All Things XFL: A new promotional video says XFL will relaunch in 2022

[Philo-Publius]

Update 10/1/20: A new promotional video dropped today. The XFL will kick off in 2022.



Update 8/22/20: Sale of XFL is final.



Update 8/3/20: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson teams with Redbird Capital Partners to purchase the XFL for $15 million (pending finalization of the sale on 8/21/10).

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...art-owner-dwayne-the-rock-johnson/5571640002/

Johnson and business partner Dany Garcia have teamed up with Gerry Cardinale and RedBird Capital Partners to purchase the league's parent company for roughly $15 million, the private investment firm announced in a news release Monday.

Redbird Capital Partners is an investment firm that currently supervises about $4 billion in investments.

https://www.redbirdcap.com/

Update 7/27/20: The XFL will have a new owner after auction on 8/3/20. There are 30 bidders rumored (that includes media organizations and sports leagues). The betting lines for the new XFL ownership:

https://sportsbetting.legal/news/xf...ntY5c6_qfL1x25Hq8HaqfpCHAOna1fx_4wPdWqlFO-Apo

• Disney +180
• NFL +250
• Vince McMahon +400
• Sinclair Broadcast Group +450
• Shane McMahon +550
• J-Lo/A-Rod +700
• Turner Sports +800
• CFL +1000
• AEW (Tony Khan) +1000
• Mark Cuban +1100
• The Rock +1200
• Michael Jordan +1500
• Eric Bischoff +1800
• Eddie Debartolo +2000
• The Fertitas +2500
• The Trump Family +5000
• Dan Snyder +10000

Opening kick off is 2/8/20 at 2PM ET on ABC.

Update 2/7/20: The XFL has released a league theme song and theme songs for each team.

XFL league theme song.

DC Defenders theme song.

Dallas Renegades theme song.

Houston Roughnecks theme song.

LA Wildcats theme song.

NY Guardians theme song.

St. Louis Battlehawks theme song.

Seattle Dragons theme song.

TB Vipers theme song.

Update 1/14/20: First XFL promotional commercial aired:

Update 1/7/20: XFL official rule changes have been announced.

https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/28438441/xfl-rule-changes-focus-faster-pace-more-excitement

• A kickoff designed to discourage touchbacks and increase the likelihood of a return: The ball will be kicked off from the 30-yard line, but the coverage and blocking teams will line up at the receiving team's 35- and 30-yard lines, respectively. Only the kicker and returner can move until the ball is caught, or three seconds after it hits the ground. A touchback will be spotted at the 35-yard line. Kicks out of bounds will go to the 45-yard line.
  
  
• Players can't leave the line of scrimmage on punts until after the kick. Any kicks that go into the end zone or out of bounds will be marked at the 35-yard line or wherever the ball went out of bounds, whichever is better for the receiving team. The idea is to discourage fair catches and "coffin corner" kicks, while providing more incentive to go for it on fourth down.
  
  
• Three options after scoring a touchdown: a 1-point play from the 2-yard line, a 2-point play from the 3-yard line or a 3-point play from the 10-yard line. There is no option to kick an extra point.
  
  
• A shootout-style overtime: Each team will get five single-play possessions from the 5-yard line. If the game is still tied at that point, the rotating possessions will continue until there is a winner. The XFL hopes that overtimes will be rare, in part because of the multiple options for points after touchdowns.
  
  
• A rule that allows two forward passes on one play, providing the first doesn't go past the line of scrimmage. The purpose is to encourage creative trick plays without the risk of losing possession of a lateral or backward pass, which is a live ball if it hits the ground.
  
  
• A requirement for only one foot to be in bounds for possession. XFL director of football operations Sam Schwartzstein said the change is easier to officiate quickly. It also is better for player safety, Schwartzstein said, because players take more unbraced falls while trying to place both feet in bounds.
  
  
• A total of nine officials on the field, one of whom will be dedicated solely to spotting the ball to minimize downtime between plays. XFL head of officiating Dean Blandino said most XFL officials have experience at the Division I college level. Blandino, the former NFL officiating chief, has been consulting with the XFL for more than a year. He performed a similar function for the Alliance of American Football (AAF) last spring.
  
  
• A video official who can intervene on significant non-reviewable plays when involving player safety, or on any calls inside of five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. There will also be booth-initiated reviews of traditionally reviewable plays using Hawk-Eye technology that ingests video directly from the broadcast truck.
  
  
• Allowing offensive linemen to be up to 2 yards downfield when a pass is thrown, with the hope of minimizing flags on run-pass option plays.
  
  
• A series of tweaks that the XFL hopes will cap game times at 2 hours, 45 minutes. (NFL games typically run about 3:06.) The tweaks include a running game clock that won't stop after incomplete passes or when players go out of bounds, except inside of two minutes in each half. Additionally, there will be a 10-minute halftime, two timeouts per team per half and no coin tosses. The home team will always make the choice to kick, receive or defer to start the game. The visitors will make that choice to start overtime.

Point after touchdown rule explained.
Overtime rules explained.
Double forward pass (behind the line of scrimmage only) rule explained.
Punting rules explained.
Kickoff rules explained.

EDIT 12/6/2018: The XFL has officially announced all locations for it's 8 teams.

Season tickets and new merchandise available on the main website: https://www.xfl.com/


EDIT: Vince has made it official that the XFL will return in 2020

Here is the complete press conference.

He had better be prepared to sink tons of money into a losing business model for many years...

http://www.businessinsider.com/vince-mcmahon-revive-xfl-2017-12

 

[Pliny Pete]

I know a good place he can put a team

 

[Philo-Publius]

I know a good place he can put a team

Oakland? St. Louis? San Diego? Or, are you being facetious?

 

[Official]

He shart me

 

[MadSquabbles500]

Before he even does it, he needs to find other investors who will own their own teams. The NFL, and most other pro leagues including Euro domestic soccer leagues have individual owners, owning their own teams. If no one else wants to own and start their own team, other then the Vinny Mac Daddy, then it is a sign that this is a stupid idea.

Maybe he can approach, Hogan, Eric Bischoff, The Rock, The Hart Family, and other former wrestlers who he made rich and see if they will join him. Or other fringe celebrities like Julian Assange, Porn Moguls, Harvey Weinstein, Dick Fuld, R Kelly, Kevin Spacey. Those guys probably dont have anything to do.

 

[Philo-Publius]

Before he even does it, he needs to find other investors who will own their own teams. The NFL, and most other pro leagues including Euro domestic soccer leagues have individual owners, owning their own teams. If no one else wants to own and start their own team, other then the Vinny Mac Daddy, then it is a sign that this is a stupid idea.

Maybe he can approach, Hogan, Eric Bischoff, The Rock, The Hart Family, and other former wrestlers who he made rich and see if they will join him. Or other fringe celebrities like Julian Assange, Porn Moguls, Harvey Weinstein, Dick Fuld, R Kelly, Kevin Spacey. Those guys probably dont have anything to do.

He owned all of the original 8 XFL teams. Those teams did not have individual owners. Who knows what Vince will try to do this time around? I agree that finding other owners to share in the risk will be better for him. Regardless, there is no question that a start up football league is not a promising business venture. It has failed so many times before.

 

[iwhoopedbatman]

If he wants to throw his money away, whatever. The only thing anyone remembers about the original XFL is 'He Hate Me.' We already have the Arena League and the CFL as minor leagues and college football remains king in the South. But it's his money.

 

[Gregolian]

If he wants to throw his money away, whatever. The only thing anyone remembers about the original XFL is 'He Hate Me.' We already have the Arena League and the CFL as minor leagues and college football remains king in the South. But it's his money.

If he were smart he'd approach Gooddell to turn the Vince ran league into something like what NFL Europe was but not in Europe.

 

[Cro Cop Is Back]

 

[iwhoopedbatman]

If he were smart he'd approach Gooddell to turn the Vince ran league into something like what NFL Europe was but not in Europe.

i doubt being an official minor league has any appeal to a guy like that. If it did, he'd probably be buying Arena league teams or something. My guess is he thinks enough fans are bitching about the 'pussification' of the sport that his crazy ideas for the XFL might find a market now. He's wrong, fans still want good football. Plus, other than the rules around QB's (which are ridiculous), the safety rules were put in place for legit reasons and haven't made football any less crazy in terms of putting their bodies on the line. They're just marginally more protected from taking certain types of head shots.

 

[Gregolian]

i doubt being an official minor league has any appeal to a guy like that. If it did, he'd probably be buying Arena league teams or something. My guess is he thinks enough fans are bitching about the 'pussification' of the sport that his crazy ideas for the XFL might find a market now. He's wrong, fans still want good football. Plus, other than the rules around QB's (which are ridiculous), the safety rules were put in place for legit reasons and haven't made football any less crazy in terms of putting their bodies on the line. They're just marginally more protected from taking certain types of head shots.

True.

 

[Official]

I want this XFL bad

 

[Philo-Publius]

i doubt being an official minor league has any appeal to a guy like that. If it did, he'd probably be buying Arena league teams or something. My guess is he thinks enough fans are bitching about the 'pussification' of the sport that his crazy ideas for the XFL might find a market now. He's wrong, fans still want good football. Plus, other than the rules around QB's (which are ridiculous), the safety rules were put in place for legit reasons and haven't made football any less crazy in terms of putting their bodies on the line. They're just marginally more protected from taking certain types of head shots.

Even if Vince shells out big bucks for name players like the USFL did, he has the notoriety of the NFL working against him. People have been rooting for NFL teams for so long (in some cases nearly 100 years) and have formed attachments to NFL brands over that time. He also has competition from other storied franchises from the MLB, NBA, NHL, and even NCAA (depending on what time of year the XFL season plays). It is a steep uphill battle.

 

[Graves The Elder]

money well spent.
this is why the guy is a financial juggernaut.

widespread smh dissatisfaction with the NFL.

opens the door for competition, on ANY level.

boom, profit

 

[Philo-Publius]

money well spent.
this is why the guy is a financial juggernaut.

widespread smh dissatisfaction with the NFL.

opens the door for competition, on ANY level.

boom, profit

This has been tried so many times before, and the result was almost always tens to hundreds of millions of dollars lost. The sports market in America has only become more and more saturated over the years, which makes it even harder for a start up league to make any kind of dent.

 

[Graves The Elder]

agreed. but dude's expectation must be for just short term.
lol at at a long term establishment of an alternate league.
he'll go for a few years, fold his tents and maybe walk away with millions..

or at least millions in tax write offs. very shrewd IMO.

 

[Philo-Publius]

agreed. but dude's expectation must be for just short term.
lol at at a long term establishment of an alternate league.
he'll go for a few years, fold his tents and maybe walk away with millions..

or at least millions in tax write offs. very shrewd IMO.

There is no chance he would walk away with millions after a few years. NBC and Vince McMahon split the difference of a $60 million loss in one season of the XFL back in 2001. More seasons = greater loss of money. His only hope at turning a profit would be to invest in the league for enough years to build a fan base. By that time, we are talking hundreds of millions of dollars down the drain. The USFL in the 1980's lasted 3 seasons and cleared over $200 million in loses.

He's definitely not doing it for money.

 

[Graves The Elder]

ok then, you have it all figured out.

as his financial advisor, how did you let him do this!!??

LOL

 

[Philo-Publius]

ok then, you have it all figured out.

as his financial advisor, how did you let him do this!!??

LOL

Hey, I am down to watch some XFL football at his expense. I enjoyed the XFL back in 2001. Looking forward to it.

 

[manlyseaeagle]

Wasn't he approached by a CFL team to buy the team but instead made an offer to buy the whole league.