XFL take 2

[endo]

Caught the game today between the DC Defenders and the Seattle Dragons, and it was pretty good. None of the clownish stuff from the first time around, no wrestling commentators calling the plays, just some good football.

The rules are a little different, and there's a big emphasis on not wasting time on BS. I liked it OK, and the Defenders won, bonus.

It's not the NFL, but it's 3 more months of football anyway.

[gorepolice]

My buddy Frank went to one of the games. I heard it did 3.3 million viewers. No idea if that's good or bad honestly, but hopefully it does decently as an alternative to keep fans happy and create more opportunities for guys.

[endo]

I think the powers that be were happy with the viewership numbers from week one, but, those numbers are on par with what the Alliance of American Football league did in week one in 2019 and they folded a month or so later.

Of course, the AAF only aired the first week on major broadcast networks and then started airing games exclusively on NFL Network and CBS Sports that if people weren't already subscribed to, they certainly weren't going to for the AAF.
The XFL has secured major network coverage for the entire season, and even though it's been almost 20 years since the last time Vince tried it, the XFL still has name recognition.

All in all, I'm hearing pretty positive things about it, and I liked the game I saw. No nonsense football, and the no BS format basically cut a 3 hour football game down to around 2, which a lot of people like.
We'll have to see where it goes, but week one was pretty solid all around.

[endo]

Gotta walk back what I said about this being available on broadcast networks all season. Yes, there are games on broadcast TV every week.
But, is it the team you want to see? That depends. I follow the DC Defenders and for the past three weeks I haven't been able to see the game.
It was on ESPN 2 last week, the week before and this week it's been on FS1, and I don't subscribe to either. So there's still the issue of availability. You'd think the games that were airing on subscription only channels would stream live on the XFL site, but they don't.

Anyway, it's kind of turned me off to the whole thing. I don't want to watch Dallas against Los Angeles, I want to see the Defender games.
And if I'm getting turned off, there are others that are too.

[NDX]

That sounds reasonable.

[gorepolice]

Wow, that's an incredibly bad move on their part.

[endo]

Pretty much a moot point now, the virus has forced an early end to the season. Don't know if we'll see it back next year or not, guess it depends on how much money Vince and his investors lost this season.

[endo]

Apparently the XFL is about done for good...

ESPN reports, "While a handful of executives remain employed, the league currently has no plans to return in 2021."

More details from ESPN:

"According to a prominent former XFL staffer who was on the call, Pollack stopped short of saying the league was going out of business. But the strong implication was clear. "It's done," the staffer said. "It's not coming back."

Despite the gloomy quote from the former staffer, it appears as if the 2021 plans were not discussed directly in Pollack's call. Fulk reports he listened to the entire conference call to XFL employees and 2021 was "never mentioned." The phrase used was "suspending all day to day operations.

In short, the XFL is not dead at this moment, but its future is bleak."

[NDX]

Aren't they filing for bankruptcy?

And one of the bosses of it is suing McMahon over his contract.

[endo]

I believe they have filed for bankruptcy, and yes, Oliver Luck is suing McMahon for wrongful termination. I think there was a shred of hope for a second season after everything was back under control, but that seems to be done too.

Just really bad timing with all the BS going on. Going to be interesting to see how the NFL handles the upcoming season, or if there's a season at all.