is guaranteed in the CFL, and you end up with players often signing for minimum contracts, sometimes being released before they're even paid a dime (a Canadian dime, no less).

Raising the minimum salary in the upcoming CBA should help entice better talent up north... there is virtually no risk it will reduce the number of players, since teams are mandated to field a 46-man roster. That said, two sides to every coin, and of course team owners don't want to increase costs for obvious reasons.

[The Unknown Poster]

Quote

Terry Lefton of Sports Business Journal spoke to Mark Lazarus, the chairman of NBC Broadcasting and Sports and he outright said they would sign up either the AAFL (Charlie Ebersol’s new league which already has a deal with CBS Sports Network and CBS) or the XFL, which by process of elimination tells you they are interested in the XFL.

“I suspect we will be in business with one of them. We have windows on both cable and broadcast, and we have interesting ties to both. He (Vince McMahon) has credibility in sports and entertainment, and a lot of money. The other league has interesting technology tied to it and they’ll be the first mover (AAFL starts this spring while McMahon’s league is looking at starting in the Spring of 2020).

There are issues around each and they both have connections back to us. They’d both very much like to have a second partner...If the football is real, it’s got a chance. We have a football checklist and a deal checklist: risk versus reward mid-term/long-term. Short-term is immaterial in the startup phase.” 

 

[The Unknown Poster]

Quote

KSDK TV in St. Louis, Missouri reported on Tuesday that the city will be getting an XFL team for the league's 2020 launch. They noted that five of the team's 10 regular season games will be played at The Dome at America's Center, which is the former Edward Jones Dome. The NFL's Rams played there prior to moving to Los Angeles in 2016.

KSDK said that all of the host cities for the XFL teams will be unveiled next week.

There will be eight teams at the start of the XFL revival, with the league owning all of the teams instead of using a franchise model with individual owners. KSDK reported that the XFL has already contacted sports executives in St. Louis about running the city's team.

 

[Colin Unger]

On 2018-11-17 at 11:52 AM, JuranBoldenRules said:

Best case scenario the AAF ends up being like the first XFL.  Plays a season and folds.  They are going to poach a bunch of CFL free agents with the CBA issues and no off-season bonuses.  The first XFL did the same thing.

I guess some may go...  Doesn't seem like a big payday for them since the AAF season will already have started by the time they would be available to sign in that league.  The cfl used to let players out early to go to the XFL but with 3 year contracts in the AAF and no chance of the player returning for the next CFL season i don't see that happening. 

[Jpan85]

If the AAF is some what successful the XFL is going to be real strapped for talent.

[Tracker]

(YAWN)

[FrostyWinnipeg]

Dont know why the NFL just dont come out with their own minor league and call it NFL2.

[Mark F]

1 hour ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

Dont know why the NFL just dont come out with their own minor league and call it NFL2.

Arena football, is actually quite good, but people down there aren't interested.  Some arena players end up in the CFL, and NFL.  and the games are fun to watch. 

But people just don't have any interest in it. 

[Brandon]

4 hours ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

Dont know why the NFL just dont come out with their own minor league and call it NFL2.

They have enough trouble keeping interest with the main product... why would they make an NFL2.   

[JCon]

4 hours ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

Dont know why the NFL just dont come out with their own minor league and call it NFL2.

They'll buy the AAF. It's being set up in a way to make it desirable. 

[SpeedFlex27]

4 minutes ago, JCon said:

They'll buy the AAF. It's being set up in a way to make it desirable. 

That's what the AAFL wants. To be bought by the NFL. 

[JCon]

4 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

That's what the AAFL wants. To be bought by the NFL. 

Yup. And, they've built it in a way that makes it possible. Controlled salary costs, new markets, and complimentary schedule.

[SpeedFlex27]

I think it's less than 50/50 the XFL gets off the ground. 

[The Unknown Poster]

16 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I think it's less than 50/50 the XFL gets off the ground. 

I'd say more than 50% only because Vine is nuts and has tons of cash laying around.

[SpeedFlex27]

We'll see how the AAFL does it's 1st year. 

[The Unknown Poster]

5 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

We'll see how the AAFL does it's 1st year. 

Yeah, I'd say if they are successful that is better for the XFL.  It all comes down to a TV partner.  If Vince cant find one, there is no XFL.  He's banking on the rights fees for sports programming continuing to be hot and the demand for content continuing to be high.

[SpeedFlex27]

4 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Yeah, I'd say if they are successful that is better for the XFL.  It all comes down to a TV partner.  If Vince cant find one, there is no XFL.  He's banking on the rights fees for sports programming continuing to be hot and the demand for content continuing to be high.

I actually think the opposite. If the AAFL is a success then it makes it harder for the XFL to grab a piece of the limited  football market as all of the cities in both leagues are in the Sun Belt. I'm hoping both leagues eat each other up. 

 

Edited December 4, 2018 by SpeedFlex27

[The Unknown Poster]

14 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I actually think the opposite. If the AAFL is a success then it makes it harder for the XFL to grab a piece of the limited  football market as all of the cities in both leagues are in the Sun Belt. I'm hoping both leagues eat each other up. 

 

Whats that expression, a rising tide floats all boats?  If the AAFL is successful as far as TV goes, it will make the XFL more valuable as a TV property and thats basically the whole show.  TV deal = XFL works.  No TV deal = No XFL.

In the original XFL, Vince was willing to give it a second season (it was WWE money back then, not Vince's personal fortune) but NBC pulled the plug and that was that.

[Booch]

It's market and TV revenue driven world now...and with little to no TV success/exposure your never going to succeed...once the initial curiosity/honeymoon period ends. History has shown this multiple times and that was when the general public had more disposable income to invest, and the streaming/internet/social media etc..etc..was non-existent so there was a limited amount of things to spend money on and have consume your interests..so to expect either to succeed is a far cry

From my experience living down there...if it's not NFL (even though at moment a lot of people disenchanted with it) or NCAA Div. 1 it just doesn't matter to most people, and that mindset hasn't changed, and even with the idea of using regional NCAA players for their respective teams as a lure/draw for the fanbase as one of their platforms...It won't matter, and in the long run won't be able to sustain itself financially with little to next to no corporate sponsorship/advertisement money flowing in to off-set poor gate revenue.

Doesn't really matter what money source(s) are backing the league in the initial stages...eventually losses will be cut, and the thought of the NFL buying it as their feeder league is just as far fetched as they are not in the business of losing money in that type of venture, As NFL Europe proved (which the AAFL hopes to become) once it was realized it was a money loss...it was dumped..and the NFL is much happier to see guys develop in Canada and then poach from there.

My take is the NFL and the CFL would be much better served to form an agreement where each team can have up to 2-3 players who are PR players deep down NFL rosters with minimal chance to get on the field able to be in a PR Draft and come to Canada to develop...actually play and not sit on PR's here. You have the NFL teams declare the players eligible and they hold a draft based on current standings in the league, and the NFL team continues to pay them and doesn't count against your cap...

[SpeedFlex27]

8 hours ago, Booch said:

It's market and TV revenue driven world now...and with little to no TV success/exposure your never going to succeed...once the initial curiosity/honeymoon period ends. History has shown this multiple times and that was when the general public had more disposable income to invest, and the streaming/internet/social media etc..etc..was non-existent so there was a limited amount of things to spend money on and have consume your interests..so to expect either to succeed is a far cry

From my experience living down there...if it's not NFL (even though at moment a lot of people disenchanted with it) or NCAA Div. 1 it just doesn't matter to most people, and that mindset hasn't changed, and even with the idea of using regional NCAA players for their respective teams as a lure/draw for the fanbase as one of their platforms...It won't matter, and in the long run won't be able to sustain itself financially with little to next to no corporate sponsorship/advertisement money flowing in to off-set poor gate revenue.

Doesn't really matter what money source(s) are backing the league in the initial stages...eventually losses will be cut, and the thought of the NFL buying it as their feeder league is just as far fetched as they are not in the business of losing money in that type of venture, As NFL Europe proved (which the AAFL hopes to become) once it was realized it was a money loss...it was dumped..and the NFL is much happier to see guys develop in Canada and then poach from there.

My take is the NFL and the CFL would be much better served to form an agreement where each team can have up to 2-3 players who are PR players deep down NFL rosters with minimal chance to get on the field able to be in a PR Draft and come to Canada to develop...actually play and not sit on PR's here. You have the NFL teams declare the players eligible and they hold a draft based on current standings in the league, and the NFL team continues to pay them and doesn't count against your cap...

Booch, I think 3 things work against that premise. One is salary. If a player was deep on an NFL roster & sent to the Bombers to play then who would pay that player's salary? The NFL team or a CFL team? Two, would be injuries. There would be a risk having a deep rostered player from say the Jaguars playing in the CFL. Who would be responsible for insurance? Three, I think the different Canadian game actually hurts a partnership like that. I don't think the NFL wants to spend money on developing qbs when they play the Canadian game up here. It doesn't help a young NFL qb when he has to learn a new game for just a season. Just look at Chris Streveler & his struggles at times getting used to the different sized field, motion & 12 defenders.  The NFL would want to change the rules to 4 down football in order to make things easier developmentally.

Edited December 5, 2018 by SpeedFlex27

[bigg jay]

https://twitter.com/TSN_Sports/status/1070375742549229570

 

[JCon]

XFL inaugural cities:

Dallas
Houston
Los Angeles
New York
St. Louis 
Seattle
Tampa Bay
Washington DC

------------

LA - Not many in LA care about the current professional teams there, so I'm not sure how that will work out. 

St Louis - that should be good.

Tampa - I thought Orlando might be a better fit. 

New York - no teams there now. I wonder where they'll play? 

Houston - also getting an AAFL team. << Wrong, it's San Antonio. Oops. 

Washington - should be good. 

Dallas - should be good. 

Seattle - should be good but why not Portland instead? 

Edited December 5, 2018 by JCon

[bearpants]

1 minute ago, JCon said:

XFL inaugural cities:

Dallas
Houston
Los Angeles
New York
St. Louis 
Seattle
Tampa Bay
Washington DC

------------

LA - Not many in LA care about the current professional teams there, so I'm not sure how that will work out. 

St Louis - that should be good.

Tampa - I thought Orlando might be a better fit. 

New York - no teams there now. I wonder where they'll play? 

Houston - also getting an AAFL team. 

Washington - should be good. 

Dallas - should be good. 

Seattle - should be good but why not Portland instead? 

why would they go in mostly (I almost said '"all" as seeing St Louis still seem natural) NFL cities... you would think they would target other cities, like the AAAAAAAAF...