Heres exactly what Meltzer said
"For those expecting an XFL monumental failure, the circumstances with crazy
numbers for sports properties change the game completely. Just for an example,
Combate Americas, an MMA group that most MMA fans don’t even follow, got more
than a 500 percent streaming per show increase by moving to DAZN and while they
aren’t getting anywhere close to what UFC and Bellator deals are from ESPN+ and
DAZN, it is a significant deal. ESPN+ is talking to PFL, which on paper looked
to be the biggest financial disaster in the world, and may still be even with
that deal but the point is content providers are looking for almost any MMA or
fighting sport right now. Terry Lefton of Sports Business Journal spoke to Mark
Lazarus, the chairman of NBC Broadcasting and Sports and he outright said they
would sign up either the AAFL (Charlie Ebersol’s new league which already has a
deal with CBS Sports Network and CBS) or the XFL, which by process of
elimination tells you they are interested in the XFL. “I suspect we will be in
business with one of them. We have windows on both cable and broadcast, and we
have interesting ties to both. He (Vince McMahon) has credibility in sports and
entertainment, and a lot of money. The other league has interesting technology
tied to it and they’ll be the first mover (AAFL starts this spring while
McMahon’s league is looking at starting in the Spring of 2020). There are issues
around each and they both have connections back to us. They’d both very much
like to have a second partner...If the football is real, it’s got a chance. We
have a football checklist and a deal checklist: risk versus reward
mid-term/long-term. Short-term is immaterial in the startup phase.” A key is
also with all these streaming platforms going after live sports and overpaying,
the idea of getting pro football, the most popular sport in the country, the
timing of starting up looks good. The thing is, there will come a time when
these overpaying deals (if they are) will come to roost, but I think that is
probably more than a year down the line, so Vince will start up within that
window. Again, long-term, they will have to get a following once the streaming
content prices make economic sense, but that could be a long time from now. But
the economics for the XFL are so completely different from 2001 it isn’t funny"
