Will you watch the XFL?
 

Will you watch the XFL?

It looks so cheap

https://i.postimg.cc/ZK62Gvvg/Screen...1-05-40-PM.png

Alright I tuned in for 10 minutes.

I'm not a football person other than the Super Bowl so this was enough XFL for me.

i'm about to check it out on fox misses the espn game

There is no UK TV source for it so no, probably not.

Do they still have things like "He Hate Me" on their shirts?

tuned into 2nd game for a peek...attendance not good at all in big stadium

I've been watching, it's far more polished in terms of the level of play this time. Far more skill/preparation than last time.

I also like hearing the coaches calling the plays and sideline interactions with the players.

I just couldn't get into the LA/Houston game. Shrug...maybe if there were an Indianapolis team I could care.

I watched a bit. It’s just like any other non-NFL football league. It’s as big now as it’s probably ever gonna be. They could probably just survive as a nice little niche product for a while. I don’t know that Vince will be satisfied with just surviving though. He’s gonna want network prime time again and that’s just not gonna work out.

At least he didn’t go all-in and start out on day one expecting monster ratings for a bunch of NFL rejects playing football just because he was behind it. The man can learn from his fuckups sometimes.

Fuck no.

Absolutely. They took their time this time around and watched the AAF fail. Watching right now.

It helps a bit they're getting somewhat real announcers for the games instead of Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler and Jesse Ventura

Pat McAfee being involved on this game is about the closest WWE/XFL conversion they've had and he is a ESPN college announcer and a former NFL player

I'm almost positive we're all going to have better shit to do with our time.

Speak for yourself

I'm not a big fan of football, but I did see the first touchdown. Guy got good heat and the presentation seemed sensible and footbally enough. Apparently it got an average of 3.3 million on ABC, peaking at 4 million people. I'm pretty sure that wasn't inclusive of ESPN and FOX.

Lol, if Vince McMahon pulls this off.

It does seem that the ratings were a lot better in markets with a connection to the teams. Seattle and Washington DC did big numbers. Kansas City as well, who just won the SuperBowl, obviously. It seems logical that it would do better with its teams' cities, but it did well above for them, so it might run on people following their locals for a while, as opposed to just digesting "the sport."

But if that does shift, and people just become a glutton for MORE FOOTBALL!, then it might see growth.

I thought all 4 games were good, and in different ways. The first and last games of the weekend I especially enjoyed. It was competent and competitive football, with some really good innovations that actually worked well.

I don't know if it will ever turn a profit for Vince, but it is enjoyable football which is a win for football fans.

Being fair, Jim Ross was all in on it, and on point, since he was also doing announcing for Sooners games (of course).

That was the game I saw. Wasn't bad.

I thought they initially said they were going to allow it, but I didn't notice any, so maybe they thought better of it and nixed the customization options.

As for the point about making Vince money, he's expecting to lose $500 million in the first 3 years, so I doubt he'll make money off it in his lifetime.

Vince's $500 million is the main advantage the XFL has over every other startup league.

More people than watch SD each week


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A strong start to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/XFL2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#XFL2020</a>: Saturday's <a href="https://twitter.com/XFLDragons?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@XFLDragons</a> vs <a href="https://twitter.com/XFLDefenders?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@XFLDefenders</a> Kickoff game on ABC scored 3.3M viewers - peaking at 4.0 million. Seattle led all markets w/ a 6.4 rating. <a href="https://t.co/UUEEHmpkDs">pic.twitter.com/UUEEHmpkDs</a></p>&mdash; bill hofheimer (@bhofheimer_espn) <a href="https://twitter.com/bhofheimer_espn/status/1226660059041628160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Well, he said he expects to put $500 million into it. They are making money, not profit at this point, but they are selling merc h. They did draw over 60,000 people over the 4 games, so they are getting something back.

The long term plan would be to get through 3 years and then get big money tv deals once it's a proven value.

Once that happens Vince could even think about selling majority ownership of each team for probably $150-$200 million each based on the tv deals, and still be a minority owner to keep earning funds on the back end.

Vince loves money lol

I know the negotiations fell through the first time around, but I could see the AAF people getting together with Vince and expanding the league to maybe 12 teams if it does well enough in the first year or two.

HAHA Oh Seph. It really is so kind of you to throw in the "or two" at the end of your post.

While the new version definitely feels improved compared to 2001, I just honestly can't see people giving enough fucks (i.e., 1) to keep it around after 1 season yet again. I tried watching a good chunk of the 4th quarter of LA v. Houston, and it just felt like so much hot garbage. I'm not wasting another second watching that bullshit.

Tell us how you really feel lol.

Honestly though, it's getting 2 seasons at least, Vince needs it to be better and last longer than the last time for his own ego. I assume as long as it is not hemorrhaging money they will reevaluate it from there.

I liked it and hope it last. Play on the field was better than AAF I'd say. Only team that looked real bad was Tampa Bay.

The St Louis market pulled a huge rating for their teams away game.

7.4

Since the announcements of the teams, I've been wondering how invested a fanbase the Battlehawks will garner. I mean, the other seven teams are already in fairly well served football markets. St. Louis has a Cardinals shaped hole that the Rams eventually filled until they went back to LA. Place has been burned by pro football twice (before anyone shits on my use of "pro" here, I mean as opposed to collegiate level play). Will they become super jaded if the team ends up being complete ass, or will the city rally around them like so much Cleveland Browns?

Also, if they do expand the teams, will they go to more established cities, or will they hit other underserved football markets (like the original XFL and AAF having a team in Birmingham, or a squad setting up shop somewhere like Nebraska, Kansas, or especially Oklahoma)?

Oklahoma City, Birmingham, Las Vegas, Columbus

Birmingham had a World Football League Team, an American Football Association (AFA) team, a USFL Team, CFL USA team, an XFL 1.0 team, an Arena League Team, an X League Team (another Arena League) a Women's Football League Team (best name - Steel Magnolias) and an AAF Team.

They don't get anymore teams. Fuck Alabama

Vince should have bought out the Arena League that just went bankrupt again and used it as the XFL. It'd be high scoring, in arenas that wouldn't look empty even half filled, and if you put NFL caliber players in it would probably be more entertaining than what the previous arena leagues had.