Category: Alternative Football

Welp, I finally got my gubment stimulus debit card and I think I’m gonna use it to try to buy the XFL.

Why not? It’s in bankruptcy and will supposedly come cheap, and I’m about as cheap as they come. The auction isn’t scheduled until August, but I figured I’d go ahead and put my plans out there now so everyone will know where I stand.

NEW NAME

XFL, as you know, doesn’t stand for anything.

When the first version was founded in 2001, early claims were that it was short for “Extreme Football League.” Founder Vince McMahon said that wasn’t the case. Plus, had it been the Extreme Football League the acronym would’ve been EFL.

Also, the original XFL sucked.

The XFL that was rebooted 19 years later did not, in fact, suck. As far as minor league pro football goes, I thought it was a fine product. Still, it made it through only half of a regular season before it was forced to shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even though the second attempt at the XFL didn’t die by its own hand, it still died. And now when you think of it, you think of failure.

It’s why the Ford Motor Company hasn’t tried to revive the Edsel, why the Coca-Cola Company won’t give New Coke another try, and why DC Entertainment and De Line Pictures aren’t making “Green Lantern II.”

Right or wrong, some names have negative connotations and the bad publicity is hard to shake.

If I decided to go with a blast from the past rebrand, I’d call what used to be the XFL the Continental Football League. That would honor what was arguably the United States’ best minor football league.

Better yet, though, I’ll just go with the North American Football League. This name has been used by semi-pro circuits and leagues that failed to launch, but I don’t think there’d be much of a legal tussle if I decided to use it for my XFL makeover. If there is, I’ll call one of those lawyers with the 999-9999 numbers and take ’em to court.

FRANCHISE CHANGES

If you take a look at the 2020 XFL and the 2019 Alliance of American Football, you can see there are some cities that are much more enthusiastic about spring football than others.

In the XFL, the St. Louis BattleHawks and Seattle Dragons were far and away the most popular teams among fans, with the Hawks averaging 28,541 paying customers per game and the Dragons pulling in 25,616.

In the AAF, the San Antonio Commanders led the league with 27,721 fans per game while the San Diego Fleet and Orlando Apollos flirted with close to 20,000 supporters for their home contests.

So, I’d make sure those five cities were in the NAFL and think of getting rid of some of the teams that drew poorly.

One problem is that you need major markets for TV purposes, and unfortunately New York and Los Angeles were two of the biggest box office disappointments in the XFL.

Not sure what I’ll do about that, so I’ll wait until my bid is approved before considering the matter further.

RULE TWEAKS

For the most part I thought the 2020 XFL’s rule package was excellent – especially the low-collision kickoffs and the banning of gunners on punt teams.

And while the gimmick of one, two and three-point conversions was cool at first, that novelty wore off quickly.

Instead, I’d steal from the old World Football League and make touchdowns worth seven points (with a single point conversion attempted via a run or pass from the two and a half yard line).

And the one rule I’ve always wanted to see in an alternative football league is the defense getting a tangible reward for forcing turnover, whether it’s a fumble or interception. So if the Dragons pick off a Commanders pass, they score a point.

Anyway, those are my bright ideas for bringing the league formerly known as the XFL back to life. I truly think if my offer is accepted, it’ll be $1,200 well-spent.

Wish me luck.

When billionaire rasslin’ tycoon Vince McMahon decided to reboot the XFL, he dumped enough of his own money into the league that it could last three years without taking in any other cash.

There’s a big difference, however, between “could last” and “would last.”

The COVID-19 global pandemic forced the league to join all other sports entities across the world and suspend play in March. Yet while the economic devastation has already taken its toll on the likes of the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball, those leagues have enough long-term stability and capital to survive.

Obviously, that’s not the case for the XFL.

Last Friday the league announced that it was laying off all employees with no plans to return in 2021, and then on Monday it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Debts and assets ranging from $10 million to $50 million were listed in the filing, and seven of the XFL’s eight head coaches were among the top creditors.

So how did McMahon go from having plenty of disposable income to being forced to dispose of his second attempt at the XFL?

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, McMahon was prepared to lose $375 million during the first three years of the XFL revival. After that, he expected to secure TV deals totaling $125 million annually which – eventually – would help him recoup his losses. Ultimately, of course, the goal was to see the XFL finish each year in the black and become a staple of the spring sports scene.

But back in January Bloomberg reported that McMahon’s primary business, World Wrestling Entertainment, lost more than $1 billion in market value following a corporate shakeup, so suddenly the XFL went from something of a vanity project for McMahon to a venture much more important to his bottom line.

Then came the pandemic.

XFL employees were paid up through what would’ve been the final week of the 10-game schedule. But while they were supposed to be on the payroll at least through playoffs that never came, the axe fell on Good Friday. McMahon had lost millions more dollars, and I’m guessing he’s unwilling to lose any more on offseason football.

Thus will be the conundrum of any person or group going forward who wants to create what has yet to be created – an alternative American football league with staying power. Simply put, you have to be willing and able to lose millions and millions of dollars for who knows how many years on the slim hope that eventually you might – might – make a profit.

Back when the new XFL kicked off I was asked how long I thought the league would last. I predicted a two-year run, figuring the novelty would wear off by then and McMahon would decide to cut his losses. Now we’ll never know, but had the pandemic not hit I still think that would’ve been the case.

With the notable exception of St. Louis, in-house fan support was starting to dip and TV ratings were sliding at the midway point of the league. If the season played out I think that trend would’ve continued (although not to the degree that it would cause McMahon to bail on it like he did the XFL’s one-and-done 2001 iteration).

But when the XFL returned in 2021, it would’ve done so without that new car smell. Plus, some of the stars established in its inaugural season would’ve moved on to the NFL, and each team would basically be starting from scratch again.

TV viewership for all programing tends to drop in the spring, so I find it difficult to believe the broadcast revenue McMahon was hoping for would ever materialize. I’m not confident the number of hardcore fans (like me) needed to turn a gap league into a box office success are there, either.

None of this is a criticism of the product itself; with the notable exception of the United States Football League, I think this was far and away the best spring circuit to come along. It had cool rules, good players and coaches, and overall it was minor league football done extremely well. Ultimately, though, it was not a moneymaker. No non-NFL pro football organization since the American Football League has turned a profit.

And regardless of how badly McMahon or anyone else wants a new football venture to succeed, I can’t imagine they’d be willing to endlessly lose money to keep one afloat.

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the economy, and I think it’ll be a long, long while before an entrepreneur gives spring pro football another try. But, it will happen eventually.

And when it does it’ll join the USFL, World League of American Football, NFL Europe, XFL 2001, the Alliance of American Football and XFL 2020 as good ideas that will never make enough dollars to make enough business sense.

Long before the XFL hit the reset button after being dormant since 2001, I was positive it would not only start the 2020 season, but finish it.

With millions of wrestling mogul Vince McMahon’s dollars behind it, the business model was solid.

But as we’ve learned over the last few days, a pandemic doesn’t care about your finances – or your plans. If it wants to stop you in your tracks, it can and will.

Thus on Thursday the XFL joined most other sports organizations in either shutting down, suspending or postponing its various competitions. And with half its season done – and the effects of COVID-19 expected to get worse before they get better – the only logical decision was to close up shop.

Here’s the statement issued by the league:

Currently, the XFL will not be playing its regular-season games. However, all players will be paid their base pay and benefits for the 2020 regular season. All XFL ticket holders will be issued refunds or credit toward future games. The XFL is committed to playing a full season in 2021 and future years.

Kudos to the circuit for not leaving its players and coaches high and dry. Hopefully it’ll do the same for all the support personnel who were counting on a paycheck for at least another month and a half.

June Jones, head coach of the league-leading and 5-0 Houston Roughnecks, held out hope his team could actually still play for an XFL championship this year.

“I feel very comfortable that we’re going to play next year and the league has told us it’s just suspending the regular season games right now, so that means there might still be a playoff,” Jones told Mark Berman, sports director of Fox 26 in Houston, on Friday. “I don’t think anybody knows what the world is gonna look like in five or six weeks.”

With XFL players now eligible to sign with any other league, a postseason scenario seems highly unlikely.

But while XFL 2.0 ended with five regular season games left in its comeback season, it’s important to note that it didn’t fold. And the good news is that the XFL proved to be an entertaining addition to the late winter/early spring sports lineup. Yes, TV ratings and in-game attendance were declining, but not to the degree that would raise a bunch of red flags.

It provided a showcase for quarterbacks like P.J. Walker (Houston) and Jordan Ta’amu (St.Louis), who parlayed strong performances into possible NFL roster spots.

Same is true for wideout Cam Phillips (Houston), linebacker Steven Johnson (Seattle), defensive tackle Cavon Walker (New York), and a host of other athletes who made the most of the second chance they received in the XFL.

The league’s mantra is “For The Love of Football” and certainly there’s that for these guys, but the love of powering up to the next level is why so many good players stocked XFL rosters.

As a fan of alternative football, I also liked the rule innovations. I think the non-collision kickoffs are an effective way to lessen the possibility of head injuries while still keeping the play in the game.

And the 3-point conversion is gimmicky, but it’s a good gimmick.

The fact that a team down by nine points is theoretically still in a one-possession game is pretty cool.

But now the XFL has 11 months before it’ll kick off again. I feel confident it will, indeed, return, but since it’s a single entity model I assume there could be some changes for 2021.

While the season didn’t finish, McMahon and company saw enough to know where the XFL was a hit and miss.

Maybe all eight original clubs will line up again next February, but one or two relocations wouldn’t surprise me at all.

Whatever the case, the XFL had little choice but to err on the side of caution and end the 2020 campaign early.

That’s disappointing for all of its stakeholders, of course, but XFL 2020 didn’t fail.

That, in itself, is a victory.