The XFL was a colossal failure in 2001. You don’t have to take my word for it, Vince McMahon used those exact words to describe it after the fact. Both the WWE and NBC lost $35 million on the venture, so yeah, colossal failure from every angle.
But I believe this new XFL will be here for the long term. So why am I bullish on it in 2019? People love football.
Despite the bad press, crap officiating, and numerous scandals, the USA loves the game of football. I've long thought there was a space for a professional league that was between college and the NFL, a AAA level if you will. Vince McMahon has long agreed with me and the XFL satisfies that need. And for those of you thinking 'then why didn’t the AAF last a season?' simple, it was a poorly constructed league and severely underfunded from the jump. Meanwhile, Vince McMahon has invested $250 million to make sure there are no money issues for the first 2 seasons on the XFL.
While the financial part above is huge, the main reason I believe this league will last, it's a quality level of football with players who are playing because they love the game more than anything else on this earth. The league has a quality person in charge in Commissioner Oliver Luck and they have gone out of there way to find coaches with top tier resumes to come in and give it a go. They also have an amazing platform with ABC/ESPN/FOX televising games and doing a great job of it week 1. Ratings averaged 3 million with a peak of 4 million around 5p Saturday.
Agree or disagree with me? Leave a comment!
Now, I need to figure out which XFL squad I'm going with…hmmmm