To the extent that the new league is pushing the football envelope, it comes in several unusual rules innovations.

For one, kickoffs will be dramatically different in the new XFL. The kicker will boot the ball from his own 25-yard line, but he will be a lonely figure. His 10 teammates will be lined up 40 yards away at the opposing team’s 35. The returning team will be at its 30. Only once the ball is caught by the returner will players on either side be allowed to move. “It’s effectively a play from scrimmage,” Luck said.

The league has been testing the new kickoff and expects to see more kickoff run backs, exciting plays that have been dying out in football, but without the injuries that are often caused by large men colliding after a 35- to 40-yard sprint.

(This concern for safety is another departure from the original XFL, which billed itself as manly football: It did not allow fair catches, for example. The new league emphasizes that it sought good football players who were also of good character.)

The league has also added a strategic decision that may prove intriguing. After a touchdown, teams cannot kick an extra point. They can go for a single point with a play from scrimmage at the 2-yard line, or go for 2 points from the 5-yard line. They can even go for 3 with a play from the 10. Effectively, the rule makes a 9-point game a one-score game.

Should a game go to overtime, it will end with a contest that operates much like a soccer or hockey shootout. Each team will get five tries to score from the 5-yard line. Whichever team scores more times wins the game. “Let’s have the position players decide overtime,” Luck said.