THE XFL vs THE NFL
The year was 2001….
Alicia Keys showed off her incredible
vocal range and swept the 44th Grammy Awards with “Fallin'” as Song of the Year.
Janet Jackson back in 2001
when she released her chart-topping single “All for You.”
November of 2001 marked the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
September 11, – 2,977 victims are killed
in the September 11 attacks at
the World Trade Center in New
York City, New York, The
Pentagon in Arlington
County, Virginia, and in rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania after American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 are hijacked and crash into the
World Trade Center's Twin Towers
And the XFL was born - The XFL was a
professional American football league
that played its only season in 2001. As originally conceived, the XFL was
operated as a joint venture between the World Wrestling
Federation (now
known as WWE) and NBC. The XFL was conceived as an outdoor football league
that would take place during the NFL off-season.
Now it’s slightly unfair to compare The National Football
League (NFL) to the Xtreme Football League (XFL). The NFL has been around for
97 years while the XFL has been around for 1? Now they will commence in 2020.
I think a “reboot” of the XFL is a great idea. Why you ask? I
think the NFL is becoming a bit complacent. A bit egotistical with their loyal
fans and sponsors. With all the ridiculous rule changes. You don’t know what a
catch anymore everything is pass interference. The beloved kickoff used to be
so exciting with Devin Hester and others. But nooo they had to change the
rules. So much so that people started to call it the “No Fun League.” Only last
year 2017 they reversed the celebrations in the end zone. Be at its more “kid
friendly” which is okay.
Remember when the XFL came out? The first few games were good. To be honest,
I had my doubts but it was like an American CFL. With a few names we remembered
in the NFL like former NFL bust Tommy Maddux etc. Who by the way went on to
star for the Pittsburg Steelers a few years later. To me the XFL was a great
idea when the NFL was in its offseason because once the Super Bowl was over I
was like ah man it’s going to be a long offseason. Watching the NFL network for
snippets of news etc wasn’t enough. Enter the XFL.
**The XFL's opening game took place on
February 3, 2001, one year after the league was announced, less than one week
following the NFL's Super Bowl. The first game was between the New York/New
Jersey Hitmen and the Las Vegas
Outlaws at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.**
The opening night drew a 9.5 Nielsen rating
In 2001 the
XFL The WWF and NBC each lost a reported $35 million, only
recuperating 30% of their initial $100 million investment. On
April 21, 2001, the season concluded as the Los Angeles Xtreme defeated the San Francisco Demons 38–6 in the XFL Championship Game
(which was originally given the moniker "The Big Game at the End of the
Season", but was later dubbed the Million Dollar Game, after the amount of money awarded to
the winning team).
For an in-depth look at what really happened to the XFL I
suggest you watch - In 2017, ESPN broadcast a documentary surrounding the league, This Was the XFL,
as part of its anthology series 30 for 30.
Now fast forward to 2018.
The XFL is back, set to launch in 2020.
Why I think it might work this time.
The NFL Schedule. Football is over with right after the Super
Bowl sometime in the first week in February. After that comes the long boring
winter months. Sorry NBA I really don’t’ care about you anymore.
There’s a still a
viable market for football. Here’s what Vince McMahon’s proposing. Here’s a
list and I quote.
**** No Gimmicks and the WWE will not interfere****
- 8 teams to start
- 40 man rosters
- 10 game season beginning in January*
- Two –hour game –time goal
- Any player with a criminal record precluded from playing*
- Payers won’t receive forum to take personal stance on social issues
on playing field*
I put a “star” on the topics
I’d like to touch.
10 game season beginning in
January. That’s perfect in regards we’re probably looking at professional
football all year round. Once again no disrespect to the CFL. Why? because the CFL starts in June.
I have a bit of a discrepancy
with that “any player with a criminal record precluded from playing.” The NFL
doesn’t discriminate in that aspect. We are human and we’ve all made mistakes I
will side with the NFL on this one. Some of the best players in the NFL have made mistakes and were given a SECOND
CHANCE. Besides some of you, if want to play devils advocate, the most talented
players have screwed up for some reason or have a chip on their shoulders. This
rule is stupid and it might cost the XFL because you’re going to be ruling out
some of the best players on earth.
Now here comes the humdinger.
“Players won’t receive forum to take personal stance on social issues on
playing field.”
Let me share some stats with
you.
It may appear that the NFL
ratings have been steadily declining because of the national anthem protests.
That’s what it looks like to me. However here’s what “they” say.
“The NFL ratings decline
has absolutely
nothing to do with protests or presidential tweets,” says Caristi, a member of the
university’s Digital Policy
Institute. “NFL ratings are
lower for the same reason most other television ratings are down.”
Dilution of the product, or
too many football games, is the first major problem,
"Ratings have declined
because there are so many more viewing choices. The audience is fragmented more
than it’s ever been. Streaming media makes it possible to watch virtually
anything.”
Interesting theory’s I must
say as to why ratings are down. Ratings
was at an all time high and the NFL was dominating all major leagues sports
from 2012- 2015. Didn’t we have major technology back then as well? That was
only 2.5 years ago. All this was before the protests and using the NFL as a
platform for politics etc. Hey you want
to watch politics go to CNN. I will say this though isn’t it odd
Donald Trump‘s bashing of the NFL then POOF all of a sudden the XFL is back…
Hmmm. Back in the 90’s early 00’s Trump was denied purchase of an NFL Team. He
wanted to purchase the Buffalo Bills. Lets not
forget the USFL as well. The timing of all this is a bit suspicious.
Anyways I’ll wrap up with
this I think the XFL coming back is a great idea and who knows maybe this time
it’ll stick around. I love the NFL been a fan for about 20 years but I think
they need a bit of “competition” that’s
not really competition. We need something else to tune into for a bit. Let the
NFL remember what made them great in the first place. I believe the XFL is the
league to do that.
VS
Side Note - After the
XFL's failure, the sky cam was adopted by the NFL's broadcasters; the device has subsequently come into
use on all major networks. NBC in particular switched back to the XFL camera
angles in 2017, when traditional
cameras were too far away to cut through thick fog and smoke on some of
the Sunday Night Football games that year; response was so
positive that the network opted to use one of its Thursday Night
Football games to experiment with intentionally broadcasting most of
the game through that angle.
Sources I’d like to thank.
