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Post by britishbulldog on Apr 10, 2020 12:46:07 GMT -5
It could still easily return. The layoffs could be till this garbage is over just like other businesses are doing
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Post by Can you afford to pay me, Gah on Apr 10, 2020 12:47:06 GMT -5
This league is cursed, beyond cursed. This wasn't even a terrible attempt it looked like it was doing some innovative things and were putting on decent games with decent talent, in some cases drawing good crowds, but... they're cursed, the XFL is just outright cursed Vince probably took a huge financial loss here. And that might even explain why suddenly, at least the Revival have been let go immediately without an issue, this might have a huge domino effect because they already took a hit with Mania, this is just another big one after "Guaranteeing" everything was ok going into what 2022?? Yeah how things change... But yeah, stop trying to make this happen Vince... it's really gotten the fork stuck in it. This virus has HIT everyone one hard. Yes when you lose 80,000 paying fans for WM and no ticket sales for who knows for how long because events not being run. IT is a huge lost. The XFL having to cancel because of government regulations those tickets are being refunded. St. Louis alone was coming up on a 40,000 attendance game. Nobody could predicted this would happened. The ALL of sports have taken a big hurt. When you are starting out, yes it hurts even more.
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ayumidah
Wade Wilson
Don't bother pretending I seem fine, I like that I'm a mess
Posts: 27,049
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Post by ayumidah on Apr 10, 2020 13:02:49 GMT -5
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Post by Beets by Schrute on Apr 10, 2020 13:13:04 GMT -5
Dang! it was actually entertaining. Vince actually made it work this time.
Should at least try again down the line.
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Post by Mighty Attack Tribble on Apr 10, 2020 13:17:16 GMT -5
It could still easily return. The layoffs could be till this garbage is over just like other businesses are doing ESPN seem to think not.
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Post by Tenshigure on Apr 10, 2020 13:33:18 GMT -5
Just to reiterate from the other locked thread: most people laughing at this folding were likely not even following the league in the first place. The second iteration was a completely different beast, and felt like it learned from its past mistakes by putting on a seriously good product for the few weeks they had.
This end has nothing to do with the league itself; it has everything to do with losing the ability to regain its first-year expenses due to the pandemic. If it were any other time, they'd have very likely make it into a second season at minimum (whether it got beyond that is anyone's guess really).
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Post by Kevin Hamilton on Apr 10, 2020 13:41:41 GMT -5
Knew it as soon as it was canceled it was done. It's a shame for them as they couldn't possibly control this.
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Post by Cyno on Apr 10, 2020 13:43:23 GMT -5
It could still easily return. The layoffs could be till this garbage is over just like other businesses are doing "Suspending operations" is almost always sports corporate speak for "we're out of business." They're probably not coming back. Way too many lost expenses due to circumstances out of their control.
Kind of a shame, too. The actual play was subpar as it tends to be when you have this level of talent, but it had some interesting rules that I think are good ideas without being gimmicky. The general presentation of the product compared to the last version of the XFL was also leagues better. It actually felt like a real sports league instead of trying too hard to be WWF: Football Edition. Hope like the last incarnation of the XFL, the NFL takes some of their better innovations and incorporates them into their game.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2020 13:47:05 GMT -5
It could still easily return. The layoffs could be till this garbage is over just like other businesses are doing In theory, yes, but there is also the possibility the league could use this as an excuse to wash their hands off of the project. A lot of the players that made the league have since been signed by the NFL, and while there is the chance they could sign a few diamonds in the rough once more, one advantage the NFL has is the ability to have players that the average fan are able to recognize and buy merchandise off of. The XFL would have to expect the brand to be popular due to this reality since the best players are bound to be signed by NFL teams for their practice squads or the depth chart. Another problem was fan attendance and TV viewership. Although they had a far better TV deal than the AAF did (any television deal where you're on CBS Sports Network is a bad deal), and a strong start, the league dealt with a steady decline in both people in the stands and watching on television. The ideal markets (at least for recognition) in New York and Los Angeles were the league's worst markets, by far, while unsurprisingly, St. Louis led the league in attendance and support. Not to mention, each week, TV viewership dropped gradually with Week 5's ratings being around what would typically be the best for Major League Soccer or the WNBA (perennial also-rans in American sports), at around a 1.5 on the main channels and 0.8 for the secondary channels when we look at Nielsen ratings. While in 2020, those numbers are alright since what the average person has for entertainment is far larger in scope compared to 2001, where a 0.8 would be a death knell instantly, for the sake of investors in a multi-million dollar sports product that is once again trying to fight to survive in an industry littered with the corpses of those that have failed, they want security, not concern as to when growth will happen, or if it will happen. Patience isn't a virtue in venture capitalism. It sucks, honestly, cause while I came in as a cynic due to how I got burned by the AAF, I actually was very surprised by how fun the league presented itself. A league that provided wild and varying scoring opportunities and a frank presentation with how players and staff interacted with the media was a lot better than one that insulted your intelligence by trying to create pro wrestling storylines in the real world of gridiron football and spent 11 months hyping itself as being better than the NFL before realizing "Oh shit, we actually have to play football?!" In the end, though, the fact that the league that was created to rival this one outlasted this very one is surprising, especially given how that story features a con artist who got arrested with funny money being the original person who was supposed to finance the whole operation.
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bob
Salacious Crumb
The "other" Bob. FOC COURSE!
started the Madness Wars, Proudly the #1 Nana Hater on FAN
Posts: 78,377
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Post by bob on Apr 10, 2020 13:54:50 GMT -5
I feel bad for Vince. He learned his lesson from the first failure and surrounded himself by football people who knew their shit.
This time around it was fun and enjoyable. Massive financial hit for Vince.
I'm hoping it'll come back. Maybe when a vaccine for coronavirus is distributed and people will feel safe going outside long enough to watch a football game in a stadium.
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Post by Mighty Attack Tribble on Apr 10, 2020 14:17:21 GMT -5
I feel bad for Vince. He learned his lesson from the first failure and surrounded himself by football people who knew their shit. That may be the biggest shock of the entire thing. Vince actually learning something, realising he doesn't know best, and putting it into practice? You don't see that more than once a generation.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2020 14:21:08 GMT -5
Just to reiterate from the other locked thread: most people laughing at this folding were likely not even following the league in the first place. The second iteration was a completely different beast, and felt like it learned from its past mistakes by putting on a seriously good product for the few weeks they had. This end has nothing to do with the league itself; it has everything to do with losing the ability to regain its first-year expenses due to the pandemic. If it were any other time, they'd have very likely make it into a second season at minimum (whether it got beyond that is anyone's guess really). If it had gone a second year, ideally LA and New York would have to had relocated to different markets to recoup losses. It would have hurt in the ratings department, but the live gate was pretty bad in those two areas, especially in New York's case. Like, it was Salt Lake bad in the AAF.
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Post by Cyno on Apr 10, 2020 14:21:47 GMT -5
Yeah, didn't Vince have like, little direct involvement with the XFL besides being the money and using his connections to get media partners secured? IIRC Oliver Luck was the main guy in charge of day-to-day operations.
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Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Apr 10, 2020 14:35:43 GMT -5
This will sound really weird but I am super bummed out about this. The league was super fun and showed how much better the NFL could be. I never thought I'd say this but I am really going to miss the XFL (assuming it doesn't come back).
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Apr 10, 2020 14:47:05 GMT -5
I feel for the employees, but not Vince, any good will I had evaporated when he launched using a vow to punish players for expressing opinions he disagrees with politically as a selling point. He said he was willing to spend hundreds of millions on making a go of it... Seems not.
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Post by häšhtå.gdālėÿ on Apr 10, 2020 14:51:31 GMT -5
I’ll just repeat what I said in the WWE Section Thread; — I know we like to laugh at the crazy bastard, but props to Vince for trying again and actually succeeding at making something that everyone was 100% sure would be a joke. — Shame it had to end like this.
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Post by Confused Mark Wahlberg on Apr 10, 2020 15:18:18 GMT -5
Can spring football as a concept ever even work?
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2020 15:45:52 GMT -5
Just to reiterate from the other locked thread: most people laughing at this folding were likely not even following the league in the first place. The second iteration was a completely different beast, and felt like it learned from its past mistakes by putting on a seriously good product for the few weeks they had. This end has nothing to do with the league itself; it has everything to do with losing the ability to regain its first-year expenses due to the pandemic. If it were any other time, they'd have very likely make it into a second season at minimum (whether it got beyond that is anyone's guess really). Because of XFL 2.0 I actually started to somewhat get interested in american football. It was nice to finally find bunch of sports to discuss with my bro as he has followed NFL even though it's pretty small scene in my country. I wanted it to keep going so the wrestling overlord could be proud of his dream. > I've no idea how carny some smaller companies in this kind of sport are, there must be many... was kinda cool that someone with resources tried it. But there's just no possibility for me not to start laughing at XFL 2.0 ending this soon and not find it funny! It's the ultimate joke, as this company keeps on dying one way or another in quick fashion. - I myself can't wait for 3.0 in 2050, there's gonna be bunch of kickstarters to raise money for it, like for a great b-level movie or game with cult following!
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Apr 10, 2020 15:52:20 GMT -5
A shame, they were making it work and at least even in the short term it was a viable alternative to the NFL and can help open the door for some guys to go back
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Zone Was Wrong
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Currently living off the high that AEW brings every Wednesday and Friday
Posts: 16,159
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Post by Zone Was Wrong on Apr 10, 2020 16:09:28 GMT -5
SIGH Football just isn't meant to be in STL any more Seriously though, XFL 2.0 was actually really entertaining and reminded me of why I enjoyed football. Damn shame. For once STL was becoming the golden goose of a league with attendance about to reach 40k
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