LA Wildcats Drop Season Opener, Staff And Roster Changes Follow

XFL. For two decades this has been a word that has been synonymous with failure. The original XFL folded after only one season back in 2001.

Now let’s be clear. This new upstart league, with the same three letters, and the same man with the financing and ownership label (Vince McMahon), is not supposed to be a 2.0 version. The goal is not to build on the original version and fix the failed components. The XFL 2020 is a brand new league built on one fundamental truth: For The Love Of Football.

This is a league that is not boasting ties to the WWE or the mantra that they can take down the juggernaut that is the NFL. When I spoke with Commissioner Oliver Luck he made it very clear, and I’m paraphrasing:

The NFL is a fantastic league. I love the NFL, I have worked for the NFL, and I have many friends that work for the NFL. We have zero intentions of taking the NFL head-on. We are creating a league that gives fans more football and puts the fans at the forefront of everything.

In my humble opinion, opening weekend of the XFL was a huge success. Attendance for a start-up league was great, the atmosphere was fun, the product on the field was very good, and the rule changes were innovative and overall did not cheapen or worsen the integrity of the game. If you do not know what the rule changes are yet, you can read more about the rule changes here.

The XFL, before kickoff, has already surpassed ticket sales revenue for the entire season of the AAF. — Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) February 8, 2020

XFL TV ratings for the opener: 3x higher than any MLS game, ever. Not sure what that information even means, just putting out there so we can chew on it. — Pablo Maurer (@MLSist) February 10, 2020

Unfortunately, the Los Angeles Wildcats, while playing an exciting first half, fell flat and fell to the Houston Roughnecks in their season opener.