Tag: XFL

The latest news about the XFL

Vince McMahon Announces XFL Is Returning In 2020

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Yesterday afternoon Vince McMahon announced that the XFL will return in 2020.

McMahon held an online press conference yesterday afternoon which kicked off with a commercial for the XFL revival that stressed the games will be quicker, simpler, safer and have reformed rules.

Vince kicked off his portion of the presser saying the XFL plans to give football back to the fans by listening to those who love the game over the next two years.

“We will present a shorter, faster-paced, family-friendly and easier to understand game.” Vince explained, “Don’t get me wrong, it’s still football. But it’s professional football reimagined.”

The WWE Chairman revealed that they intend to launch with eight, forty-man teams and a ten game regular season that would finish with two semi-finals and a championship game.

Additional details McMahon revealed during the press conference:

  • He claims the XFL return won’t affect his role in WWE.
  • There will be no crossover between WWE and XFL.
  • Vince says the XFL revival will have nothing to do with politics or social issues. He doesn’t think fans want to deal with things of a political nature while watching. They just want good football.
  • The players will have rules in regards to the National Anthem that players have to abide by.
  • Players with a DUI will not be allowed to compete in the XFL.

Watch the full press conference below:

Vince McMahon Sells $100 Million Of WWE Stock To Fund Alpha Entertainment, New XFL Trademarks Filed

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As we previously reported, Vince McMahon is apparently once again interested in getting into the football business. The news, which was originally broken by freelance writer Brad Shepard, was reported by Deadspin after they reached out to WWE regarding the possible relaunch of the XFL. The response from WWE is that Vince McMahon has started a company separate from WWE, called Alpha Entertainment, and is geared to “explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football.” In conjunction with the trademark filing in June, the WWE spokesperson did not confirm or deny the possible resurrection.

Today Vince McMahon sold 3.34 million shares of WWE to fund his Alpha Entertainment, LLC. Here is the full SEC form detailing the sale, which will net McMahon around $100 million:

“On December 21, 2017, Vincent K. McMahon (“Mr. McMahon”), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (the “Company”), sold 3,340,000 shares of the Company’s Class A common stock in a block trade made in accordance with the provisions of Rule 144 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Mr. McMahon executed the sale primarily to fund a separate entity from the Company, Alpha Entertainment LLC, which Mr. McMahon established to explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football. Mr. McMahon has informed the Company that he has no current plan to sell additional shares of the Company’s stock and that he intends to continue in his capacity as the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for the foreseeable future.The shares sold by Mr. McMahon represent approximately 4.3% of the Company’s total outstanding shares of Class A and Class B common stock. After the sale, Mr. McMahon beneficially owns 32,193,375 shares of the Company’s Class B common stock, which represents approximately 82.8% of the Company’s total voting power and approximately 41.8% of the Company’s total outstanding shares of common stock.”

ESPN Sports Business Reporter, Darren Rovell, also noted that Alpha Entertainment filed for five trademarks to “XFL” on December 16 with it showing up in the trademark office filing today. This is in addition to McMahon recently filing additional football trademarks, which included “URFL”, “United Football League”, “UFL”, and “For the love of football.” As noted, WWE filed for XFL trademarks back in June with the foreign filing deadline expiring on December 28.

While the initial hype of the XFL generated a strong audience, die-hard fans of the NFL began to heavily criticize the league, and numbers started to reflect the dissatisfaction. As a result, the XFL lasted only one season in 2001, with it resurfacing earlier this year on the ESPN 30 for 30 This Was the XFL documentary.

Source: WrestlingINC

More On Vince McMahon Possibly Reviving The XFL

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As we previously reported, Vince McMahon is apparently once again interested in getting into the football business. The news, which was originally broken by right-wing writer Brad Shepard, was reported by Deadspin after they reached out to WWE regarding the possible relaunch of the XFL. The response from WWE is that Vince McMahon has started a company separate from WWE, called Alpha Entertainment, and is geared to “explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football.” In conjunction with the filing in June, the WWE spokesperson did not confirm or deny the possible resurrection.

However, the spokesperson did say that “Mr. McMahon has nothing further to announce at this time.”

Despite this, the original reporter of the story stated that an announcement about the XFL could be made on January 25, 2018. This is the Thursday following the 25th Anniversary of Raw.

FOX Sports noted that because the news was broken by a political source, the league could be linked to Donald Trump, who has been extremely critical of the NFL during his presidency. Trump owned the New Jersey Generals in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985, but that organization folded as well, after only three seasons. Trump was often blamed for the failure of the league, as he pushed it to move to a fall schedule against the NFL which cost it lucrative offers to air games in the spring.

The report also states that McMahon recently filed additional football trademarks, which included “URFL”, “United Football League”, “UFL”, and “For the love of football.”

Unfortunately, there were not many ex-XFL players who would go on and have successful NFL careers after the league folded. Rod Smart, who was arguably the most notable XFL player, who went by the nickname “He Hate Me,” would only go on to play in the NFL for the Carolina Panthers from 2002-2005, of which only two of those seasons he played more than 12 games. He was, however, a member of the 2003 Panthers team, which finished the season as NFC Champions and Super Bowl XXXVIII runner-ups.

When the company folded in 2001, former NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol stated, “We knew it wasn’t going to work (in prime time) from early March on. The launch worked, the people were there, and we didn’t answer their expectations, I guess.” However, at the conclusion of the “This Was The XFL” 30 for 30 special, both he and Vince teased possible interest in bringing back the company.

Source: WrestlingINC

XFL Trademark Filed, WWE Responds On Whether It Will Be Returning

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From the very beginning, the XFL was quite a bizarre concept. Intentionally trying to go against the grain of what NFL fans view American football to look like, Vince McMahon sought out to create a league that was extreme and over-the-top.

Here were some rules that the XFL enforced to distinguish them from the NFL:

– Instead of a coin toss, players were placed on the 50-yard line to recover the ball. Whoever recovers had the choice whether they wanted to kick or receive.

– The receiving team had to run kickoffs out of the endzone, unless the ball was kicked through the endzone.

– Defensive players can use bump-and-run tactics down the entire field.

– There was no kicker for the point after touchdown (PAT). It had to be either via pass or run.

– There was no fair catch rule.

While the initial hype of the XFL generated a strong audience, diehard fans of the NFL began to heavily criticize the league, and numbers started to reflect the dissatisfaction. As a result, the XFL lasted only one season, and never returned again. On the ESPN 30 for 30 “This Was the XFL” documentary, the conclusion saw Vince McMahon discuss the ups and downs of the league with former NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol. Interestingly, during the discussion, the idea of revitalizing the company after a 15-year absence was suggested. In fact, the idea was not adamantly rejected by either party.

Based on new information, the XFL could be returning. On Wednesday, June 28, 2017, the XFL trademark was filed by WWE under the category of “Education and Entertainment Services.” WWE has until 12/28 before the foreign filing deadline is expired.

Here is the description provided to the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the filing.

“Entertainment services, namely, an ongoing series featuring wrestling exhibitions and performances by professional wrestlers and entertainers provided through broadcast media, namely, television and radio, and via the Internet or online service; Entertainment services, namely, production of sports and sports related programs provided through broadcast media, namely, television and radio, cable, satellite and via the Internet or online service; Sports entertainment, namely, conducting of sports competitions; Providing information in the fields of sports and entertainment via an online community portal; Providing a website featuring information in the fields of sports and entertainment.”

Deadspin reached out to WWE regarding the resurrection of XFL. Although the spokesperson did not confirm or deny, it was revealed that Vince McMahon has started Alpha Entertainment, which will personally be funded by him to “explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including football.”

Source: WrestlingINC