XFL (2020)

XFL
Sport American football
Founded 2018
Inaugural season 2020 (planned)
Owner(s) Vince McMahon
(Alpha Entertainment LLC)
Commissioner Oliver Luck
No. of teams 8 (planned)
Country United States
Official website www.xfl.com

The XFL is a proposed professional American football league owned by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment. It is a successor to the previous XFL, which was controlled by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and NBC, and ran for a single season in 2001. Neither the teams nor the cities have been announced yet, but the league will follow a similar structure as it did in 2001, with eight teams centrally owned and operated by the league, competing in a ten-game season and a two-week postseason in the winter and spring months.

In announcing the reformed XFL, McMahon stated that while it would share its name and trademark with the previous incarnation, it will not rely on professional wrestling-inspired features and entertainment elements as its predecessor did, instead aiming to create a league with fewer off-field controversies and faster, simpler play compared to the National Football League.

History

The XFL originally ran for a single season in 2001, as a joint venture between WWE and NBC spearheaded by Vince McMahon and NBC executive Dick Ebersol. The league attempted to be a competitor to the National Football League—the predominant professional league of American football in the United States (and where NBC had recently lost its broadcast rights to CBS), running during its off-season period. It featured various modifications to the rules of football in order to increase its intensity, as well as on-air innovations such as Skycams, placing microphones on players, and in-game interviews with players. The league was ultimately criticized for relying too heavily on "sports entertainment" gimmicks similar to professional wrestling (including emphasizing violence, and emphasizing cheerleaders as a source of sex appeal), and for the lack of high-level talent among its players. Despite strong ratings for its first games, viewership eventually nosedived, and the league folded after the conclusion of the inaugural season.[1][2][3][4][5] Both partners lost $35 million on the XFL,[6] and McMahon conceded that the league was a "colossal failure".[7][8]

In the 2017 ESPN documentary This Was the XFL, McMahon openly mused about reviving the XFL, noting that changes would need to be made compared to 2001 in order to make it viable and relevant in the modern era.[9] (The director of This Was the XFL, Charlie Ebersol, would go on to announce the Alliance of American Football in March 2018, hoping to beat the revived XFL to play.[10]) On December 15, 2017, Bleacher Report columnist Brad Shepard reported that McMahon was seriously considering a revival of the XFL, with an expected announcement on January 25, 2018. In a statement to Deadspin, WWE did not confirm or deny the rumors, but did state that McMahon was establishing a new company known as Alpha Entertainment, which would "explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football."[2] On December 21, 2017, WWE issued a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, stating that McMahon had sold $100 million worth of WWE stock to fund Alpha Entertainment.[11] Alpha Entertainment is headquartered next door to WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.[12]

On January 25, 2018, Alpha Entertainment announced a new incarnation of the XFL, which would begin with a 10-week inaugural season beginning in January or February 2020. In a press conference, McMahon stated that the new XFL would be dissimilar to its previous incarnation, stating that "There's only so many things that have 'FL' on the end of them and those are already taken. But we aren't going to have much of what the original XFL had, including the cheerleaders, who aren't really part of the game anymore. The audience wants entertainment with football, and that's what we are going to give them." McMahon stated that the league would feature eight teams as a single entity owned by Alpha (the previous XFL was also a single-entity league), which will be revealed in 2019. Alpha Entertainment was established in order to keep the league's management and operations separate from that of WWE.[8][13] McMahon is prepared to invest as much as $500 million, five times as much as his investment in the 2001 XFL.[14]

The XFL will discourage political gestures by players during games (such as, for example, taking a knee in protest), and will forbid any player with a criminal record from participating. (The league later backed off the latter assertion, noting that its policy had not yet been finalized.)[12] He justified this by stating that the XFL would be "evaluating a player based on many things, including the quality of human being they are", and that "people don't want social and political issues coming into play when they are trying to be entertained". He suggested that players who wish to express political opinions should do so on their personal time.[13][8] The league later stated that the ban on protesting during the national anthem will be written into player contracts as a condition of employment.[15]

By announcing it two years in advance (unlike the original XFL, which was only announced one year in advance), McMahon gave the league more time to develop a more desirable product than he had given the 2001 XFL.[16][13] McMahon denied that the timing of the announcement was meant to coincide with a recent ratings downturn being experienced by the NFL, explaining that "what has happened there is their business, and I'm not going to knock those guys, but I am going to learn from their mistakes as anyone would if they were tasked with reimagining a new football league."[13]

On June 5, 2018, Oliver Luck was named the league's commissioner and chief executive officer. Luck will leave his previous positions with the NCAA to take over the operations of the XFL.[17]

Rules

McMahon did not reveal any specific details on rule changes that the new XFL would feature, but did state that he aimed to reduce the length of games to around two hours (in contrast to the current standard in American football, which generally runs slightly over three hours).[16] The league's Web site notes that the basic structure of the game (11 players a side, four downs, and a 100-yard field with 10-yard end zones) will remain the same.

Players and compensation

The XFL standard form contract will offer players a salary of $7,500 per game, substantially higher than the 2018 minimum of the Canadian Football League and roughly in line with the 2001 XFL's $4,500 base salary when adjusted for inflation.[18] Marquee talent will be eligible for up to a $200,000 annual salary.[19] XFL contracts are for one year, with no restrictions on joining other leagues after the season ends; this is in particular contrast to the Alliance of American Football, which requires players to sign three-year contracts, and the CFL, which requires new players to sign two-year deals.[20] In contrast to the 2001 XFL, players' health insurance will be covered by the league.[14] The players will not be represented by a labor union.[15]

Broadcasting

McMahon stated that he aimed to leverage digital streaming as part of broadcasting arrangements for the XFL; he felt that fans did not necessarily want digital streams to be a straight simulcast of a television broadcast, and wanted more "totally different ways" to watch football. The XFL will not consider viewership to be a metric of its success; McMahon argued that "to me the landscape has changed in so many different ways. Just look at technology and companies like Facebook and Amazon bidding for sports rights. Even if ratings go down, there's no denying that live sports rights continue to be valuable and continue to deliver."[13]

Potential cities and teams

McMahon stated that he wanted to play in existing NFL markets but didn't identify potential cities specifically and didn't rule out any specific cities. McMahon also did not rule out playing on artificial turf. The original XFL avoided artificial playing surfaces; the technology, however, has advanced considerably since 2001. John Shumway from KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh and local media from Orlando and San Diego both inquired about potential teams in their respective cities, but McMahon (while stating that "I love Pittsburgh") declined to name any cities for teams. McMahon also stated that teams would have new identities compared to recycling old identities from the old league.[21] The league confirmed it had visited stadiums in Houston, Texas (where Luck played for the Houston Oilers and presided over the Houston Dynamo soccer team) in October 2018 and was planning on announcing its inaugural teams near the end of 2018.[22]

References

  1. ↑ ""This Was The XFL" Director Charlie Ebersol On Why The XFL Failed–But Might Work Now". Fast Company. 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  2. 1 2 "Will the XFL actually be making a return? WWE is not exactly denying the rumors". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  3. ↑ "XFL stops going to extremes". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  4. ↑ "XFL ends ratings slide – just barely". ESPN. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  5. ↑ "Monday Night Wrong: Vince McMahon fumbles with the XFL". Sporting News. 2017-12-21. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  6. ↑ "XFL Is Down for the Count". ABC News. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  7. ↑ Johnson, Mike (May 16, 2013). "5/16 This day in history". PWInsider. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 Draper, Kevin (2018). "Vince McMahon Says He Will Revive the X.F.L., With a Very Different Look". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  9. ↑ Holloway, Daniel (2017-02-03). "'This Was the XFL' Director on Vince McMahon, Concussions and Whether League Could Make a Comeback". Variety. Retrieved 2018-01-26.
  10. ↑ Eight-Team XFL Competitor Plans to Launch in February 2019, Dan Gartland, Sports Illustrated, March 20, 2018
  11. ↑ "Vince McMahon sells $100 million of WWE stock as XFL reboot plan continues". ProFootballTalk. NBC Sports. 2017-12-21. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  12. 1 2 https://411mania.com/wrestling/xfl-ceo-recalls-first-meeting-vince-mcmahon-says-xfl-wont-compete-nfl/
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 "McMahon: Gimmick-free XFL to return in 2020". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  14. 1 2 http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/23947732/vince-mcmahon-expects-spend-close-500-million-xfl
  15. 1 2 https://www.westernjournal.com/wc/xfl-commissioner-reveals-league-will-never-worry-anthem-protests/
  16. 1 2 "Source: WWE's McMahon eyes football league". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  17. ↑ "Oliver Luck leaving NCAA to be XFL commish". Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  18. ↑ Rovell, Darren (July 12, 2018). "AAF players to get 3-year, $250K contracts". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 14, 2018. Salaries will be in line with AAF competitor the XFL, which has said it will pay players an average of $75,000 per season.
  19. ↑ https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/08/24/in-xfl-exceptional-players-can-earn-more-than-200000-per-season/
  20. ↑ Florio, Mike (September 1, 2018). "XFL sends up first salvo in looming AAF feud". ProFootballTalk.com. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  21. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n-jgNhfASE
  22. ↑ http://www.fox26houston.com/sports/xfl-tours-bbva-compass-stadium-and-tdecu-stadium
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