It's Coming Back!

This Is The XFL! That was the proclamation made by Vince McMahon in 2001 when he launched the brand spanking new football league. Well, that was a business venture that failed miserably for Vince. He's giving it another go, well over fifteen years later. It has been announced that in early 2020, the XFL is making a comeback! Play is set to begin in late January, maybe early February. Here's some of the things that McMahon made a point of saying during the press conference in regards to his new league (according to For The Win).

-McMahon didn’t have many firm details about the league at this point, but explained that he believes the XFL will have plenty of time to “listen to players [and] coaches. We’re going to listen to medical experts, technology executives, members of the media, and anyone else who understands and loves the game of football.”

-The XFL will feature a “shorter, faster-paced, family-friendly and easier to understand game.” McMahon did not give any specifics about how the rules of the game would be altered.

-The XFL will start as an eight-team league with a 10-game regular season and four playoff teams.

-The league will not operate on a franchise model, will be a single entity.

-McMahon said that the XFL is “way away” from announcing potential cities, but that the XFL will target cities that have NFL infrastructure

-McMahon promised that “in the XFL the quality of the human being is going to be as important as the quality of the player.”Players with a criminal record will not be eligible to play in the XFL. “Even if you have a DUI, you will not play in the XFL.”

-McMahon did not say if the XFL will be aired on broadcast television or streamed on his own platform, but said the XFL will have “a combination of forms of presentation.”

-McMahon said that there will “be no crossover whatsoever” of talent from WWE to XFL broadcasts.

-When asked if President Trump would support the league, McMahon took the opportunity to announce that “as far as our league is concerned, it will have nothing to do with politics. Absolutely nothing. And nothing to do with social issues, either. We’re there to play football.” McMahon did not explain how the XFL will police players who speak out on social issues, but explained that the rules of the league will be clear.

-McMahon said that the national anthem is a “time-honored tradition,” but did not specify if players will be required to stand. McMahon later said that it would be appropriate to require players to stand.

So here's what I got out of the results of the XFL. It will be different, and for the sake of Vince I really hope a very much improved product then it was the last time he tried. I love the fact that he's going to take all this time to make sure he tries to get it right, because I feel he rushed it the last time he tried doing this league. The idea of taking politics out of the game is great, because Vince wants to keep the action just on the field, which is where it should be all along. He wants to get players with some name value into the league, maybe somebody like a Tim Tebow, which again isn't a bad idea.

At the same time I do have some reservations about it. The biggest one being we all saw how bad a flop the last league was. I just really hope that Vince has learned from his mistake in 2001 and will be able to take this league off the ground. Having his parent company run the entire thing could be a good thing. At the same time, outside of the wrestling business that he got from his father, Vince McMahon has failed at outside business ventures before, so what makes you think that this is going to be any different? He's having a little trouble putting a quality product that fans are enjoying now from his wrestling show. If Vince is having trouble doing that, what is to make somebody like me believe that he can pull that and a football league off? I'm going to give it time and hope it works out but I have my reservations as to whether or not this will actually be something that can be pulled off.