Is anyone actually giving the XFL a chance to redeem itself?

[Capella 30,423]

Assume the wwf not having attendance is costing him tens of millions as well. WrestleMania alone had to be an enormous lost. Can’t really blame the guy. 

[General Malaise 27,210]

In retrospect - and I think we all knew this in advance - it was an awful product.  Was there anything memorable about it?  Any games stand out?  Players?  Highlights?  

Victim of circumstance for sure but this brand of football was atrocious.  I wanted to believe. I researched and wagered on games, but they just sucked.  Even with money riding on the outcomes.  It's impossible to recreate the real thing. NFL and College Football are kings for a reason.  

[Tom Servo 7,055]

12 hours ago, General Malaise said:

In retrospect - and I think we all knew this in advance - it was an awful product.  Was there anything memorable about it?  Any games stand out?  Players?  Highlights?  

Victim of circumstance for sure but this brand of football was atrocious.  I wanted to believe. I researched and wagered on games, but they just sucked.  Even with money riding on the outcomes.  It's impossible to recreate the real thing. NFL and College Football are kings for a reason.  

It was most definitely better than XFL v. 1.0.  I could at least watch this version, even if it was just background noise.  IMO, the area that stood out as the problem is at the QB position.  I saw tons of throws that a middling NFL QB can make but these guys couldn't.  The true skill position that you need for good football had at best the 65th best QB in America.  Not a recipe for success.

[Tom Servo 7,055]

XFL files for bankruptcy

[WDIK2 1,004]

On 4/11/2020 at 1:17 PM, Tom Servo said:

It was most definitely better than XFL v. 1.0.  I could at least watch this version, even if it was just background noise.  IMO, the area that stood out as the problem is at the QB position.  I saw tons of throws that a middling NFL QB can make but these guys couldn't.  The true skill position that you need for good football had at best the 65th best QB in America.  Not a recipe for success.

QB play was the biggest thing that stuck out.  We think most #2 NFL QBs and some starting NFL QBs are bums, but they are all better than what we saw in the XFL.  Not sure how that would change.  You can say a lot of negative things about the NFL, but they can evaluate talent.  There were a few glimpses of decent QB play in the XFL, but only briefly.  Cardale Jones was a good example.

I thought I heard during one XFL broadcast that one QB only had about 2 weeks of "training camp" before the season started.  Not sure that's enough time to develop timing with your receivers if your talent is only marginal to begin with.    

 

[Craig_MiamiFL 2,542]

Oliver Luck is reportedly suing Vince McMahon

https://www.tmz.com/2020/04/21/xfl-commissioner-oliver-luck-sues-vince-mcmahon-wrongful-termination/

[joey 1,510]

1 hour ago, Craig_MiamiFL said:

Oliver Luck is reportedly suing Vince McMahon

https://www.tmz.com/2020/04/21/xfl-commissioner-oliver-luck-sues-vince-mcmahon-wrongful-termination/

Oh lordy. 
 

My last glimmer of hope that filing for bankruptcy was a move to reorg and protect finances for a 2021 season...is destroyed. 
 

good bye, dreams of Spring Football...

[Tom Servo 7,055]

Vince McMahon could be trying to buy the XFL
 

Quote

 

Via Daniel Kaplan of TheAthletic.com, XFL creditors “seem to believe” McMahon is positioning to buy the league out of bankruptcy. Separately, XFL president Jeffrey Pollack has contacted stadiums in Seattle and St. Louis about reinstating the league’s lease agreements.

The XFL declined comment to Kaplan regarding the potential strategy that would, if effective, allow McMahon to escape debt at a time of devastated revenue and re-emerge on the other side of the pandemic with a clean slate.

The clues as to the creditors’ beliefs come from their objection to a proposal in bankruptcy to pay $3.5 million in season-ticket refunds. The committee of creditors wrote that the payment “is being sought to further the efforts of the debtor’s controlling equity holder/secured lender, Vincent McMahon . . . to acquire the debtor at a fire-sale price.”

The ticket refunds would be aimed at bolstering relations with customers, in anticipation of a future business arrangement.

If that’s McMahon’s plan, and if it succeeds, he’d have to rebuild the league from the ground up, re-hiring coaches and players and others necessary to running the league. Anyone who previously worked for the league and was stiffed in any way may not be inclined to return (most notably, Oliver Luck won’t be back as the Commissioner), but if folks want to work in football and unless they’ve landed in the NFL, it’s not as if they have many alternatives.

Ultimately, fans won’t care one way or the other. In St. Louis and Seattle, the league thrived. If/when it resurfaces, the XFL could move franchises in cities where the league struggled to places like San Diego and Oakland, from which NFL teams recently have moved. The XFL also could try to identify another city or two (or more) like Seattle, which has an NFL team (and other pro sports) but which still flocked to the XFL games.

If McMahon is indeed trying to rebuy his own league and resurrect it for a second time, there’s a path to profitability given the impressive ratings performance on TV, the pent-up thirst for live sports, and the potential post-pandemic explosion of legalized wagering as states try to repair busted budgets.

Debates regarding the business ethics of the move notwithstanding, this potential Hail Mary play disguised as a Statue of Liberty could be the thing that lays the foundation for the league to survive and perhaps to thrive.

 

 

[Bri 1,900]

Thirty (people or organizations) signed non disclosure agreements to discuss purchasing the XFL

Kevin Seifert wrote an interesting piece that included 20 and since the article, 10 more jumped on in a short time.

I think this is as we thought- did too well to just die off and go away

[General Malaise 27,210]

Honestly, can we just retire Vince McMahon from anything and everything?  Just go away and stick to fake fighting.

[mr. furley 12,291]

https://www.espn.com/xfl/story/_/id/29297846/how-xfl-came-crashing-its-collapse-means-future-spring-football

"How the XFL came crashing down, and what its collapse means for the future of spring football"

[-fish- 13,791]

I liked The XFL.  If it had the three year run that it was built for, it might have ended up being a consistently watchable product.

[FreeBaGeL 9,168]

On 4/11/2020 at 12:17 PM, Tom Servo said:

IMO, the area that stood out as the problem is at the QB position.  I saw tons of throws that a middling NFL QB can make but these guys couldn't.  The true skill position that you need for good football had at best the 65th best QB in America.  Not a recipe for success.

There are plenty of truly, truly dreadful QBs in college football.

[mr. furley 12,291]

1 hour ago, -fish- said:

I liked The XFL.  If it had the three year run that it was built for, it might have ended up being a consistently watchable product.

my wish for spring football is that they'd let it grow organically in smaller cities and venues. 

people in New York, Miami, LA, have better options than to watch a collection of  NFL washouts and never were's playing football in 70k seat stadiums that are 20% full.

McMhahon putting hundreds of millions in to the league is insane.  

 

if the XFL had a team in Green Bay, and they played at a stadium with capacity around 20k, that thing would be packed full every home game. put teams in other college towns where football is beloved & fill those stadiums.   

[-fish- 13,791]

4 hours ago, mr. furley said:

my wish for spring football is that they'd let it grow organically in smaller cities and venues. 

people in New York, Miami, LA, have better options than to watch a collection of  NFL washouts and never were's playing football in 70k seat stadiums that are 20% full.

McMhahon putting hundreds of millions in to the league is insane.  

 

if the XFL had a team in Green Bay, and they played at a stadium with capacity around 20k, that thing would be packed full every home game. put teams in other college towns where football is beloved & fill those stadiums.   

Seattle had either the best or second best attendance every week, so I can't totally agree with this.   St. Louis attendance was fine too.  With the Raiders gone, put a team in Oakland.    

Southern California is always going to be tough, but everyone wants the LA market.  Same with NY.  Maybe start with San Diego.  Maybe Syracuse.

[TLEF316 4,930]

Its just always going to come down to QB play. There aren't enough good ones for a Spring league to have decent quality across the board. 

 

[joey 1,510]

I liked both the XFL and AAF. Seeing football in the spring is great and seeing players try to develop and get (back) to the NFLwas intriguing and enjoyable enough for me to want to keep watching. I agree that a mix of mid and smaller cities seems like the right mix for spring football. St. Louis, Oakland, San Antonio, San Diego, Hoboken. Ok, maybe skip the last one  

[General Malaise 27,210]

2 hours ago, TLEF316 said:

Its just always going to come down to QB play. There aren't enough good ones for a Spring league to have decent quality across the board. 

 

There's good QB play in Canadian Football.  Not sure why it's an impossibility to have decent QB play in the XFL.  The kid for Houston out of Temple was solid. 

[Craig_MiamiFL 2,542]

I think it makes a return.

I thought the # of fans they got in attendance was pretty mind blowing.

[TLEF316 4,930]

8 hours ago, General Malaise said:

There's good QB play in Canadian Football.  Not sure why it's an impossibility to have decent QB play in the XFL.  The kid for Houston out of Temple was solid. 

 

I mean yeah...that's ONE guy.  The next best guy (in terms of passing yards)  was Josh Johnson.

I'm sure offenses would get better as teams got more familiar with the system (although in an ideal world, the best players would be moving onto NFL opportunities, so that continuity probably is limited) but overall, I just dont think there are 75 professional QB's on the planet (which is really what would be required here, assuming the best 60+ are in the NFL as starters or backups) good enough for a 2nd league to have high quality football across the board.

 

 

[WDIK2 1,004]

I would say to run some option offenses, but that may not be viable if players are trying to move on to the next level.  Still I would think there has to be some options QBs and OL out there that would just like a paycheck.  WRs wouldn't be happy though.

Edited June 18, 2020 by WDIK2

[Bogart 1,920]

The Rock buying the XFL has me interested again

[Wingnut 3,703]

HBOs Ballers, but in real life.

[Walking Boot 8,296]

9 hours ago, Bogart said:

The Rock buying the XFL has me interested again

 

I must admit, I did not see this twist coming.

[ShamrockPride 5,348]

I smell what The Rock is cookin.

[rockaction 24,834]

1 hour ago, ShamrockPride said:

I smell what The Rock is cookin.

right here -- all cooked for ya