XFL Football
 

I'm disappointed that no one has started an XFL thread yet... You guys are slacking.

I'm still heartbroken over the AAF folding...

GO BATTLE HAWKS

And to make things even better, Their HC is former Iowa TE Jonathon Hayes and their RB coach is my all time favorite Hawkeye, Chuck Long.

Chuck Long? Wasn't he a QB, why would he be the RB coach???

Yes he was a QB. He has been a QB coach and an OC, he was also a HC at SDSU.

Not sure why he is the RB coach.

He coached under Hayden Fry and Bob Stoops among others.

Wanna see the new @xfl2020 kickoff? @XFLDragons & @XFLRenegades demonstrate. pic.twitter.com/5baE3A6Ynr

— Art Garcia (@ArtGarcia92) January 11, 2020

I do like the OT shootout rule.

Who's going to be watching tomorrow?

I plan to at least have it on in the background.

I am actually somewhat excited to watch this. They seem to be taking it a bit more serious than last time and the rule changes are somewhat intriguing.

I think they've gone about it as best a secondary league possibly can.

But I still don't think it lasts. Nobody's figured out how to artificially manufacture the real reason sports is big industry - the tribalism, fans having an emotional attachment to a team and a irrational dislike of competing teams. It's even a bigger challenge when you have a single-entity league like the XFL. All sports competition is kind of manufactured to someone to degree, but here, it's one league that owns all the teams and that has the role of assigning new players to the teams. So you don't even have the crazy Donald Trump owning an USFL team and throwing money around angle. It's more like a gym coach lining everybody up and counting off 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, and the 8s are now a team that is supposed to hate the 4s, and the fans are asked to be vested in that.

The only way that happens is longevity. Different sport, but it's only now that I have an interest in the IPL cricket (Indian Premier League) , even though I am a cricket can.

It's gone from somewhere between an All-Star league or exhibition league only because teams have played each other enough for controversies to happen, streaks to develop, etc

Any league that can last for 10 years plus should survive if the market is there, but you just have to survive, don't try and artificially create things that should be organic

We will see if having a team in town makes a difference. My interest in the first XFL and the AAF or whatever that league was last year was zero. Will try to watch St. Louis this weekend and maybe will enjoy it.

Sadly if there was a way to tie fantasy to this I probably would have more interest though I probably only know about 10-15% of the players.

I wish the XFL had a team in my area. It would give me someone to initially root for. Right now I'm just rooting for former Colts.

DraftKings has XFL fantasy

Fandual is doing a 300K prize pool tournament for it. $9 entry fee.

Actually enjoying this Seattle/ DC game today.

I enjoyed the games today.

Ditto

Hopefully the league continues.

I was pleasantly surprised at how good the Football was given the time of preparation the teams had.

I also like all the new rules and the timing makes for a nicely paced game.

It was like watching a game on DVR. The pace was fantastic.

Alright, the Tampa/NY game is pretty sloppy and rough compared to what they had yesterday. From open field fumbles to bad drop passes, to questionable play calls, it's got lots of room to improve.

Enjoyed it also. Really hope it makes it.

Single entity tends to help leagues stay alive though. So when one franchise is struggling the league can help bolster it. It's how MLS weathered its really tough first decade.

I enjoyed the Saturday games. The Sunday games were a little sloppy from my perspective. Being able to play DraftKings was big for holding my interest.

With no local team to root for, I think I’ll get behind June Jones and Houston. Love me some Run and shoot!

Now for the only score that matters:

First XFL game draws 3.3 million viewers on ABC – ProFootballTalk

I'll watch it again next week. Enjoyed the Saturday games more than the Sunday ones, but overall, it was good football.

The rules changes are subtle enough that it is still the football you know but different enough to give the game a different feel than the NFL or college football.

I hope it's able to survive. I also hope they steer away from trying to compete with the NFL for talent for at least the first 5 years or so. They seem to have enough talent to make the games interesting without trying to get into bidding wars that they'll lose more than they win and could cause a negative public perception of the league...more than there already is.

I wonder if they'll try to pull players when they graduate high school or when they're in their first year or two of college. That's probably their best shot at getting some talent even if they're raw.

I think there is enough low tier NFL talent and second chance type players to keep the league afloat. High school kids will definitely not appear as they are nowhere near as ready as they need to be physically to go up against 25-30 year old men. A year or two in a college weight program makes a huge difference which is why the NFL has the 3 years from your HS graduating class rule.

And if they try and start poaching college underclassman the NFL will bring the hammer down quick and the demise of the XFL will be sudden.

To me their best bet is to try and work with the NFL as a minor league, each team has 4 NFL affiliates that can send practice squad players or waiver players down for development and more evaluation.

I've heard of a quick hook but, uh ...

XFL's Wildcats fire defensive coordinator Pepper Johnson after losing opener

And starting LB/team captain Anthony Johnson tweets "Free agent" though the team hasn't confirmed that yet

I was happy to see Ben Heeney on the field for New York. I'd like to see the league work.

What exactly would the NFL do to "bring the hammer down".

The AAF tried to be a NFL minor leauge and they failed. The NFL doesn't want one and won't support it.

You really think the corporate juggernaught that is the NFL would not try to influence broadcasters if College underclassman were leaving to the XFL after 1 season? Again, financially it won't happen and Football is not like Basketball when it comes to the physical maturity of athletes.

I know the NFL is comfortable as is, but using the XFL as a place to develop borderline talent is much more likely than 18 years old playing with players in their mid to late 20's in the XFL, just not gonna happen.

Yeah totally agree. If they try to go up against the NFL like the USFL tried they will get squished like a bug. Their only chance is play nice with the NFL and they can do exist long enough to build a fandom specific to them.

As nice as the quality of football was on Saturday, can anyone really see themselves paying attention to it in 5-6 weeks? As much as Id like for it to be a success I just dont see people enjoying it after a few weeks. It kind of needs a draw other than being good interesting football. I dunno maybe I am just being pessimistic.

I think the shorter season (10 games) will help to an extent. I am pretty sure I will catch at least 1 game a week.

You underestimate how rabid Football fans are, there is a league getting airtime on national TV, peopple will pay attention, even if its only the hardcore football fans.


Boston/New Orleans/Portland Breakers Fan

You bet your ass I'm still pissed at Doufenschmirtz Trump for ruining the USFL.

I was really getting behind the San Diego Fleet last Year as well.

If its on, I'll be watching.

Well the fact you can bet on the games and play fantasy football thru Draftkings helps with interest. They are said to have enough financial backing for three years and the fact they are on real tv (you can actually find their games) is a plus. Overall I liked week 1.

You sir, have impeccable tastes!

That's the one I like the least. Determining the winner off that is as bad as the hockey shootout.

CA-CAWWW

Battlehawks take down the favored champs of the league.

Matt McGloin sucks and is, like, the OPPOSITE of a leader. Glad I'm a Defenders fan.

KA-KAW

Battlehawks are the best team in the league right now.

And F the Vipers, our hated rivals. Our local ESPN station has a show that is creating a history for the Battlehawks. Its awesome.

KA-KAW

At least when an offense is unwatchable, we get an inside look to the drama!

I don't know if it's the stadium or Fox, but there are definitely games being played with crowd noise. These half full stadiums sound like fourth quarter drives of NFL playoff games.

When Matt McGloin is the top trending term in the U.S. ... you know it's a really slow day

They either pump in crowd noise to the telecast or are doing some funky stuff with the microphones to amplify it.

The latest ticket pric for the Battlehawks home opener is $90. KA-KAW

St. Louis sells out the dome for the home opener. Battlehawks sell the most merchandise.

Fuck you Enos Kroenke. St. Louis is a football town.

KA-KAW

I hope that's a good sign for the league.

The decision to put these teams in NFL cities outside of STL is really interesting to me. I guess they’ve done their research based on the AAF and XFLv1 but still... watching this game would it be better to build a fan base in TB or try to go for a market like Orlando where you are the only local football game in town?

Orlando was a USFL city. Great question.

I would love to hear the logic behind the city choices.

-

I thought the Tampa crowd looked slightly sparse before kickoff. Probably better than the Chargers though.

I didn't see any of the TB game, but turned on the DC-LA game for a bit, and I thought "good seats remained available" for that one in LA, if you will.

Maybe both the impressions mentioned here AND okay attendance can both be true?

Week 3 total attendance for all games was the largest yet (thanks to St. Louis mostly) AND the crowd in LA was the smallest reported for any game to date.

fwiw ... Week 3 is critical for the XFL's TV views, but the XFL attendance is up!

Now if you wanted to dive one level deeper, maybe there's this to consider

Teams with two home games so far, first one vs second one
Houston - 17,815 vs 17,103 (down 4%)
Los Angeles- 14,975 vs 12,211 (down 18%)
Seattle - 29,172 vs 22,060 (down 24%)
D.C. - 17,163 vs 15,031 (down 12%)

If that trend continues as the season progresses, the camerawork will have to get pretty creative to hide it.

St Louis will be down a bit I imagine, but not much. This city has embraced the Battlehawks. A FU to Enos and the NFL.

XFL ratings decline in third week, continue to hold up better than 2001

Looks like there may be a trend developing

Week 1 games ranged from 2.5 to 3.4 million viewers, with 18-49 Rating of 0.9 to 1.1, 18-34 rating of 0.8 to 0.9

Week 2 games ranged from 1.3 to 2.4 million viewers, 18-49 Rtg of 0.5 to 0.6, 18-34 rating 0.4 to 0.6

Week 3 games ranged from 1.0 to 2.0 million viewers, 18-49 Rtg on 0.4 (rounded) to 0.6, 18-34 rating 0.3 to 0.5

The decline isn't nearly as sharp as the previous incarnation, but it sure does seem steady. And it's across the board.

There is talk of opening the upper bowl of the Dome in St Louis. The league thinks it will sell. I believe it will.

Great stories coming out of the home opener. The commish sat by a woman from St Louis at the Tampa game on Saturday who was flying to St Louis on Sunday to catch the opener. 3 college kids drove down on Sunday from Milwaukee to catch the game.

Could be a midwestern team in St Louis.

I checked out my first bit of action. The game sucked but all of the production was the type of stuff I’d love to see the NFL incorporate.

ESPECIALLY the instant replay officials stuff. It’s top notch.

Who would have guessed that this run would be even shorter than the first incarnation?

XFL suspends operations, all employees laid off | Wrestling News

Not sure that they could've foreseen a forced stoppage. Might be the best thing that ever happened to Vince.

BOOOOOOOO

The Battlehawks averaged 28,500 fans in their only 2 home games and were going to open up the upper ring of the dome.

What a bummer.

Yeah that is a bummer.

Very bad luck for the league. It actually looked like it had more promise than their first attempt (which was more WWE than football).

This league, IMO, should turn into the minor leagues for the NFL. The St Louis QB got picked up by the Chiefs. If the NFL were smart, they would back this league and use it as a training ground for players and coaches and referees.

Why invest their time and money? They already have college football as a recruitment ground.

Because this would create a "practice" squad situation where teams have input, control and the ability to assist in development with the added bonus of players getting game experience against talent that is superior to the overall college experience for many of them.

It lets them hold onto to players they like that may be close to NFL talent, but not quite there or caught in a numbers crunch at a position with the team that owns their rights. Keeping it in the spring would also allow teams to assign players lower on the depth chart to the league for more experience.

On top of that the league could serve as a proving ground for rules changes the NFL is considering and could also serve as a gauge for future expansion choices. To me it is really a no brainer.

Not surprised it died, but given how much hype they were pushing, that's the last chance for spring football for a long while.

Your point about testing rule changes is the best. But otherwise how much money do you expect the league to invest in practice squad players? Especially in the face of all the talent that comes out of college every year?

I really don't see that much of a change. Average XFL salary 55K equals a league payroll for players of 22.9 million. NFL squads have 10 players on the practice squad, so 320 on weekly basis that make 136K if they stay on the practice squad for all 17 weeks of the season making a total payroll of 43.5 million.

If you scale salaries like they do in the XFL and expand the practice squad for each team to 14 you could still pay an average salary of 97K to each player and have the same net salary output for players that are gaining more focused coaching and valuable in game experience.

Of course this doesn't include other operating expenses and coaches salaries, but much of the front office personnel could come from NFL franchises and the other costs can easily be absorbed across the league.

Just thoughts.

Makes too much sense, BYU, doesnt it?

And again, just like basball, your next OC or DC or HC could come from the league.

How many times have people complained about refs? Well, here you go. A training ground for your league.

There is a lot more to benefit the NFL than just players.

Dick’s is blowing out all their XFL gear for 75% off. Bought a bunch of shirts for like 5-6.50$. Low risk outlay for some lounge gear.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson group purchases the XFL for 15M

What do you all think of the Rock buying the XFL?



But in all seriousness I really wanted the league to succeed and I thought it had a chance before the virus hit.

I really thought it had some traction too, the games were enjoyable overall and it was a nice way to get a spring football fix. I thing 15 million is probably a sound investment and the thing is you don't have to start next spring, go to 2022 if the virus is not under control.

I would still work on involving the NFL somehow as I think it makes sense based on the numbers I posted below. Vince was generally despised in NFL circles due to the mockery of the game that was XFL 1st edition. Maybe this group may make some inroads, if they have those aspirations.

I don't think you can get very far without a specific connection to the NFL. They need to be a developmental league and an alternative to college. If they can get that going I think there's a good business.

Very much this. I can't see any league surviving without a link. I also can't understand the NFL's reluctance to sign on to a league.

FOFC really dropped the ball on this one. We had our shot and pissed it away and now the Rock will never let us forget it.

Why bother when colleges will do it for free?

But I think that is going to change as young players get more financial power.

So the new XFL starts today with the Vegas Vipers facing off against the Arlington Renegades. Anyone watching?

I am now that know it is on. No team in Atlanta means I'm less interested than I would be.

I watched quite a bit this weekend. I already enjoy it more than the USFL. Having actual home stadiums really helps aesthetically (24,000 in San Antonio, and the DC crowd looked decent as well), and I liked the rule tweaks.

I love the XFL rule tweaks and the shorter play clock as well. Some fun games this weekend

Yeah, I don't care about the football but how many rule tweaks or coverage innovations did the NFL take from the last iteration? Don't like the flag football 1/2/3 point PAT's but I love 4th & 15 over onside kicks and seeing Pereira cool and calmly get a review right then take the extra time to get down/distance/hash would cut down on a lot of the complaints about those. (Though I could see it getting real sketchy on closer calls and people arguing people are judging with a double standard - but they already do th at with "catches")

The quality of play was much better than I expected. I love the Schiano Rule and how it came into play in one of the games. NFL should adopt that if they're going to continue to neuter onside kicks.

I wish the uniforms weren't complete crap.

Paxton Lynch is the only quarterback to ever be benched in the NFL, CFL, XFL, and USFL. pic.twitter.com/LVBntrWsVn

— Michael Balko (@MichaelBalkoJr) February 21, 2023

I have no idea if this is true.

CBSsports article detailing his struggles makes me think it's kind of stretching it. He was a 3rd-stringer in the CFL and got injured in the USFL so I'm not sure that the former counts as "benching" so much as "riding the bench"

If you could design a quarterback by committee and have no input whatsoever into how to put it together and install an AI, you'd get Paxton Lynch. Even the name seems architected.

Pretty spot on description, million dollar talent with zero mental acuity for the game.

That does have a real 1980s video game create a player vibe to it, doesn't it?

Terrific draft pick for Denver. I know a lot of teams skipped him, but 20 or so picks later, Tennessee took Derrick Henry.

And of course, looking at QBs, Brissett went near the end of the 3rd and Dak near the end of the 4th. Even Jeff Driskel would have turned out to be a better value pick.

Actually, if you play TCY into the year 2076, all recruits eventually end up being named Paxton Lynch.

Give Jerry credit also, he desperately wanted to trade up for Paxton Lynch but couldn't work out a deal with Denver so he had to settle for Dak.

The San Antonio team fired their VP of Operations today after one game. The guy was also the GM of the rugby team here in Austin that the league kicked out last year. Not a good run for this guy.

Same team also