Vince McMahon considers move to bring back the XFL

[17to85]

Everyone goes to the big cities, if it were me I'd put teams in smaller places that don't have much else and build some loyal fanbases. 

[JCon]

7 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Everyone goes to the big cities, if it were me I'd put teams in smaller places that don't have much else and build some loyal fanbases. 

For comparison, the AAFL is going to: 

Atlanta, Georgia
Birmingham, Alabama
Memphis, Tennessee
Orlando, Florida
Tempe, Arizona
Salt Lake City, Utah
San Antonio, Texas
San Diego, California

Only one current NFL city. 

 

[White Out]

I don't know why they'd do Atlanta. I think Birmingham will be a huge hit, same with San Antonio and San Diego.

[Brandon]

http://www.all-xfl.com/xfl/stats/teamstats/finalstats.shtml 

This site shows attendances from the initial XFL ...

 

Birmingham had the 2nd lowest in the league.     

[The Unknown Poster]

Some more details if they haven’t been posted already 

 

 

The revival of the XFL took its next step at a media event in New Jersey today.

Vince McMahon announced that the first season of the league's revival will begin on February 8-9, 2020, which is the weekend after the NFL's Super Bowl. XFL commissioner and CEO Oliver Luck said the start date gives them the time they need to get the game, the fan experience, and their partnerships right.

The inaugural season will feature eight teams. The host cities (which had already been inadvertently revealed on the league's website) and venues were confirmed today:

• New York (MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey)
• Dallas (Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas)
• Houston (TDECU Stadium in Houston, Texas)
• Los Angeles (StubHub Center in Carson, California)
• St. Louis (The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri)
• Seattle (CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington)
• Tampa Bay (Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida)
• Washington D.C. (Audi Field in Washington D.C.)

Instead of having individual owners, all of the teams will be owned by the league. Luck noted that they're well on their way to identifying their team presidents and head coaches. The coaches will also be the general managers of their teams. The XFL plans on filling the team president and head coach positions in the first quarter of 2019, which is also their timeframe for signing quarterbacks and other impact players. Team names will be announced in the coming months.

Luck said he believes there's a big player pool they'll recruit from, including inviting players who are released when the NFL finalizes its rosters to try out. The XFL will scout, run mini-camps, hold local tryouts, and have an XFL draft and supplemental draft.

A television/media rights deal wasn't announced at today's event. Luck said they're "very excited about the meaningful and deep conversations we've had with all of the major media players about our distribution plans." He said the XFL is confident that their games will be widely available on multiple platforms when the league launches. McMahon also mentioned that there's a clamoring for live sporting events on many networks.

The XFL continued to push the idea of "reimagining" football, with Luck saying that they want to complement fall football. The four areas they're focusing on for the on-field product are the speed of the game, increasing meaningful on-field action, creating more in-game rhythm and flow, and improving player safety.

Luck said the XFL will test for performance-enhancing drugs.

It was noted that the XFL is watching the development of sports gambling in the U.S. The league is a proponent of giving fans a legal and safe way to participate in gambling.

[The Unknown Poster]

Also announced top players will make $250,000

[SpeedFlex27]

20 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Also announced top players will make $250,000

I looked at the cities. None of them stand out as being successful. Seattle loves the Seahawks. Their XFL team? They may get 35-40,000 out for their first game with falling attendance afterwards.  I think it'll be a replay of the XFL in 2000.

[johnzo]

I dunno who is going to go out to see the Seattle XFLers.

It's a super bad week to announce a new team in Seattle, the NHL in Seattle announcement has been huge, bigger than I ever thought it would be.

The only sports coverage I saw about the XFL was whether its schedule might bump any Sounders dates or force the Sounders to play on a field marked for gridiron.

[Jesse]

4 hours ago, johnzo said:

I dunno who is going to go out to see the Seattle XFLers.

It's a super bad week to announce a new team in Seattle, the NHL in Seattle announcement has been huge, bigger than I ever thought it would be.

The only sports coverage I saw about the XFL was whether its schedule might bump any Sounders dates or force the Sounders to play on a field marked for gridiron.

Remember when the Jets came back and the Bombers got a spike in season tickets sold? Sometimes these things just get people excited.

[The Unknown Poster]

 

[bearpants]

8 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I looked at the cities. None of them stand out as being successful. Seattle loves the Seahawks. Their XFL team? They may get 35-40,000 out for their first game with falling attendance afterwards.  I think it'll be a replay of the XFL in 2000.

That's very true... but remember the XFL will be taking place in the NFL off-season... so people might come out just to watch some football to tide them over til training camp...

[The Unknown Poster]

9 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I looked at the cities. None of them stand out as being successful. Seattle loves the Seahawks. Their XFL team? They may get 35-40,000 out for their first game with falling attendance afterwards.  I think it'll be a replay of the XFL in 2000.

They will want to draw fans of course, but since every team will be owned by the league, its not as critical to the financial health of particular teams.  The TV deals will be most important.  They could switch teams every year if they wanted to.  They want good TV markets to attract a good TV deal.

[The Unknown Poster]

Another interesting note from Meltzer:

Quote

It is expected that both league contracts would prohibit jumping to the other league or the Canadian Football League, but how it categorizes the NFL will be a major key.

 

[Colin Unger]

4 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

They will want to draw fans of course, but since every team will be owned by the league, its not as critical to the financial health of particular teams.  The TV deals will be most important.  They could switch teams every year if they wanted to.  They want good TV markets to attract a good TV deal.

It sounds like NBC was holding off on the AAF because they were more interested in the XFL.  When you look at the team locations on a map the XFL is more interesting to national networks.   The AAF only seems to capture the southern portion of the map. They seem to be targeting more markets that might have a local fanbase who would actually go to a game where the XFL is moreso targetting a wide television audience.   

[Mark F]

 

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/25470052/former-nfl-players-plan-launch-freedom-football-league

[SpeedFlex27]

On ‎2018‎-‎12‎-‎06 at 3:20 PM, Mark F said:

 

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/25470052/former-nfl-players-plan-launch-freedom-football-league

Does anybody care? 

[Tracker]

2 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Does anybody care? 

Nope.

[Jacquie]

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.

Except CFL free agency doesn't begin until after the AAF season has already started.

[Colin Unger]

The problem with these leagues is they are minor leagues...  In no sport do minor league teams in the United States gain enough popularity to gain national TV ratings.  They are coming in and paying players too much money.  There are so many players out there that they would field a similar caliber of play with half the pay.  Even Johnny Mazniel played basically for free in the Spring League. These leagues are highly unlikely to come anywhere near turning profits. There already is a second football circuit that's popular in the NCAA. I just don't see this working at the salaries they are paying out. Can't wait for the AAF and XFL CFL dispersal drafts!!

[The Unknown Poster]

9 minutes ago, Colin Unger said:

The problem with these leagues is they are minor leagues...  In no sport do minor league teams in the United States gain enough popularity to gain national TV ratings.  They are coming in and paying players too much money.  There are so many players out there that they would field a similar caliber of play with half the pay.  Even Johnny Mazniel played basically for free in the Spring League. These leagues are highly unlikely to come anywhere near turning profits. There already is a second football circuit that's popular in the NCAA. I just don't see this working at the salaries they are paying out. Can't wait for the AAF and XFL CFL dispersal drafts!!

AAF already had a network.  

What UFC and WWE TV deals show us is that there is value in live sports programming even if it draws low ratings.  SD is barely 2 million per week.  And they got a massive deal.  Thats 52 weeks per year of course.  But its not just networks, its streaming platforms.  Everyone from Amazon to Facebook is looking for content.  

They're chasing the golden goose for sure.  But its all about that rights money.

[Tracker]

If there is no reciprocal agreement between the CFL and the AAFL, what would stop a player from jumping mid-season from one to the other?

[Colin Unger]

14 minutes ago, Tracker said:

If there is no reciprocal agreement between the CFL and the AAFL, what would stop a player from jumping mid-season from one to the other?

Pretty sure there will be a gentlemen's agreement in place. It sounds like the CFL and XFL already have something to prevent players from playing in both leagues.  The issue with the AAF is that they have a 3 year contract minimum. So it's not like a player from the CFL could go there and think that they are going to come back to the CFL the next season.  With all the player safety concerns these days i just don't see these leagues allowing players to play 38 games a year.

There would be no jumping back and forth mid-season anyways because the seasons don't run at the same time.

Edited December 11, 2018 by Colin Unger

[wbbfan]

On 2018-12-05 at 11:05 PM, SpeedFlex27 said:

I looked at the cities. None of them stand out as being successful. Seattle loves the Seahawks. Their XFL team? They may get 35-40,000 out for their first game with falling attendance afterwards.  I think it'll be a replay of the XFL in 2000.

I agree. I think they have some of the right ideas but are just missing.

Id look at places in the range of Austin/forth worth. That winnipeg size market without a big 4 team, or much chance of ever getting one. Look at places with big HS football communities. 

San diego might work though. The football fan base from the chargers might be bitter and anti NFL enough to endorse a counter culture league. 

[wbbfan]

On 2018-12-11 at 4:30 PM, Colin Unger said:

Pretty sure there will be a gentlemen's agreement in place. It sounds like the CFL and XFL already have something to prevent players from playing in both leagues.  The issue with the AAF is that they have a 3 year contract minimum. So it's not like a player from the CFL could go there and think that they are going to come back to the CFL the next season.  With all the player safety concerns these days i just don't see these leagues allowing players to play 38 games a year.

There would be no jumping back and forth mid-season anyways because the seasons don't run at the same time.

That 3-year minimum ooof. Exist a year before something like that. I see that making them prime targets for the back end of the career cfl/afl nfl PR guys. What player in or before their prime is going to want to sign away 3 years. 

[SpeedFlex27]

My son lives in Seattle. Big football fan but he sure isn't excited about an XFL team there.