Charles Daye and Brett Carroll @TheDOPEBlog

The XFL is returning, this time with a lot less hype but a lot more skepticism. The first time around the league failed to produced the product they marketed but succeeded at innovating the game of football with the SkyCam and Mic’d up players. This time around will they succeed in creating another He Hate Me in this social media age or will they burn out again in historic fashion?

What was the XFL…

In 2000, Vince McMahon the owner of the WWF proclaimed that “if the NFL stood for the No-Fun-League, the XFL stands for the Xtra-Fun-League” when he announced the XFL.

The league would be a two-year venture between WWFE and NBC. The two would split the start up cost, 50/50, of about $50 million. This move gained a lot of media attention, for better or worse.

The league (the X didn’t stand for anything) was not in fact a league, at least not in the traditional sense; where a group of individual owners and their respective franchises form a league. The XFL was a single entity; all eight teams were owned by McMahon and operated under the XFL.

XFL players were paid differently than any other league. Quarterbacks were paid the most $5,000 per week, $50k per season. Kickers were paid the least, $3,500 per week, while all other players made $4,500 per week. There were one or two instances of players taking advantage of this system, like a punter and/or wide receiver being listed as a backup quarterback on the depth chart. The XFL would give the winning team a $2,500 bonus per game, which resulted in $3.8 million paid to players in bonuses for the regular season. $7,500 was given for playoff wins, which resulted in $570,000 in bonuses to the teams who play in the championship game. The team who won the championship would win $1 million which is close to $25,000 per player.

McMahon wanted the XFL to be more exciting, entertaining and aggressive than the NFL. Vince claimed there would be less penalties and flags.

McMahon chose to start the league immediately after the Superbowl and to air on Saturday nights; to differentiate itself from and not compete with, the NFL.

The XFL did not have a coin toss; the XFL had an opening scramble “to compete for the right to choose who possess the ball at the start of the game” and also overtime if necessary. Two players from each team would line up 20 yards from the ball which was placed at the 50 yard line, at the whistle the players would run for the ball, the player who came up with the ball had “won” an equivalent to a coin toss (this did not last because it resulted in season ending injuries).

The XFL also had microphones on twenty-plus players a game, cameras in the locker room to add to the drama, along with a sky-cam on the field. The XFL cheerleaders also gained much media criticism, often being compared to and called strippers. The XFL “drafted” its players from the NFL, NFL Europe, the Canadian Football League, and Arena Football League, as well as tryouts to fill roster spots.

McMahon also had a problem with not letting the XFL exist on its own, wrestling personalities Jerry “The King” Lawler and (Governor) Jesse “The Body” Ventura would call games. WWF wrestlers, such as The Rock would cameo (in full gimmick) cutting promos. Perhaps the most memorable gimmick of the XFL was the names on the back of the jerseys. Vince McMahon encouraged the players to put nicknames on their jerseys. The most popular example of this was Las Vegas Outlaw running-back Rod Smart, or as the back of his jersey read “He Hate Me”.

The XFL debuted on February 3rd, 2001. The opening night was a double-header, the New York/New Jersey Hitmen playing the Las Vegas Outlaws and the Chicago Enforcers going up against the Orlando Rage. The opening night did better than expected and drew a 9.5 television rating; an estimated 14 million people watch the games. Tom Veit, Vice President and General Manager of the Orlando Rage, called the first XFL game in the Citrus Bowl “unbelievable.”Even though they only sold 36,000 tickets, in a stadium that holds nearly double that, the fans were lively, loud and they ran out of beer. They sold more beer on the opening night of the XFL than any event in the history of the Citrus Bowl, “we set the beer record. We’re pretty proud of that” said Veit.

The peak of the XFL was most likely the opening night; in four weeks of its debut ratings dropped 71%. NBC told their advertisers that XFL games would draw a consistent 4.5 television rating. The reality was after the strong debut, the ratings started free falling, 5.1, 3.8, 2.9 and then a 2.7.

The XFL and NBC tried gimmicks like promoting “special access” to the cheerleaders’ locker room, only to let viewers down with some disappointing, pro-wrestling-promo inspired dream sequence starring Rodney Dangerfield. The all time low was literally when the Las Vegas/Birmingham game drew a 1.6; the lowest rating for any prime-time program on any of the four major networks. A record previously held by TimeCop, which drew a 1.7 on July 4th 1998. For reference, even Alice in Wonderland did a 1.8 on NBC on Christmas Eve.

NBC started providing extra/free ad space to the advertisers who were paying $140K for 30-second ads, the same advertisers who were promised 4.5 ratings. After the XFL broke such an embarrassing record, NBC wanted out of the deal. According to Mike Keller, the XFL’s Vice President of Football Operations, after NBC wanted to pull out, UPN and TNN went to Vince McMahon wanting to stay with (The XFL) but wanted to renegotiate their television contracts with WWF to do so. According to Keller, McMahon was insulted and said “you can take it and shove it. I’m not going to let anything affect my core business,” which was without a doubt the WWF.

Keller claims it wasn’t the poor ratings, the attendance or the play on the field, but the political moves behind the scenes that ended the XFL.

After one season, the XFL folded.

The Los Angeles Xtreme defeated the San Francisco Demons 38-6 in the “Million Dollar Game” the players dubbed it “the big game at the end” Forbes referred to the championship game as a series finale. Regardless of its title, the final XFL game drew a rating of 2.1.

Ironically, the XFL – a league that prided itself on being tougher – going as far as to eliminate the PAT; had a championship MVP who was a kicker, Jose Cortez.

Tommy Maddox, the quarterback for the XFL champions, won the regular season MVP. The XFL had numerous players who would go on and play in the NFL including He Hate Me (Rod Smart) and Tommy Maddox. Maddox went on to have a successful NFL career, starting for the Pittsburg Steelers, leading them to playoffs and winning the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2002.

NBC and WWFE lost about $35 million each on the deal.

The XFL, tried to include elements of reality TV both on and off the field. The idea Vince McMahon had to put microphones on players and cameras in the locker rooms is not too far from the Hard Knock reality TV series. Even the XFL’s sky-cam has been used every Sunday on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.

XFL 2020

In 2017, ESPN released the 30-for-30 documentary This Was the XFL where McMahon openly spoke about reviving the league, noting that there would be changes needed in order to make the new XFL viable in the modern era compared to 2001.

The director of This Was the XFL Charlie Ebersol, would go on to create the Alliance of American Football (AAF) in March 2018. Ebersol hoped to beat the revived XFL to play, he was successful at that. However, while the league was able to launch more than a year before the XFL 2020, the AAF went bankrupt and folded before the inaugural season finished. At least the XFL (2001) played an entire season.

On December 15, 2017, Bleacher Report columnist Brad Shepard reported that McMahon was seriously considering a revival of the XFL. An announcement was expected on January 25, 2018.

In a statement to Deadspin, WWE did not confirm or deny the rumors, but did state that McMahon was establishing a new company known as Alpha Entertainment, which would “explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football.” On December 21, 2017, WWE issued a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, stating that McMahon had sold $100 million worth of his personal WWE stock to fund Alpha Entertainment. Alpha Entertainment was established in order to keep the league’s management and operations separate from that of WWE. It is rumored that McMahon is prepared to invest as much as $500 million, five times as much as his investment in the XFL back in 2001. He liquidated an additional $270 million in WWE stock, representing a 4% stake in WWE, in March 2019 to provide additional funding for the league.

On the expected date of the announcement, Alpha Entertainment announced a new incarnation of the XFL, which would begin with a 10-week inaugural season beginning in January or February 2020.

In a press conference, McMahon stated that the new XFL would be dissimilar to the previous incarnation, stating that “there’s only so many things that have ‘FL’ on the end of them and those are already taken. But we aren’t going to have much of what the original XFL had.”

McMahon stated that the league would feature eight teams as a single entity owned by Alpha, just like the previous XFL which was also a single-entity league. He also noted that by announcing it two years in advance, unlike the original XFL which was only announced one year in advance, there would be more time to prepare the league in order to deliver a more desirable product.

During the initial press conference, McMahon said The XFL will discourage political gestures by players during games such as, for example, taking a knee in protest. McMahon also originally planned to forbid any player with a criminal record from participating ( XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck later walked back the latter decision, noting that the policy had not yet been finalized and stated in April 2019 that it would allow its teams to sign Johnny Manziel, who was convicted of domestic violence in 2016.) Felony convictions will still be a disqualification, McMahon justified his intentions by stating that the XFL would be “evaluating a player based on many things, including the quality of human being they are“, and that “people don’t want social and political issues coming into play when they are trying to be entertained“. Vince suggested that players who wish to express political opinions should do so on their personal time.

On June 5, 2018, Oliver Luck was named the league’s commissioner and chief executive officer. Luck left his previous positions with the NCAA to take over the operations of the XFL. Doug Whaley, former general manager of the Buffalo Bills, was hired as the league’s senior vice president of football operations on November 8, 2018. On January 22, 2019 Jeffrey Pollack was named as the President & Chief Operating Officer, coming from his previous role as the Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer for the Los Angeles Chargers.

Commissioner Luck stated in October 2018 that the ban on protesting during the national anthem will be written into player contracts as a condition of employment, and that that stipulation was McMahon’s idea; Luck agreed that the league aimed to be as non-political as possible. However as of this writing, it is rumored that players will not be barred from using cannabis or be tested for the drug.

McMahon did not initially reveal any specific details on rule changes that the new XFL would feature, but stated that he aimed to reduce the length of games to 2 hours to 2.5 hours. This would be in contrast to the current standard of the NFL which generally runs slightly over three hours.

Later when announcing new changes to overtime rules, it was implied that television broadcasts would have 3 hour time-slots, into which the entire game and overtime would fit. Test games resulted in an average game time of 2 hours, 40 minutes, with a comparable number of plays as an NFL game.

McMahon denied that the timing of the announcement was in response with a ratings downturn that was being experienced by the NFL. He explained that “what has happened there is their business, and I’m not going to knock those guys, but I am going to learn from their mistakes as anyone would if they were tasked with re-imagining a new football league.”

Luck announced the eight host cities and stadiums for the first franchises on December 5, 2018, and also announced the starting date of February 8, 2020; the weekend after Super Bowl LIV.

The XFL 2020’s first head coach and general manager, Dallas’ Bob Stoops, was announced February 7, 2019, with the coaches for Seattle-Jim Zorn, Washington-Pep Hamilton, and Tampa Bay -Marc Trestman following later in the month. The last of the inaugural head coaches, Houston’s June Jones, was hired May 13 and unveiled May 20.New York will be coached by Kevin Gilbride, a longtime offensive coordinator in the NFL, most recently a ten-season stint with the New York Football Giants. Gilbride came out of a six-year retirement to join the XFL, his hiring was announced April 16, 2019

The league chose to focus on placing teams in large media markets, selecting five of the top seven largest media markets in the United States; the smallest market being St. Louis. This was seen as a stark contrast to the other spring football league, the AAF, who primarily chose markets without NFL teams. Which was considered a decision to avoid competing with existing fan bases.

Three of the markets chosen by the AAF, Birmingham, Memphis, and Salt Lake, the first two of which had teams in the old XFL, had populations less than half that of St. Louis. The only XFL market which does not host an NFL team is St. Louis, which in 2015 saw the Rams return to LA.

The XFL plans on finding all the teams their QB prior to the planned XFL Draft which is expected in October 2019. The league signed its first player, quarterback Landry Jones, on August 15, 2019. Most expect Jones to reunite with his former head coach in Dallas.

The XFL revealed the eight team names and logos on August 21, 2019. None of the team identities from the previous incarnation were revived. The eight teams will be; The Washington Defenders, St. Louis BattleHawks, Tampa Bay Vipers, New York Guardians, Seattle Dragons, Los Angeles Wildcats, Houston Roughnecks and Dallas Renegades.

The XFL is planned to have a 10 week regular season, with each team hosting five home games, and no bye week. The regular season will be followed by a two week post-season, featuring the top two teams in each division competing in a single elimination bracket.

The league will likely be split into two conferences of four teams. Each team will play all three teams in their conference twice, once each of home and road. Each team would then play the remaining teams in the league once; the same model used by the original XFL and the AAF.

Four games will be played per-week during the regular season, consisting mainly of afternoon and prime time doubleheaders played on Saturdays and possibly Sundays. One game per-week in the final two weeks of the regular season is tentatively scheduled to be played on Thursday night instead of Saturday. The first regular season games are planned for February 8, 2020, the weekend after Super Bowl LIV.

The playoffs are, for the time being, slated to feature the same crossover approach used by the 2001 XFL, with each division’s regular-season winner facing the other conference’s runner-up. The site of the 2020 XFL Championship Game, which will be played April 26, has not been announced yet.

Luck has denied any plans to move the schedule to the fall and does not intend to either compete with the NFL in the fall, as the USFL attempted to do and subsequently folded, nor do they plan to attempt to fill any void that a potential lockout might cause in 2021.

Players will be compensated differently in the new XFL than in the previous incarnation. The XFL will use a tiered contract system for signing players.

Tier 1: $25,000 to $60,000 per game, so 1 franchise player designation

Tier 2: $15,000 to $17,500 per game: 3 slots per team

Tier 3: $6,000 to $10,000 per game: 23 slots per team

Tier 4: $5,000 to $6,000 per game: 18 slots per team

Currently the XFL plans for the league to offer contracts between one and three years in length. Signing for a longer term would make the player eligible for a loyalty bonus above and beyond their tiered salary. In return, the player would not be allowed to play in any other league during the spring, summer or autumn months, and the contract is not guaranteed. This is in contrast to the original XFL, where numerous players joined the Arena Football League and CFL teams immediately after the end of the season. On a few occasions, particularly the kickers and punters, played in the XFL to supplement their own salary during the CFL’s off-season.

This tiered system is in contrast to the standard form contract used by the AAF, which paid all players the same amount. The XFL chose a more flexible salary structure so as not to overpay for the lower ends of the roster and to be more competitive for better starting quarterbacks, as well as incentives for all players. The better you play, the more you make, just like the original XFL.

The league has suggested that players will earn bonuses for each game they win, ensuring each team continues to stay competitive and players have a significant stake in the outcome of each game.This was also a feature of the XFL in 2001.

The overall salary cap will be approximately $4,000,000 per team.

Head coaches will be eligible for up to a $500,000 salary and each team having a football operations staff of 25 people. The XFL will not employ separate general managers for each team; instead, each team’s head coach doubles as his team’s respective general manager. Each team is assigned a team president.

The XFL explicitly wants to avoid any minor league developmental partnership with the NFL or any other league, so as not to lose control of its personnel decisions.

45 players will be signed to each team’s roster, up from 38 in the 2001 league.

In contrast to the original XFL, players’ health insurance will be covered by the league.

League officials anticipate the players will not have formed a labor union, by the time play commences, thus league policies will not be subject to collective bargaining, which could help prevent work stoppage like a lockout or strike.

Luck suggested that the XFL will not have the same eligibility requirements for player as the NFL.

Currently, the NFL requires all players to be at least three years removed from high school to be eligible for a team’s roster. Almost all prospects then participate in NCAA football for the 3 year waiting period. This eligibility requirement is due to an agreement between the NCAA and the NFL, in exchange for not signing young players who would ordinarily play in the NCAA. Subsequently, the NFL is allowed nearly unlimited access to scout and recruit college players.

With the XFL not using the same set of requirements for players, there is the possibility the league will sign players who are less than 3 years out of high school. The XFL has also not ruled out signing players who play college football in 2019, something the NFL has not done since 1925. Luck said this will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

However, the league’s primary target for players will be veteran backups, such as the kind Luck developed in his time in NFL Europe. He cited Kurt Warner, Brad Johnson and Jake Delhomme as examples who may not be getting the repetitions needed to develop properly on NFL scout teams and practice squads.

Due to concerns regarding the budget and an active unwillingness to antagonize the NFL (like Vince had in 2001) the XFL does not intend to get into bidding wars for marquee players.

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