Bring on the XFL

[DisabledAccount]

http://es.pn/2Gd04GV

 

 

What everyone thoughts on it? 
 

[DarterBlue2]

19 minutes ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

http://es.pn/2Gd04GV

 

 

What everyone thoughts on it? 
 

Not sure whether the market is big enough for another football pro league. The original XFL folded after one year back when you were a young pup. However, if this one is better capitalized and they can put tweaks here and there, I have no problem with them trying. It would provide employment for some college athletes not able to make NFL rosters. 

[peezy28]

If they got rid of the silly antics and had a shorter maybe 8 game seasons and get some name players there is a chance for it.  But they over did it with the BS from the original XFL. 

[DisabledAccount]

24 minutes ago, DarterBlue2 said:

Not sure whether the market is big enough for another football pro league. The original XFL folded after one year back when you were a young pup. However, if this one is better capitalized and they can put tweaks here and there, I have no problem with them trying. It would provide employment for some college athletes not able to make NFL rosters. 

XFL was kinda rushed first time around 

 

I'm hearing it won't start till 2020 so it looks like they going to fix the previous mistakes 

[OldSchoolLion]

29 minutes ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

http://es.pn/2Gd04GV

 

 

What everyone thoughts on it? 
 

Football is in a fragile state now.  I cannot see Vince McMahon doing anything to improve that situation...if anything, the opposite.  

According to Wikipedia, "As of 2006, McMahon has a $12 million penthouse in Manhattan, New York; a $40 million mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut;^[99] a $20 million vacation home;^[100] and a 47-foot sports yacht named Sexy Bitch.^[100][101] His wealth has been noted at $1.1 billion."

...obviously driven by the buck.  He helped turn pro wrestling into a circus freak show and pro wrestlers have been dying at early ages.  Wonder why?  He started a pro bodybuilding federation.  That sport, too, has become a freak show.  He has been tied to steroid distribution. 

Promoters like him push everything to extremes to maintain public interest and keep the bucks flowing in.  They are more interested in appealing to the mainstream public(bigger audience = bigger profits) than the true fans.  McMahon does not care about folks like us.  He will make his profits and bail as soon as things start to fade, leaving the wreckage behind while he searches for his next gig. 

[DisabledAccount]

7 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Football is in a fragile state now.  I cannot see Vince McMahon doing anything to improve that situation...if anything, the opposite.  

According to Wikipedia, "As of 2006, McMahon has a $12 million penthouse in Manhattan, New York; a $40 million mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut;^[99] a $20 million vacation home;^[100] and a 47-foot sports yacht named Sexy Bitch.^[100][101] His wealth has been noted at $1.1 billion."

...obviously driven by the buck.  He helped turn pro wrestling into a circus freak show and pro wrestlers have been dying at early ages.  Wonder why?  He started a pro bodybuilding federation.  That sport, too, has become a freak show.  He has been tied to steroid distribution. 

Promoters like him push everything to extremes to maintain public interest and keep the bucks flowing in.  They are more interested in appealing to the mainstream public(bigger audience = bigger profits) than the true fans.  McMahon does not care about folks like us.  He will make his profits and bail as soon as things start to fade, leaving the wreckage behind while he searches for his next gig. 

The job of being a promoter has always been make a profit so Vince McMahon is no different than the boxing promoters or regional wrestling promoters who been doing it for years

 

I personally like the idea as another league

 

More teams means more athletes employed so I'm fully supportive of another league plus when competition opens up, the other competitors have to either make things affordable or better to compete which means we could get NFL bringing a better product to compete with XFL which helps us fans long term

 

I think that 30 for 30 sparked interest and truthfully for all the bad they did have a few good ideas so I'm curious 

[gatorman-uf]

The USFL tried to compete, and generally had a good strategy. Spring Football, build your reputation, get some $$$ out of the TV stations, with a very long term goal of forcing the NFL to merge,  but not required.  But an incompetent real estate mogul from New York City insisted that the USFL had to compete against the NFL in the Fall. Not surprisingly it failed. Most of the teams were already in NFL markets and were not able to compete directly against them.

As a result the USFL won a lawsuit against the NFL, but in reality lost everything as the jury decided the owners and their mismanagement was the reason why the USFL was not succeeding, not the NFL's monopoly. 
---
How does this apply to the XFL? Well, when the first XFL came into existence, McMahon was a rising star. He had turned Wrestling into a multi-million dollar industry. He had a good amount of fame, there was not an over saturation of football on every day of the week (Friday-Monday only). He had a large TV deal with NBC and their networks.

The reality was that the football was bad. I mean really bad. Canadian and Arena Football are and were more exciting than the XFL. (Seriously, Canadian Football has some better rules). No XFL teams were willing to be innovative or different, they ran the same tired plays of the NFL. The players were Practice Squad level players with few NFL starter level players.

The demand for spring football exists, but you are not going to be able to compete against the NFL directly. It is going to have to a niche environment and hope to build in the outskirts. 

The other problem the XFL will have is what major markets don't have NFL or Basketball or Baseball that will compete for advertisers dollars? People are cutting the cord from their TVs so long term even Live Sports are going to be money losers. If he can get some money from a stream, keep salaries low enough (say $40,000) for an 8-10 game schedule, play in small markets that can be passionate about the sport and get attendance high enough to pay for a good portion of the costs. He has a chance, but in reality, I don't think the money is out there anymore. 

[BrowardHandicapper]

31 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Football is in a fragile state now.  I cannot see Vince McMahon doing anything to improve that situation...if anything, the opposite.  

According to Wikipedia, "As of 2006, McMahon has a $12 million penthouse in Manhattan, New York; a $40 million mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut;^[99] a $20 million vacation home;^[100] and a 47-foot sports yacht named Sexy Bitch.^[100][101] His wealth has been noted at $1.1 billion."

...obviously driven by the buck.  He helped turn pro wrestling into a circus freak show and pro wrestlers have been dying at early ages.  Wonder why?  He started a pro bodybuilding federation.  That sport, too, has become a freak show.  He has been tied to steroid distribution. 

Promoters like him push everything to extremes to maintain public interest and keep the bucks flowing in.  They are more interested in appealing to the mainstream public(bigger audience = bigger profits) than the true fans.  McMahon does not care about folks like us.  He will make his profits and bail as soon as things start to fade, leaving the wreckage behind while he searches for his next gig. 

I would agree with this and believe this unfortunately may be correlated to the ultimate agenda.  I believe McMahon understands the latest spike in safety from youth football all the way to the NFL particularly regarding concussions.  McMahon understands that this "safety first" concept may not appeal to many football fans and figures by 2020 fans will be be looking for a possible alternative.  McMahon may be planning to get rid of the former circus aspect of the original XFL and have a little more structured league , but more violent league in which helmet to helmet hits are part of the XFL game.  McMahon may be betting on a more violent game then the NFL will be more successful.  He will have the best lawyers on hand and will be sure that every players signs stacks of contracts and waivers to avoid legal repercussions to anything associated to the XFL.  You get a concussion it will 110% be on you and your responsibility.

Ultimately , I think McMahon is banking on the XFL returning to football the way it was originally (and what many believe meant to be) played.

[s1nglewing]

THIS GUY!

 

[OldSchoolLion]

19 minutes ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

The job of being a promoter has always been make a profit so Vince McMahon is no different than the boxing promoters or regional wrestling promoters who been doing it for years

 

I personally like the idea as another league

 

More teams means more athletes employed so I'm fully supportive of another league plus when competition opens up, the other competitors have to either make things affordable or better to compete which means we could get NFL bringing a better product to compete with XFL which helps us fans long term

 

I think that 30 for 30 sparked interest and truthfully for all the bad they did have a few good ideas so I'm curious 

I respect your thoughts Columbia.  The "right" promoter is the key for football's future.  With medical issues like CTE getting more and more press, and threatening the sustainability of the sport, we need a person who can walk the fine line between running a successful business and demonstrating to the public that we have the long-term health of players in mind.

McMahon has a terrible reputation for caring about the health of his athletes.  Drug use (steroids, pain killer addictions), mental health issues, etc have been huge problems in the pro wrestling world.  The abuses of the past are coming to light now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_premature_professional_wrestling_deaths

McMahon is the last person I would want to be in the public eye as a champion for player health.  As important is convincing insurance companies that football is on the right path. 

Even if he has found religion, he will never escape his reputation.  We need a person the public can trust...someone who exudes humility and sincerity.  That is not McMahon.   If we do not get the right champion, I am afraid football will continue losing ground to its critics. 

Sure, a new league might create some new jobs in the short-term  But those jobs will not a not make a significant dent in the statistics related to how few athletes make the pros    We have some burning platforms to address now that those jobs are not going to address.           

 

 

 

[OldSchoolLion]

23 minutes ago, BrowardHandicapper said:

I would agree with this and believe this unfortunately may be correlated to the ultimate agenda.  I believe McMahon understands the latest spike in safety from youth football all the way to the NFL particularly regarding concussions.  McMahon understands that this "safety first" concept may not appeal to many football fans and figures by 2020 fans will be be looking for a possible alternative.  McMahon may be planning to get rid of the former circus aspect of the original XFL and have a little more structured league , but more violent league in which helmet to helmet hits are part of the XFL game.  McMahon may be betting on a more violent game then the NFL will be more successful.  He will have the best lawyers on hand and will be sure that every players signs stacks of contracts and waivers to avoid legal repercussions to anything associated to the XFL.  You get a concussion it will 110% be on you and your responsibility.

Ultimately , I think McMahon is banking on the XFL returning to football the way it was originally (and what many believe meant to be) played.

...appreciated comments.  If what you say is true,  it would be the MMA version of football.    Although there are many more traditional artists than MMA practitioners worldwide, ask the US public about martial arts and the first thought that comes to mind for many is a couple of sketchy-looking guys in an octagon beating the crap out of each other.  Many traditional martial artists do not like MMA because it glorifies aspects of martial arts that are not its essence.

Similarly, a league such as what you describe, promoting violent hits, would make it difficult for the rest of football to move away from that image of a sport that is "unnecessarily violent." 

  

[DisabledAccount]

 

This is expected to be the announcement of the football league

[DarterBlue2]

11 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Football is in a fragile state now.  I cannot see Vince McMahon doing anything to improve that situation...if anything, the opposite.  

According to Wikipedia, "As of 2006, McMahon has a $12 million penthouse in Manhattan, New York; a $40 million mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut;^[99] a $20 million vacation home;^[100] and a 47-foot sports yacht named Sexy Bitch.^[100][101] His wealth has been noted at $1.1 billion."

...obviously driven by the buck.  He helped turn pro wrestling into a circus freak show and pro wrestlers have been dying at early ages.  Wonder why?  He started a pro bodybuilding federation.  That sport, too, has become a freak show.  He has been tied to steroid distribution. 

Promoters like him push everything to extremes to maintain public interest and keep the bucks flowing in.  They are more interested in appealing to the mainstream public(bigger audience = bigger profits) than the true fans.  McMahon does not care about folks like us.  He will make his profits and bail as soon as things start to fade, leaving the wreckage behind while he searches for his next gig. 

Sad but mostly true. VM reminds me of someone whose name I will not mention.

[Dan in Daytona]

12 hours ago, s1nglewing said:

THIS GUY!

 

^^Lakeland Dreadnaught Rod Smart, big brother to fellow Dreadnaught  Cris "I'm a white girl man" Rainey...entertaining family...still funny

[gatorman-uf]

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/22213241/vince-mcmahon-gimmick-free-xfl-return-2020

He lays out some more details, some of the stuff, I am ok with, but the more I listen, the more I think that it is just going to be a horrible experience and probably fold after 2 seasons at most. 

Features of Returning XFL
8 teams to start
40 man rosters
10-game season beginning in January
Two-hour game-time goal
Any player with a criminal record precluded from playing
Players won't receive forum to take personal stance on social issues on playing field

The last two are obvious red meat for a certain segment of the world. Some of it seems counterintuitive to the growing concerns of football and injury concerns. 40 man rosters makes sense for a small-upstart league I guess. 

2 hour game total seems unfeasible. I am not sure the last high school game that I watched that was under 2 hours. Most seem to go to 2.5 hours. Not a bad idea in today's millenial age of sport attention spans and trying to stream games instead of broadcast games.
----------
If I was the NFL, I would expand the rosters by 2 players this coming year and next year. If the NFL added 64 the first year and another 64 the next year, what players would be left to play in the XFL.
On a serious note, do you know that the expansion fee in the Canadian Football League is only $7 million (plus stadium costs). Granted most games are less than 25K people and the TV contract isn't that much and players play for 50K or so. How have more people not bought into the CFL?

[OldSchoolLion]

England is a country about the size of New York state and a population about 1/5th that of the US .  They have two futbol (soccer) leagues-the Premier League being the more prestigious-with a total of 44 teams, versus 32 in the NFL.  The fans are rabid and there are tremendous rivalries. 

5X44 teams=220 teams  Imagine having 220 professional football teams in the US.  We have football-crazy states like Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina, that can pack stadiums at the college level, with no teams in the NFL.  For a person at the University of Alabama (there is a rumor they like football there) to see the Falcons play, it is a 200-mile drive each way.  

NFL teams in SEC states-Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, New Orleans, Kansas City, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa Bay     

The average price of a ticket to an NFL game is 4 times that of an average ticket to the Premier League game ($40 vs $160).  And the Premier League has guys with $10million annual salaries like the NFL.   

Total cost for family of four from San Antonio to attend a Dallas Cowboys game: $1307

1. Average ticket price: $208 X 4 = $832
2. Food/drink at game: $50
3. Parking: $75 (It costs about $15 for parking to attend an upper echelon Premier League game) 
4. Gasoline: $100 (560 miles round trip)
5. Meals: $100 (dinner night of game and breakfast next day)  
6. Hotel: $150 (It's 10 hours round trip on the road otherwise)

 Cost for family of four to attend an English Premier League Game-about $225 

There is a good chance that an English pro futbol game is going to be within easy driving distance of wherever you live. 

[peezy28]

Tired of players kneeling during the anthem???
 
Tired of your commissioner turning a blind eye to crime in the league???
Tired of not knowing what a catch is or is not???

COME TO THE TO THE XFL

http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/...ns-jobs-and-second-chances-but-also-a-warning
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[peezy28]

@Proseteye

@OldSchoolLion

 

This appears to be a football league for you

[OldSchoolLion]

24 minutes ago, peezy28 said:

Tired of players kneeling during the anthem???
 
Tired of your commissioner turning a blind eye to crime in the league???
Tired of not knowing what a catch is or is not???

COME TO THE TO THE XFL

http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/...ns-jobs-and-second-chances-but-also-a-warning
Edit
00

"McMahon strongly indicated his league would require players to stand for the anthem and take a hard line against players who got in trouble off the field."

..would expect nothing less of McMahon to use politics to sell.    

70% of NFL players are Black, 1 in 9 Black males aged 20-34 is incarcerated, on average an NFL player is getting arrested every week...and the answer of some is, we need a hard-line approach...instead of compassion, forgiveness, and spending a little of that $13billion in NFL revenue to help the communities from which the bulk of your talent is being drawn.