There had to be a lot of double takes on Twitter when Brad Shepard, a freelance writer, tweeted out that Vince McMahon, the chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment and the man behind the original XFL, was looking into bringing back the now defunct league and that an announcement might be coming as soon as January. Yes, the XFL, the one-year wonder that brought us the “Scramble,” black footballs, and the sky cam, a camera shot picked up by the NFL and that is used today. Of course, the naysayers quickly came out to say there is no chance a professional football league, one that already failed, led by McMahon, the man who made his billions in pro wrestling, would be successful. But for those people, they might want to hold their horses. The football landscape might just be right for the reincarnation of the XFL.
The Football Landscape Might Just Be Right for the Reincarnation of the XFL
At first glance, many might think this is just a publicity hoax by McMahon to drum up publicity for the WWE. But David Bixenspan of Deadspin contacted the WWE shortly after Shepard’s tweet went viral and received a statement that didn’t seem to be much of a denial in what Shepard had tweeted out. Then shortly after that statement was made, it was discovered that McMahon had sold $100 million dollars of his WWE stock, possibly to financially back his Alpha Entertainment, which is rumored to be the corporation behind his new/resurrected XFL venture.
So the question is, why would McMahon, a self-made billionaire, who already failed at creating a professional football league, want to try it again? The answer is pretty simple. McMahon hates to fail.
Like him or not, when it comes to business and creating something that makes money, McMahon is one of the best. There is no doubt that the failure of the first XFL eats away at him. That can be seen in ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary titled “This Was the XFL.” The film detailed what went into the XFL and why it failed. It was specifically illustrated in the last scene where it shows McMahon having dinner with Dick Ebersol, who was the head of NBC Sports and the partner of McMahon in the XFL. The two giants of sports entertainment and sports viewing discussed what went wrong and if they would do it again, which both answered “yes.” As a viewer, the responses made you believe they were being legit, and it appears, for at least McMahon, that he is going to give it another try.
The Timing Might Just be Right
The NFL is the almighty professional football league, there is no getting around it. But unlike years past, the “Shield” that the NFL so proudly talks about, seems to have a crack in it. Now, the reality is there is no way that the XFL or whatever it will be called can overtake the seemingly impregnable juggernaut that is the NFL. That said, with the issues the NFL has had to deal with in recent times, and with the right marketing genius, which McMahon has proven to be, behind a football league there is a chance another professional football league could exist.
Here are some of the issues the NFL has had to deal with and what McMahon and his possible league could do to take advantage of those issues.
The National Anthem Controversy
The NFL took a huge publicity hit when its players, or a good majority of them, decided to kneel when the national anthem was played in stadiums across the league, in protest. If the controversy wasn’t enough to get NFL fans upset, the fire was stoked even more when President Donald Trump chimed in to let it be known that he wasn’t happy with the players as well as the owners. It might be just a coincidence, but oddly enough, McMahon’s wife Linda McMahon, serves as the Administrator of the Small Business Administration under the Trump Administration. Before being elected, Trump appeared on McMahon’s WWE “Raw” show, so there is a link to McMahon and Trump.
McMahon and his new league could take advantage of the kneeling controversy by making sure all of its players stand for the national anthem and make sure it is known that the league won’t stand for players taking a knee. Although it seems like the controversy has quieted as of late, with Trump in McMahon’s corner, it might be brought up once again giving McMahon a leg up on the NFL.
Hogs Get Slaughtered Theory
Back in 2014, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made some statements against the NFL talking about how the NFL has gotten too greedy and comparing the NFL’s greed with the statement that “pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.” Although Cuban’s comments might have been over the top, he did have some good points.
The NFL and its billionaire owners have tried to grab every cent they can from their fans in recent years. The examples of this are numerous, but the most common examples have been the move of certain franchises (like the Rams and the Chargers to Los Angeles, and the future move of the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas) who can’t get new stadiums built with public money and the exorbitant cost of tickets to attend NFL games. McMahon isn’t a dummy. He knows that if he markets his league as “the professional football league for the people,” he could win over some fans who are sick of paying not just for expensive tickets but for stadiums that could be bankrolled by the billionaire owners who get the most out of the new stadiums.
The Keys to Success
McMahon will have an advantage over other people who have tried to create another professional football league. If the XFL does have a re-boot, it will be the only professional football league that has failed, folded, and was brought back. As McMahon stated in the 30 for 30 documentary, him and Ebersol made some mistakes. And the chance of him making those same mistakes are pretty remote. McMahon isn’t afraid to take a chance and fail, but he is also smart enough to know not to make those same mistakes twice.
To go along with learning from prior mistakes and taking advantage of the NFL’s recent shortcomings, the XFL could take advantage of opportunities that are available.
Putting Teams in Cities That Don’t Have NFL Franchises
As Shepard discussed while he was on the Willard and Broussard Radio show, it is rumored that this new league will place teams in cities that don’t have NFL franchises. This would seem to be the proper move. There are enough cities out there that have stadiums, such cities that have MLS Stadiums that are looking for tenants to fill open dates, which are capable of housing a franchise. This way McMahon’s league wouldn’t have to compete with cities that already have NFL franchises, and would able to forge their own identity. In the first XFL, they had teams located in Chicago, San Francisco, and New York, and those franchises struggled. Two prime cities that might embrace this are San Diego and St. Louis, who both recently lost their NFL franchises.
The NFL is King, No Reason To Tease the King
The first time around, McMahon and the XFL weren’t afraid to take shots at the NFL. Although some might consider this courageous, it actually blew up in their face. Competition is good for any product. Just ask Coke about this when it comes to Pepsi. But it doesn’t mean you have to run down your competition. McMahon should avoid doing this his second time around and like he and Ebersol discussed. They should try to forge some type of partnership with the NFL or its owners. Although McMahon might not want his league to be considered a “developmental” league, it might prove profitable if there is some type of partnership with the NFL or its owners with feeding their players to the NFL. With that said, there is no reason for this new league to play in the fall. The NFL and college football own the fall, but with so many football fans looking for a football fix in the late winter/early spring, there is an opportunity for McMahon and his new league.
Embracing Streaming and All Sports Networks
If you don’t have a place to air your football games, you will fail. The first time the XFL occurred, they had a partnership with NBC. But once NBC decided to pull out of the partnership, the writing was on the wall for the XFL. Unlike the first time the XFL happened, there are more opportunities for a league to have their games aired.
Besides ESPN and Fox Sports, NBC and CBS both have an all-sports network and both are looking for content to air. To go along with that, there are now streaming venues that McMahon can take advantage of. The NFL has done this with Twitter recently, so there is no reason that McMahon can’t do the same. There are numerous streaming sites available, so McMahon might take advantage of that and place their games on one of those streaming sites. The NFL might be king, but there is an opportunity for another league to take advantage of these options.
If there is one person that could succeed at creating another professional football league it is McMahon. He is brash and bold and is willing to take chances. To go along with that, he has money, something that is needed to create another professional football league. He faces long odds, but with his previous failure behind him and lessons learned, he has a chance.
