XFL Discussion

[illwill10]

Outside of top 10 highlights, only time recently that I remember a CFL game garner attention was when Johnny Manziel played those few games and once it was realized when wasn't good, ESPN stopped promoting it.

Yeah, they went in knowing they was losing money for the first couple years and really banked on consumer friendly practices to keep fans engaged. The ultimate goal was to get a big TV deal.

I wouldn't say a Spring Football League wouldn't work. Everything would have to line up. I do feel like they could have made it to a third season. But the thing would be would they have had same buzz. You need high quality play and marketable players. Even though they weren't as rushed in as AAF was, 2 years wasn't enough time. Oliver Luck even said, he wished he had a little more time. I feel while there was quality football, the majority of the league started off sluggish. That month or so of training camp wasn't enough time for teams to prepare. Then you had coaches and players dropping out of league at the last minute. But, the main thing would have been replacing talent yearly. The ultimate goal for players was to get to/back to NFL. So they would have to consistently bring in talent, especially at QB. You can't just rely on Journeymen NFL QBs or middle tier college QBs. But at the same time, you can't have a Manziel-type distraction at QB. XFL would have either had to partner with NFL to be a developmental league for players and coaches or find ways to entice young players to stay for a couple seasons.

[ggsimmonds]

Quote: Originally Posted by JHamilton9

I am hoping they are literally waiting out the pandemic. With the talk of another covid wave next year and a vaccine 12-18 months away, it might be prudent to skip 2021 and possibly look at 2022. If 2022 is the plan, it would make sense to keep only a few and let everyone else go. With the stock market drop (and especially WWE's stock), Vince's extra money to fund the league has shrunk by a great deal. I do consider it a great gesture the league paid everybody through this season. A lot of other businesses having been shutting down "temporarily" during this pandemic and aren't paying employees. It could have been a lot worse (ie. AAF). This is the only time I have ever been cautiously optimistic a sports league could come back after shutting down.

Yeah, think about the lost revenue from Wrestlemania.

Vince was willing to lose a little bit of money for the first two years until the XFL stabalized. The huge drop in revenue WWE is seeing changed those plans

[l3ulvl]

Quote: Originally Posted by Majingir

I guess the CFL really is that irrelevant outside of Canada? Sure, it's nowhere close to the skill level of the US, and it has diff rules and field size, but its still a nice alternative. I think ESPN2 or someone does air those games. Surprised they dont promote that more. Its football that they dont need to pay to produce or pay big bucks for rights. Simply just show the Canadian feed of the game.

I hope the next iteration of the XFL has a competent Detroit team, I've been waiting my whole life for one.

As far as the CFL goes, I even rooted for the BC Lions for a minute, Lulay was the QB I think, they won the grey cup like 10 years ago, and I still can't keep up with it

[TheBigGuySports]

It is truly sad to see this happen to the XFL. I really felt the league was going to make it. I also really loved some of the rules especially the kickoff rules. The NFL needs to take that in so we can get good returns back

[Majingir]

Oliver Luck is now suing Vince McMahon for unfair dismissal as he should've been paid his entire salary.

[mestevo]

Saw that, his contract isn't even included in the bankruptcy, so I wonder if that will sweep this lawsuit away too.

https://www.actionnetwork.com/xfl/xf...-darren-rovell

Luck, as well as other top executives, were missing from the XFL’s bankruptcy filing on April 13. Luck’s suit notes that he was never listed as a creditor because Alpha Entertainment, McMahon’s entity, filed to reject many executive contracts at the same time as filing their petition.

Sources say the bankruptcy court approved the rejecting of those contracts, which meant that Luck’s only recourse was to sue McMahon.

Former XFL coaches Bob Stoops ($1.083 million), Marc Trestman ($777,777), the Jonathan Hayes ($633,333) and others ($583,333 each) were listed as creditors in the XFL’s bankruptcy filing.

When reached by The Action Network, Luck’s attorney Paul Dobrowski declined comment. McMahon could not be immediately reached through a WWE spokesperson.

[mestevo]

Now for it to get messy.

https://theathletic.com/1812356/2020...-shirking-job/

Behind a paywall, so here's the point:

Quote:

Vince McMahon fired XFL commissioner Oliver Luck last month for his hiring of wide receiver Antonio Callaway, and allegedly all but abandoning his job in the days after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, according to newly unsealed documents in their litigation. The nascent XFL, reeling from the shutdown brought on by COVID-19, shuttered April 10 and filed for bankruptcy three days later. Luck sued the league founder McMahon on April 16 for the value of his contract arguing he was fired without cause, but heavily redacted much of the complaint, including the reasons McMahon gave for terminating Luck and how much he was suing over. The amount is $23.8 million and his contract ran through June 2023, according to McMahon’s unsealed opposition motion. The federal judge hearing the case ordered the unsealing at a hearing Wednesday. “In exchange for his services, the Contract provided that Luck would be paid a Base Salary of $5 million per Contract Year and a ‘Guaranteed Annual Bonus’ of $2 million ‘on the last day of each Contract Year, subject to his continued employment on the scheduled payment date,’” McMahon’s opposition motion said. The two big charges McMahon levels are that Luck, in hiring Callaway in January, ignored his directive not to hire players with troubled backgrounds; and that on March 13 the commissioner left for his home in Indiana and did not return to Stamford, Conn. headquarters. The Tampa Bay Vipers claimed Callaway off waivers, and he was placed on injured reserve before the start of the season. “Luck signed Antonio Callaway in clear violation of the XFL’s policy and McMahon’s directive not to hire players with questionable or problematic backgrounds,” the motion revealed. “After McMahon learned of Callaway’s background and directed Luck to terminate Callaway, Luck failed to do so. As a result, Callaway was allowed to continue to practice and sustained a knee injury that caused the XFL to incur substantial costs that would have been avoided if Luck had followed the applicable policies and directives.”

Quote:

McMahon also claimed Luck abandoned the XFL during the pandemic, and suggests the fate of the league could have been different if this weren’t the case. “Luck was completely disengaged from the XFL and its efforts to determine whether there was a viable path forward for the league,” McMahon argued. “He did not make a single phone call to McMahon about any work related matters and failed to attend important telephonic meetings. “The COVID-19 pandemic posed a sudden and existential threat to XFL’s business that required a bold and immediate response from its senior leadership. By the time it became clear that Luck was completely disengaged from the XFL’s operations, Alpha simply did not have 30 days to wait for Luck to attempt to do his job. Alpha was forced to suspend its operations on April 10 — 28 days after Luck left for his home in Indiana on March 13 and effectively abandoned his responsibilities as its CEO — and thereafter filed for Chapter 11 relief on April 13.” McMahon claimed a third reason for terminating Luck, that he used his league-issued phone for personal calls in violation of XFL policy.

[illwill10]

"BREAKING NEWS: @TheRock is the new part-owner of the XFL.

Read more: https://t.co/2KzxOEUTVz https://t.co/x3u2Q8q9Ik "