The latest news about the XFL
A new report claims to have uncovered the second host city for the rebooted XFL. According to reporter Brad Shephard, Seattle will join St. Louis as one of the eight host cities for the initial season.
The revived XFL will launch its inaugural season in 2020, with an announcement of all eight teams coming on December 5th.
https://twitter.com/TheBradShepard/status/1068307097023119360
Source: 411Mania
The XFL just announced on Twitter that they will unveil the eight cities and the venues they will play in for thei inaugural season in 2020.
Tuesday evening, KSDK Channel 5 reported that the XFL will bring a team to St. Louis as part of its revival in 2020. It will be one of eight cities around the nation that will receive teams. The other seven are expected to be announced sometime next week.
KSDK Channel 5 has confirmed the new St. Louis XFL team will play 10 games in its inaugural 2020 season. Five of those will be played at the Dome at America’s Center.
With the Rams arguably the best team in the NFL just two years removed from having ‘St. Louis’ in front of their name, the hurt in the hearts of football fans in eastern Missouri has presumably traveled even deeper. This may help ease some of the pain.
The Rams’ last game at the then-Edward Jones Dome was a 31-23 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Dec. 17, 2015.
The eight-team XFL league, owned by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment, will feature a 10-game schedule. The first version on McMahon’s XFL in 2001 lasted just one season.
McMahon announced plans for the new XFL in January. The league introduced former NFL quarterback Oliver Luck as commissioner and CEO in June. The father of Indianapolis Colts QB Andrew Luck, Oliver played for the Houston Oilers from 1982-86 and has held a variety of positions in sports, including athletics director at West Virginia University, his alma mater, an executive with the NCAA and president and general manager of Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo.
On Nov. 8, Doug Whaley, who worked from 2013-2017 as GM of the Buffalo Bills, was hired by the XFL to serve as senior vice president of football operations.
Vince McMahon’s announcement that the XFL will be back in 2020 piqued the curiosity of many people. It came at a perfect time because there was fresh interest in the subject matter thanks to ESPN’s 30 For 30 documentary on the shelved football league. Although the XFL only lasted a season and drew worse ratings each week some people held a fondness for the nostalgia.
Revisiting an idea like the XFL is an expensive venture to pursue which is why Vince McMahon sold $100 million worth of WWE stock in December 2017 to fund the league. This might have been a good start but ESPN reports Vince McMahon informed insiders he actually expects to spend close to a $500 million price tag in the first three years on the revamped football league.
Oliver Luck was announced as the XFL’s CEO and he will officially move into his offices across from WWE’s Titan Towers on Monday. The league still hasn’t picked any cities to play in but they’re already selling merchandise from the XFL online store. This kind of early exposure could help immensely and determine interest, but there is a lot more work to do and money to be spent.
“People were focused on the $100 million, but the truth is that doesn’t even get us to the 20-yard line,” Oliver Luck said while making a football analogy to compare the funds required to restart the XFL.
Oliver Luck revealed player salaries would average around $75,000. Players who are in more demand stand to make more than the average, but players’ and coaches’ salaries stand to be the biggest cost for the league. The $75,000 average is well above the last incarnation of the XFL where players normally made around $45,000, but it’s still far from NFL paydays.
Another huge expense for the XFL will be the insurance needed in order to operate. They must protect the league’s assets and a proper insurance plan is vital to any plan of this scope and content especially with this kind of injury risk.
“I’ve been at all levels of football, and the importance of a broad-based insurance program cannot be understated,” Luck continued as he discussed another huge cost for the XFL. “There are very few participants who underwrite for this market anymore and it is obviously costly.”
Source: WrestlingINC
The XFL announced on Tuesday that former NFL quarterback and NCAA executive Oliver Luck will be the commissioner and CEO of the football league when it relaunches in 2020.
https://twitter.com/xfl2020/status/1003994263388975105
Luck is the father of current Indianapolis Colts NFL quarterback Andrew Luck and had previously been the president of the NFL Europe developmental league, as well as part of a group that kickstarted the Houston Texans NFL team when it launched in 2002.
ESPN has coverage of the announcement, with the following comments by Luck and XFL founder Vince McMahon about the move.
Luck: “The XFL will be a labor of love as I get to combine my experiences as a player and executive. I’m thrilled to have this unique opportunity to reimagine the game that has been a constant in my life for 40 years.”
McMahon: “Oliver and I share the same vision and passion for reimagining the game of football, his experience as both an athlete and executive will ensure the long-term success of the XFL.”
It may be two years away from returning, but XFL is already back in the merch game … as the company opened a new online store this week selling everything from shirts to phone cases.
Some of the items available on XFL Shop:
In an effort to promote the store, the company is selecting a random Twitter follower who retweets the announcement to receive a surprise pack of merchandise.
Browse the full website to check out their selection.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
The official Twitter account for the reboot of the XFL football league financed by WWE chairman Vince McMahon asked for fan feedback on Thursday about what eight cities should have team and why for the inaugural season of the league that is tentatively scheduled to take place in 2020.
Despite competition from another upstart football league, a WWE executive has reached out to officials in Orlando hoping to put an XFL team in their city.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, WWE’s senior vice president of special events John Saboor contacted Orlando’s executive director of venues about the prospect of putting a team in Camping World Stadium.
It’s worth noting that Vince McMahon initially claimed WWE and XFL would be separate entities, but clearly that’s not the case if WWE employees are working on the new league.
The article also mentions that the XFL’s attempt might be difficult to pull off though, because Charlie Ebersol’s Alliance of American football — which kicks off one year before the XFL does — has already announced that they will have a team in Orlando.
WWE is confident, however, that both league’s can co-exist there.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
On today’s WWE earnings call, WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon addressed the relaunch of the XFL. He once again noted that his near-$100 million stock sale will not be enough to fund the league, and that the venture will require more investment capital. He also reiterated that the league will not affect his role in WWE, and that there will be a separate management team for it.
Despite Vince’s comments, Dave Meltzer reported in The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the feeling is that Triple H will be given a lot more control in the company, simply because of the realistic demands in running both a pro wrestling company and a football league. Triple H has been putting his own team together, which includes Jeremy Borash, who left recently Impact Wrestling to come on board. Meltzer added that there have been others talked about recently to join his team to eventually fill key roles when he is in charge.
As noted, PWInsider reported this week that Vince recently stepped aside to put Triple H in charge of running 205 Live, which explains the different feel of the show the past couple of weeks. That change, however, was done more to reboot the brand as opposed to a workload issue with Vince. While the original Cruiserweight Classic concept, under Triple H, did very well on the WWE Network, 205 Live usually struggles to make the top 10 episodes of the week on the streaming service. Vince had been trying to make the show more character-driven, while Triple H is now bringing back some of the original aspects of the Cruiserweight Classic, including more of a focus on the in-ring work and the original presentation of the talent.
Source: WrestlingINC
Ed Boston Podcast Network presents The Wrestling News Blog Podcast!
Ed Boston and Vanessa Vasquez discuss Vince McMahon’s huge XFL announcement and give a preview of NXT Takeover Philidelphia and the WWE Royal Rumble.. Which will feature a Women’s Rumble match for the first time ever!!!
Wrestling News Blog 