XFL suspends operations, lays off employees and has no plans for 2021 season...

[posty 2,296]

https://www.espn.com/xfl/story/_/id/29021347/xfl-suspends-operations-lays-employees-no-plans-return-2021

The XFL suspended operations Friday morning and laid off nearly all of its staff, multiple sources told ESPN. While a handful of executives remain employed, the league currently has no plans to return in 2021.

The league canceled its season last month after five games as part of a nationwide shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, pledging to return next year.

But XFL CEO Jeffrey Pollack changed course Friday, conducting a 10-minute conference call to inform employees of the news.

Commissioner Oliver Luck, hired in 2018 to guide the most ambitious spring football league in decades, did not speak on the call. It was not immediately clear if he is still with the league.

According to a prominent former XFL staffer who was on the call, Pollack stopped short of saying the league was going out of business. But the strong implication was clear. "It's done," the staffer said. "It's not coming back."

There was no immediate comment from the league.

The XFL is owned by WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, who was making his second foray into professional football. His rowdy 2001 version of the XFL also folded after one year.

McMahon pivoted 180 degrees for XFL 2.0, asking Luck to create a serious football league that would market a new version of the game while avoiding direct competition with the NFL. Luck led a group of staffers through two years of product development, establishing a series of innovations -- from its new kickoff alignment to its three-tiered extra point structure -- that caught the eye of multiple members of the NFL competition committee.

XFL staffers believed that the league would resume play in 2021. Players had previously been told they would be paid through the end of the regular season, which was scheduled to end this weekend.

The XFL is the second spring football league in as many years to suspend operations before completing its final season, albeit for much different reasons. The Alliance of American Football (AAF) ran out of money in 2019 and closed after eight weeks of play. The XFL might be the first pro sports league to fall victim to the economic crisis caused by the global pandemic.

[Mike Honcho 4,035]

Never saw it.   

Nobody has come close to spring football since the USFL, but they were doling out the big bucks(least for mid 80's).   It would take a hell of a lot of more money today to get the Hershel Walkers, Steve Youngs and Reggie Whites coming out of college to play in an alternate league.   Don't know if there is a path to success there. 

[The Elevator Killer 497]

Just now, Mike Honcho said:

Never saw it. 

I watched the first 2 drives of a game the first week and never watched again.

 

[fandandy 3,311]

Well, that was short-lived.  

[NorthernVike 2,080]

I certainly hope they get tens of millions of dollars in the next stimulus package. They employed more minorities than the Kennedy Center.  

[The Elevator Killer 497]

$600 a week unemployment is more than most players were making.

[Cdub100 3,381]

It was doing as well as expected. I hope they come back next year

[wiffleball 4,640]

This is something I alluded to earlier. I don't care if it's the idiots who thought they could open a bar on a whim without any actual experience or financial backing, or the XFL, or Applebee's ,  a lot of crappily run businesses are going to stick around just long enough to get a big fat check from the government and then close down and blame the virus. When in fact, they were doomed from the jump.

[JustinCharge 2,397]

9 hours ago, Mike Honcho said:

Never saw it.   

Nobody has come close to spring football since the USFL, but they were doling out the big bucks(least for mid 80's).   It would take a hell of a lot of more money today to get the Hershel Walkers, Steve Youngs and Reggie Whites coming out of college to play in an alternate league.   Don't know if there is a path to success there. 

Football is a coaches league.  The path to success is to get the top-flight head coaches.  Let them coach up talent.  You'll develop a better product than the NFL a while.  Unfortunately, head coach salaries went thru the roof in the last decade.  This would have worked in 2001.  Now it might be too expensive.

[kutulu 1,545]

We're back baby 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[seafoam1 1,879]

xfl? WTF?

[frank 2,145]

2 minutes ago, seafoam1 said:

xfl? WTF?

U2?

[TommyGavin 788]

I have Vegas +3.5 and under 35

[BeenHereBefore 1,332]

14 minutes ago, TommyGavin said:

I have Vegas +3.5 and under 35

Cool and just took Arlington +8.5.

[BeenHereBefore 1,332]

8 minutes ago, BeenHereBefore said:

Cool and just took Arlington +8.5.

I should have waited for more points.

[Ron 'Tator Salad' White 82]

34 minutes ago, BeenHereBefore said:

Cool and just took Arlington +8.5.

Dammit Bobby 

[edjr 5,566]

this aged well

[BeenHereBefore 1,332]

I'm like the XFL and what I noticed compared to the USFL, XFL players seem to have more speed and looks more like watching a NFL game compared to the USFL that seems to look more like a college game. This is the two games I watched so far.

[WhiteWonder 2,172]

I watched bits and pieces of the games. Looks pretty good. I do not like the 4th and 15 instead of an onside kick. The St Louis team was outplayed all day and won because of 3 point conversions and that nonsense. 

[BeenHereBefore 1,332]

24 minutes ago, WhiteWonder said:

I watched bits and pieces of the games. Looks pretty good. I do not like the 4th and 15 instead of an onside kick. The St Louis team was outplayed all day and won because of 3 point conversions and that nonsense. 

Yep it looked a little fixed as well letting them win in the end.

[WhiteWonder 2,172]

1 hour ago, BeenHereBefore said:

Yep it looked a little fixed as well letting them win in the end.

I can take the 3 point conversions. 4th and 15 is nothing for an offense assuming they call defensive penalties as often as the NFL does. The % to convert has to be so much higher than the onside kick. So if you convert it you’re already at your own 40. 

[BeenHereBefore 1,332]

52 minutes ago, WhiteWonder said:

I can take the 3 point conversions. 4th and 15 is nothing for an offense assuming they call defensive penalties as often as the NFL does. The % to convert has to be so much higher than the onside kick. So if you convert it you’re already at your own 40. 

Yea I'm not liking them rules to much. Like you said the other team was dominating all game.

[Hawkeye21 1,854]

I hope the XFL can be successful.  I enjoyed watching it last time and enjoyed watching some of the games over the weekend.  It's better than no football.

[WhiteWonder 2,172]

Josh Gordon wearing number 0 caught a TD for Seattle