I hear people complain about flags. I've heard people complain about unclear catch or no catch rules. But I have never once heard a single person say they weren't going to watch anymore because of those reasons. But this season, my social media has been flooded with people saying they aren't watching the NFL anymore because the league won't do anything about blacks kneeling. To be honest, I bet three-quarters of them are just pretending to boycott. And they're still watching. I doubt they're having much of an effect at all, but McMahon is very well aware of what's going on. And those are his Target people. He doesn't want to be a farm system for the NFL, he wants to compete head-to-head with it. he thinks he can get those viewers who are disgusted that the NFL won't put those black guys in their place. To pretend there's nothing racial behind this is being naive
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The NFL Needs the XFL (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter zftcg
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bucksoh
Footballguy
Not a lawyer but why isn't boxing and UFC being sued out of existence then?They didn’t have documented proof & president set by lawsuits in the 1970s.
so while they knew concussions are dangerous, the socio-political environment was very different back then.
And back then they never talked about the cumulative effect related to football. Mostly that was something they spoke of with boxers getting “punch drunk” over time.
As I understand it, there’s only so much that waivers can cover. I dunno - not a liability attorney.
I recall dozens of times on these very boards where people have said "FF is the only thing keeping me watching." I've thought that myself, and couldn't care less what a player does for the national anthem.
Some people want to make everything about race. Not everything is.
I totally agree that fantasy football is what makes the NFL as huge as it is. I never denied that. I'm talking about the people who claim to be boycotting the league. I've seen many posts and threads and statuses on messageboards/social media where people state that they won't watch this league because they allow these "(insert whichever racist-word you prefer) are disrespecting our flag" and the league allows it. Don't even try to deny that you've seen it too. McMahon certainly has. That's when his lightbulb went on above his head.
I recall dozens of times on these very boards where people have said "FF is the only thing keeping me watching." I've thought that myself, and couldn't care less what a player does for the national anthem.
Some people want to make everything about race. Not everything is.
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
I'm not sure I would go as far as to say he wants the "racist" audience but I do fully expect him to go over the top with Patriotism with this thing. They may play the National Anthem before every quarter and have one guy in the field required to hold and wave an American flag at all times.
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Insoxicated
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Insoxicated
@FBG Moderator, can we get this thread moved to the politics forum, so we can start one about the Football league? Thanks!
Chapelboy
Footballguy
I'll take it at face value. It's football, so I'm definitely in. How long it holds my attention is another matter. But as I said before it presents another opportunity for a fantasy football experience. On the real world side, the games will be immensely speeded up if the XFL can let refs make calls and make everyone live with it...basically I'm suggesting do away with instant replay for determining catches, spot of the ball, breaking the plane, etc. Yeah, I'm old school. The constant stoppage of play is what bugs me.
And believe it or not, there was football before fantasy football, when folks would live and die with their real team, not their fantasy team...I think to some degree that's gone. I wonder how many folks actually watch week 17 games once fantasy championship week is over?
Anyway I'm rooting for the XFL in the hopes it brings back some semblance of football from a kinder, gentler time
And believe it or not, there was football before fantasy football, when folks would live and die with their real team, not their fantasy team...I think to some degree that's gone. I wonder how many folks actually watch week 17 games once fantasy championship week is over?
Anyway I'm rooting for the XFL in the hopes it brings back some semblance of football from a kinder, gentler time
Da Guru
Fair & Balanced
There were only 6-7 NFL guys still kneeling after week 10. The news cycle has moved on.
some folks shouldn’t be allowed out of the politics forum...
As the person who started the thread, my goal (which I was admittedly a little vague on) was not to discuss the XFL's prospects at all, but rather to encourage suggestions for changes they could make that might eventually migrate to the NFL.JuniorNB said:
If people want to talk about the XFL's prospects, they can knock themselves out. I just think they're wasting their breath (keystrokes?) Consider that it's been 40 years since any league challenging the Big Four has been remotely successful (I'm counting the ABA, since they did at least get a partial merger out of it) and 50 years since it happened in football. We've also had numerous rounds of expansion since then, diluting the talent pool even further. If McMahon makes it to Year 3, I'll be amazed.
I agree with all of that. I just know that Vince McMahon is a Donald Trump-like figure. Which is why I have no doubt that he's trying to play to the disgruntled fans who have expressed their displeasure about how the league is handling social issues. I love football as much as the next guy and will welcome some quality football after the NFL season ends. I'm just interested in how he plans to market it.
Yeah, as someone with a background in marketing, I do find it kind of fascinating to think about how he'll position it, particularly, as I said upthread, the challenge of pairing "conservative" politiics with "non-conservative" football. (Whatever else he does, I feel pretty confident that he's not bringing back the single wing.)
Also, while you may well be right about him going the Trump route (and while I am the furthest thing in the world from a Vince McMahon fan), I think we should wait until he actually announces what he's going to do with the league before we convict him of the pre-crime of racism, as some in this thread seem to want to do. All I've heard so far is the national anthem stuff, which may foreshadow future decisions about the league or may be nothing more than a cheap gimmick.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
*precedent
thanks autocorrect.
as for the question, I don’t know but it might have to do with helmets.
UFC guys endure fierce blows, sure. But there’s no helmet to helmet collision.
I am totally guessing - maybe a waiver is iron clad. I don’t know the answer.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
Every post so far has been about the XFL.
It was the XFL who politicized it with their comments about enforcing rules regarding players standing for the anthem.
maybe you should write to Vince & ask him not to politicize his XFL league. He’s the one who brought politics into the discussion.
I see no reason for the mods to honor your request.
To paraphrase Jay-Z: I ain't passed the bar, but I know a little bit
Enough to know that you can't just get people to sign a waiver and magically absolve yourself of liability.
(Honestly, he should hire me as his lyricist.)
The boxing/UFC question is an interesting one; I don't know the answer either. But given that the NFL just agreed to a $1B settlement with former players -- and given that the WWE has also faced a similar lawsuit -- a league that went out of its way to promote "big hits" and fewer personal foul penalties would be like chum in the water for trial lawyers.
Even if you think that's everything that's wrong with America, it's the reality we live in. Vince McMahon is not going to put his business empire at risk solely to make a point about tort reform.
Gatorman
Supreme Elite Maximum Tier
If he was smart about this, he would make it a minor league for young guys and some retreads but sign them all to contracts where he also becomes their "agent" They play for 2 years under a contract with a league option for 2 more. If the player leaps to the NFL they pay a fee (kind of like what he did with wrestlers who became movie stars etc) or percentage of earnings for that first contract.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
That was my understanding as well - a waiver isn’t a magic wand for liability. Especially if there is a known danger associated with the activity.
With language like that, not much point having a conversation in that direction...
But I think we are coming from the same place here, in that I don't think there are a ton of people actually boycotting the NFL, to the point where that audience could sustain a league on their own.
I do think there is a huge potential audience of fans disenchanted with the current NFL product who would eat up some fantasy-friendly football that was delivered crisply in a shorter time frame with a higher play-to-stoppage ratio. That's what Vince will need to draw to get this league lasting more than one season.
voiceofunreason
Footballguy
voiceofunreason
Footballguy
If he was smart he’d go after college football. Pay the kids money and you have a shot.
That's essentially the plan for the Pacific Pro Football League, founded by Don Yee (aka Tom Brady's agent) and Ed McCaffrey. It got a fair amount of press when he announced it a year ago, and will apparently launch this summer.voiceofunreason said:
It's funny; we're all assuming (although no one knows for sure) that XFL2 will be a right-wing version of the NFL; PPFL sounds like the left-wing version of college football: Focus on player safety, offer an opportunity for 18-21 year olds to get paid while also offering them educational/vocational training. And of course, geographically it's limited to the West Coast.