Written by Twm Owen (@newsattwm)

The XFL’s all-access policy has cost UK viewers live coverage of much of the remainder of the new league’s opening season in a row over X-rated language.

The league, backed by WWE wrestling boss Vince McMahon, features live mics from coaches and players during every game allowing TV viewers to hear offensive and defensive play calls and the voices of players during live action. Sideline reporters also conduct in-game interviews with players and coaches.

BT Sport has the rights to broadcast the eight-team league in the UK but in the middle of the Week Five schedule, the league’s half-way point, the station dropped its featured Sunday afternoon game which was due to be shown live at 7pm UK time on Sunday, March 8.

Viewers tuning into subscription channel BT Sport 3 expecting to see the DC Defenders play the St Louis BattleHawks were instead confronted with tennis and a magazine programme on squash.

An on-screen caption stated the game couldn’t be shown due to a technical issue. However BT Sport confirmed via its @btsport Twitter account it had dropped some games due to “inappropriate” language during games.

It stated, via Twitter: “We’re currently unable to broadcast all XFL games live, because of inappropriate language within some of the US broadcast feeds. We’ll show live games whenever possible and have updated our schedule to reflect when we can show them live.”

The first case of “inappropriate language” during an XFL game came in just the second quarter of its season opener when the DC Defenders hosted the Seattle Dragons, a game shown live on BT Sport between 7pm and 10pm on Saturday, February 8 in the UK.

Dragons O lineman Dillon Day was asked what had happened as he stepped off the field during a minor skirmish seven minutes into the opener’s second quarter when he told ABC reporter, Dianna Russini, “We’re trying to get our fucking job done and they’re just.”

Took less than one half of XFL football to get our first F-bomb in a field interview pic.twitter.com/G5BtQQQGjT — Kevin Wade (@KwadeSays) February 8, 2020

During the March 1 Houston Roughnecks V Dallas Renegades game, broadcast between 8pm and 11pm on BT Sport in the UK the in-helmet mic, which is used for communication between players and coaches and also broadcast, caught Roughnecks QB, and league standout, PJ Walker’s attempt to fire up his offense.

The former Temple University QB implored his teammates to “Let’s get going, let’s kick these motherfucker’s ass,” after throwing a touchdown pass. The rallying call was broadcast shortly after 9.30pm in the UK, post the TV watershed.

The XFL has sought a more professional approach than that adopted by its original incarnation, which ran for a single season, in 2001 when it sought to position itself as the “extreme league” to the staid NFL.

The relaunched XFL 2020 has instead concentrated on the quality of its football and innovations such as new style kick-off and one, two and three point no kick conversions as well as giving near unlimited access to its broadcast partners.

But that has proved an unwelcome addition for BT Sport, which earlier this year acquired the UK broadcast rights to the WWE, and which has seemingly decided that the X-rated language means the XFL is more trouble than it is worth in earlier evening slots.