Drained Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 13 hours ago, Shady Slim said: well by all accounts the XFL was by and large working before the pandemic was it not? though as the article points out there were other warning signs, but still, shame that the rona claimed what looked to be a league that had a bit of moxie to it tbh. espn's doco on the rise and fall of the original xfl is pretty good as well ftr, one of their 30 for 30's, "small potatoes; who killed the xfl" i believe it is called. yes the idea is that the pandemic killed the xfl, as soon as they were playing in front of empty stadiums they lost half their income, tv deals arent really sustainable for leagues that are basically paying to be on tv, there was also the issue of teams like seattle playing to crowds of 40k a game, most likely bringing in millions at the gates whilst teams like los angeles were failing to crack 15k despite having the biggest toll on payroll (they had two players making 600k a year on their roster. not good for a team that barely made their money back) its a pretty interesting timeline to read on but the league did 10x better than any spring league we've seen since probably the original xfl, but this one actually had decent football, if people want to buy it again that must mean something 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancerman Posted June 20, 2020 Share Posted June 20, 2020 7 hours ago, Drained said: yes the idea is that the pandemic killed the xfl, as soon as they were playing in front of empty stadiums they lost half their income, tv deals arent really sustainable for leagues that are basically paying to be on tv, there was also the issue of teams like seattle playing to crowds of 40k a game, most likely bringing in millions at the gates whilst teams like los angeles were failing to crack 15k despite having the biggest toll on payroll (they had two players making 600k a year on their roster. not good for a team that barely made their money back) its a pretty interesting timeline to read on but the league did 10x better than any spring league we've seen since probably the original xfl, but this one actually had decent football, if people want to buy it again that must mean something This league was still less successful than the OG XFL. Really the only thing you could say was the football was better. Like the AAF the ratings were dropping every week and the idea of a lucrative tv deal seemed silly. Also quite frankly, Vince is a carny who makes big changes in direction on a whim and has been like that for years. It’s clear now that the XFL was tied to WWE’s success and even before the pandemic the WWE was hemorrhaging viewership. This is was always going to be a real problem. Honestly the way he treated Luck is going to haunt him for awhile, but that’s who Vince is. The XFL was far from viable. Like the article said, it might have gotten fortunate that it gets to blame its death on a pandemic than the very likely possibility it wasn’t going to be supported enough to work. Spring football just isn’t they viable. The CFL and arena leagues existed for years if it mattered to hardcore fans. There’s no indication that there is a market for it beyond that. Fans have college and pro and then within a couple months of the SB a huge draft and then free agency and other sports to watch and it’s nicer out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drained Posted June 20, 2020 Share Posted June 20, 2020 (edited) 12 hours ago, lancerman said: Like the AAF the ratings were dropping every week and the idea of a lucrative tv deal seemed silly. I personally think the XFL is viable but there's no point writing a huge paragraph to respond to that part cause I will admit Vince is a horrible owner and businessman, he ruined the WWE for many fans. But this is wrong, the AAF struggled to get 300k watching on tv at it's end, the XFL was still capping over one million and there were actually increases in TV viewership, this is why there is most likely buyers lined up to purchase to league, it had the name recognition and people enjoyed it. Lucrative maybe not, at least on the level of justifying the money being paid to players, but a real deal would definitely have come. Edited June 20, 2020 by Drained Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shady Slim Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 yeah the way it was going heading in to the american spring it looked like it would be genuinely viable as a spring league, if only as a bit of a hit and giggle casual watch for a lot of nfl fans; but there were enough people watching to get it up and keep it viable seemingly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joru1000 Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 On 2020-06-19 at 1:06 AM, Shady Slim said: well by all accounts the XFL was by and large working before the pandemic was it not? though as the article points out there were other warning signs, but still, shame that the rona claimed what looked to be a league that had a bit of moxie to it tbh. espn's doco on the rise and fall of the original xfl is pretty good as well ftr, one of their 30 for 30's, "small potatoes; who killed the xfl" i believe it is called. No, the pandemic was just a nice excuse. The ratings were tanking every week, although some teams were filling their stadiums, the money is made in broadcasting deals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malik Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 1 hour ago, joru1000 said: No, the pandemic was just a nice excuse. The ratings were tanking every week, although some teams were filling their stadiums, the money is made in broadcasting deals. Do you have the data available? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naptownskinsfan Posted June 21, 2020 Author Share Posted June 21, 2020 On 6/19/2020 at 1:06 AM, Shady Slim said: well by all accounts the XFL was by and large working before the pandemic was it not? though as the article points out there were other warning signs, but still, shame that the rona claimed what looked to be a league that had a bit of moxie to it tbh. espn's doco on the rise and fall of the original xfl is pretty good as well ftr, one of their 30 for 30's, "small potatoes; who killed the xfl" i believe it is called. I would also listen to the XFL episode from Bruce Prichard's podcast Something To Wrestle. It's definitely a great look from the side of the wrestling guys. The DC team was a hot ticket around here. St Louis was desperate for football and seemed to do well. There were some signs, but it was definitely working better than before and had a future. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naptownskinsfan Posted June 21, 2020 Author Share Posted June 21, 2020 On 6/19/2020 at 9:04 AM, DontTazeMeBro said: They should’ve tried to be more like the college game instead of having guys like Kevin Gilbride trying to run pro style offenses with QBs like McGloin. Pro style offense with minor league talent is unwatchable. I think that was the direction they wanted to move. I could definitely see the XFL working as a minor league for QB development. I would much rather watch some mid-round picks play than failed NFL guys like McGloin, Aaron Murray and Cardale Jones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drained Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, joru1000 said: No, the pandemic was just a nice excuse. The ratings were tanking every week, although some teams were filling their stadiums, the money is made in broadcasting deals. "Tanking" is a bad way to put it, they were still averaging about 1.47m viewers, they were the most watched sport on cable television at the time, better than the MLS and in some occasions, NHL (depending on market.) The lowest they ever got was 767k on a pay-to-view network. It's games on ABC and other prime time networks like Fox, actually saw a rise each week. https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2020/03/xfl-ratings-espn-fs1-viewership-week-five/ The lowest it ever got on broadcast TV was 1.5 million. Article shows that viewership numbers were falling... that's true... by an average of about 0.7% each week, not the ghastly numbers of the AAF like you suggest, AAF's peak after it's first three weeks was 595k (it had an insanely good first week, like the XFL did) I remember week 7 (it only played 8 games) struggled to hit one million all together, yet people were saying "oh yeah thats comparable to MLS this is good", the XFL did well dude. Edited June 21, 2020 by Drained 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoboRocket Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 21 hours ago, Drained said: "Tanking" is a bad way to put it, they were still averaging about 1.47m viewers, they were the most watched sport on cable television at the time, better than the MLS and in some occasions, NHL (depending on market.) The lowest they ever got was 767k on a pay-to-view network. It's games on ABC and other prime time networks like Fox, actually saw a rise each week. https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2020/03/xfl-ratings-espn-fs1-viewership-week-five/ The lowest it ever got on broadcast TV was 1.5 million. Article shows that viewership numbers were falling... that's true... by an average of about 0.7% each week, not the ghastly numbers of the AAF like you suggest, AAF's peak after it's first three weeks was 595k (it had an insanely good first week, like the XFL did) I remember week 7 (it only played 8 games) struggled to hit one million all together, yet people were saying "oh yeah thats comparable to MLS this is good", the XFL did well dude. I agree wholeheartedly. The XFL had a pretty good fan base, and while there were teams like New York and Tampa Bay that were both awful and didn't have a fanbase, there were also teams like DC and St Louis that, despite bumps, ended up having incredible atmosphere at their home games. Dallas and Houston also both did very well as far as fans go. Seattle had good attendance, and the pandemic started there while the season was still going. The team was also putrid. Did that stop the fans? Not really. LA, meanwhile, didn't have good attendance, but they had one of the best products in the league, IMO. The only time that they weren't very fun to watch was week 1 with Arizona's former 3rd-string castoff Kanoff playing QB. The league also wasn't helped by a poor QB situation in the beginning. Matt McGloin, Brandon Silvers, Charles Kanoff, Philip Nelson, and Aaron Murray all were starting QBs in week 1. As the season went on, Nelson was replaced by Landry Jones, who was much more competent and ended up being endearing in an "aw, shucks" sort of way. Charles Kanoff was replaced with Josh Johnson, who was infinitely more entertaining. Matt McGloin was replaced by Marquise Williams, and them Luis Perez. Perez was very good and made that New York offense watchable. Brandon Silvers was replaced by BJ Daniels, who was a slight improvement. Aaron Murray was replaced by a combo of Taylor Cornelius and Quinton Flowers. Cornelius had a surprisingly good game in his first one, but overall was sort of a bum. Quinton Flowers was electric when he was on the field, but he was part of a committee and in Marc Trestman's doghouse. The only QB situation that we saw get WORSE in comparison to week 1 was DC's. Cardale Jones was destroyed as soon as teams started making him read the field and fit the ball into zones. He was able to torch teams in man coverage with a really good receiving corps that I actually think should have some NFL players, as well as an arm that was able to just zip it deep. Anyways, they kind of switched to Tyree Jackson, who got some early-round hype on this forum as a raw playmaker with all the tools, but he really just managed the game and scrambled for the Defenders when he was on the field. Part of the issue was Pep Hamilton's playcalling, in my opinion, but it was two very raw QBs who had trouble reading defenses. The DC offense was the league's most fun when it was working and hot garbage when it wasn't. Anyways, so the XFL's QB situation DID improve and expected to get better as the season progressed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibrown Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 I'm in for $20.00 mighty NZDs. On the condition I'm an assistant to the general manager of a team based in Ohio and everyone calls me cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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