Oliver Luck and others associated with the 2020 version of the XFL have gone out of their way to tell anyone who will listen, that they are not going to be like the original league. It’s been the league’s biggest selling point to all their naysayers and critics. Oliver Luck has let everyone know what he thought of the original XFL, and his opinion of the league is not very favorable. Most importantly, he let league owner Vince McMahon know what he thought when he was interviewed for the CEO/Commissioner job this past summer. His straight forward take on the league helped him land the job.

Gone from the new version of the XFL is the wrestling themed theatrics, the sexed-up cheerleaders, the glorified violence, and the politically incorrect themed team and player names. The emphasis this go around is all about football. That’s Oliver Luck and his team’s vision. Vince McMahon’s vision for the league is to be ahead of the curve and innovative, without insulting the intelligence of football fans. McMahon has a history of being a risk taker. He’s gambling hundreds of millions of dollars on Oliver Luck’s vision for the league. In fact, it was reported that Vince McMahon just recently cashed out another 270-million dollars to help further support that vision.

Actions speak louder than words. The league is working double overtime to try and shake the perception of what the XFL represented back in 2001. The XFL’s friendly stance towards the NFL and NCAA, and it’s working relationship with The Spring League, show that the XFL is not trying to be an enemy of the state like the first go around. Instead they are trying to be a respected part of the football and sports community.

Oliver Luck’s vision for the league is still a work in progress, but it is starting to take shape. The XFL wants to be a hybrid of pro and college football, with a little touch of the CFL. It also aims to emulate what made the USFL great many moons ago. The new XFL has the feel of Major League Soccer. This is not by accident. Make no mistake, Oliver Luck is borrowing from the MLS model, in league structure and in its connection to communities. Luck was on the ground floor when he helped turn the Houston Dynamo into a championship franchise. He saw MLS grow and find its own niche and market place.

The XFL is clearly following the MLS model. Look no further than the XFL’s three most recent team president hires in Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington D.C. With the hiring of Heather Brooks Karatz, Ryan Gustafson and Eric Moses, the new XFL has hired three legitimate sports executives with strong local ties to their respective markets. All three have MLS backgrounds and have had success in promoting, marketing, obtaining sponsorships, and connecting with local communities.

While all this forward thinking and progression into the year 2020 is promising, there is an argument to be made that the future XFL should not completely abandon the original version of the league. For all its failings and faults, there are certain aspects of the original XFL that the 2020 version would be wise to embrace.

One of the major things the original XFL had going for itself was brand identity. You want to be a true standalone entity, and not a league that is just following along to get along. The original XFL didn’t try to be the NFL or paint itself as a minor league. It had its own personality and vibe. The league was innovative and fan-friendly. It made fans feel like they were a part of the games.

It’s one of things that attached a great writer like Jeff Pearlman to the USFL. There are so many football fans to this day, that still think so fondly of that league and what it represented. Ultimately, they failed for several reasons, but as far as standing out from the crowd and building a strong identity, they were a success. It’s why that league has such lasting power after all this time. Credit to the CFL for marking and carving out their own identity in Canada, but in the states, no football league has been able to match what the USFL represented and embodied.

Even the failed 2001 version of the XFL has fans who still look back fondly on the renegade league that was. The evidence of that is this very website, which has been a shrine to the original XFL for almost 2 decades. Way before Vince McMahon decided to bring the league back from the dead, XFLBoard has been standing over the league’s grave site, reading its eulogy for nearly two decades.

In past articles on this site. I have borrowed quotes from historic figures to help frame a story or topic. In this case, I am going to borrow from one of the great fans on XFLBoard.com’s message board, “Tank55.”  He summed up what the new XFL should be in 3 simple sentences:

“Most importantly, tell your story. The end game for the AAF was an NFL roster. The end game for the XFL needs to be the XFL Championship”

Well stated! It’s why a certain segment of football fans have rooted for non-NFL leagues to make it for years. They want a league that has its own identity and that feels special and important.  Accomplishing this end game will not be easy, but it’s what the new XFL needs to strive for. Carving out its own identity will help it stand out from the crowded sports landscape. The teams, players and the outcomes of the games have to matter to the fans who follow the league. The league’s vision has to be about making fans feel attached and connected. Be your own league, not a means to an end for another league.

The XFL can realize this vision by taking what the NFL and NCAA does well and try to make it better. You take what they don’t do well and improve upon it. You present an exciting new brand of football that innovates on the field and on the broadcast level. Present the league as being something major, exciting, and on the cutting edge.

Getting the average football fan to buy into a non-NFL league by just presenting football won’t be enough to maintain and sustain an audience. You certainly won’t win people over by trying to be the NFL, or a lesser version of it. Like the USFL, the XFL needs to “tell its own story.”

On Monday, XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck was a guest on the Bloomberg Business of Sports Summit podcast. Hosts Carol Massar, Michael Barr, and Jason Kelly interviewed Luck about the business aspects of the upcoming league.

When asked about the differences between the old XFL and the new. Luck eagerly responded that the new XFL would be, “a league for serious football fans, where the game is taken seriously.” He added, “It’s an up-tempo, fast-paced kind of a game with fewer breaks and fewer stoppages,” and then pointed out that this was, “one of the things football fans complain about.”

As for innovations, Luck made a point that the game of football, as good as it was, had left room for a few innovations. “We’ve got some innovations we’re looking at doing that we feel will improve the game,” Luck said. “It’s a tough game to improve, because right now, I believe as many fans do, whether it’s the NFL, or major college football, it’s probably at an all time high in terms of the way the game is being played, and the quality of the game.” Luck added, “We feel there are a number of places we can innovate and be a bit different.”

Luck did not go into specific details as to the innovations he was referring to, nor did the interviewers inquire about further information.

When asked about the gimmickry of the 2001 version of the league, Luck pointed out he thought the new XFL would have plenty of “fun moments.” However, he clarified, “What we don’t want to do is have gimmicks. Americans care about football and it’s become sort of our secular religion, and our stadiums are our Cathedral.”

When asked about player nicknames, such as Rod Smart and “He Hate Me,” Luck mentioned, “Rod Smart was a solid player, but it was overshadowed by the name on the jersey.”

More seriously, Luck also spoke about the XFL’s planned response to head trauma. “In 2001, nobody was worried about head trauma. And now, in today’s football world, NFL, College, Pop Warner, High School, there is a serious legitimate concern. So, we want to make sure we are doing things from a health and safety perspective as well.” Later in the interview, he added, “Our players, at least initially, won’t be unionized. So, I think I have to look out as a Commissioner for our players.”

As for competition with the AAF, Luck was quick to point out he felt there was “plenty of space for all of us to coexist” in the current football landscape. “There are 85 million football fans in this country, almost half of whom are diehard passionate fans. We’re going to go into these markets, New York, Washington D.C., Dallas, Houston, Seattle, where we’ve got real passionate fans. Those are not markets where the other league is in, as they are playing in some smaller markets like San Antonio or Salt Lake City… they’ve chosen a little different strategy. I think there is plenty of football, in terms of the ability of the American fan to really enjoy and appreciate the game.”

More specifically, Luck remarked that he had been watching the AAF’s progress. “We’ve watched the Alliance and I think they’ve done some things very well, and some other things I think did not go so well, but we have our own business plan and ideals.”

Luck was also asked how the XFL would approach gambling. “We want to offer a league with Integrity and consistency so that folks do want to in fact gamble, wager. We want Vegas to put a line on our games, which is difficult for a brand-new league. The Alliance is finding that out as well.”

When asked for more details about gambling, Luck was not able to offer many specifics. “That’s all being figured out. It’s taking a relatively slow pace considering the state by state nature of this.” Luck also indicated that “things may not be clearer,” even when the XFL launches in 2020.

XFL CEO Oliver Luck has made the media rounds for several months now. He’s done hundreds of interviews where he has stated that the 2020 version of the XFL will lean more towards being a conventional pro sports league than the 2001 version. It may be Vince McMahon who is funding 500 million dollars for the new XFL, but make no mistake, this is Oliver Luck’s league. As an executive, you can’t get someone who is more by the book than he is. His reputation is impeccable and he has all the makings and resume of a potential future NFL commissioner.

Since the original XFL folded in 2001, every football league that has followed has used the mantra “Real Football,” almost as a way of saying, “We are not going to do what the XFL did.” Oliver Luck’s selling point for the league has been that the new XFL is going to do what the original didn’t, and that’s to be all about football.

As illustrated here on XFLBoard in the past few months, the new XFL has an uphill battle in changing their image and negative perception. The original XFL was an outlaw league that didn’t play by the rules of traditional sports. The game rules were radically different. A big part of the league’s focus was sex and violence. The league bucked the system and strayed from tradition. From the team names to the player nicknames, the XFL was a proud enemy of the NFL, and they bragged about it.

Oliver Luck’s intention is to not repeat the same mistake twice. For starters, the XFL has been playing nice with the NFL. Oliver Luck has bent over backwards complimenting the NFL. He has many friends and associates within the league. Luck played in the league. He worked for the NFL as an executive, running NFL Europe for 10 years. His son Andrew is one of the most respected players in the NFL. Oliver Luck has stated on several occasions that the XFL can’t and won’t compete with the NFL. This is a 180-degree turn from what the original XFL’s mission statement was. The league plans on having no cheerleaders this time around, no “Death Blow” nicknames on the back of the jerseys, and no wrestling elements in the presentation whatsoever.

Despite all of this, the 2020 version of the XFL may still try to buck the system, but in a totally different way, with an entirely different approach. Despite Oliver Luck’s statements and the league’s new branding, there are hints that suggest the league is going to try and be different rather than just fit in to the sports landscape. As covered here last week, the league will have to be innovative yet again from a broadcasting standpoint. The league is also testing out new rules, but it doesn’t figure to stop there.

How far is the XFL willing to go outside the box? Let’s start with high school football players. Are they going to dip their toes in the water, or completely dive in and start recruiting 4 and 5 star recruits, in an effort to try and get them to skip college and turn pro in the XFL? Would Oliver Luck, a man whose previous job was as an executive for the NCAA, start to ruffle some feathers with his old bosses, and starting signing away potential college football players? Like an episode of HBO’s “Ballers,” does the league decide to take the stance that these young athletes need to start being paid?

Make no mistake about it. Once the XFL signs a top high school or college football recruit, there’s no turning back. The XFL will become an enemy of the state, whether that’s their intention or not. It will be seen as firing a shot against the system, the NCAA, and it could disrupt the NFL’s current 3-year eligibility rule.

Does the XFL target college football players in the transfer portal? The CFL has signed one recently in former Auburn/FAU WR Kyle Davis. He signed with Saskatchewan of the CFL rather than transfer to another college. This could clearly be another area that the XFL’s scouting department targets. Led by Oliver Luck, Doug Whaley, and Optimum Scouting, the XFL’s football brain-trust are leaving no stones unturned. XFL management even held court with player agents at the NFL Combine to try and sell them on the possibilities of their players signing with the XFL as undrafted free agents.

Allowing fans to call plays? On the surface, this sounds like another radical idea. The XFL’s brain-trust was in Jacksonville Florida this past week testing league rules with Your Call Football, a tech company which is finishing up their 2nd series of games this Monday night. Your Call Football allows fans to choose from one of 3 coach selected plays through their App. The clickbait and misleading nature of sports sites, is to suggest that the XFL is going to have fans be the coordinators rather than actual football coaches. On hand for the XFL’s partnership with YCF, was the league’s four hired GM/Head Coaches: Bob Stoops, Jim Zorn, Marc Trestman, and Pep Hamilton. The players in YCF playing in these games, and testing out XFL concepts/rules, were all signed up and scouted by the XFL’s Director of Player Personnel Eric Galko.

Hiring coaches

Thus far, the XFL has gone by the book when it comes to football hires… specifically, the league’s Head Coach/General Managers. The first four hires consist of two former NFL head coaches, a former NFL and College Football Coordinator, and a major college program head coach. Between the four of them, they bring many years of coaching experience, a national championship, and three Grey Cup championships in Canada. Will the league’s final four HC/GM hires all have the same type of pedigrees? Rather than go along the same formula, the XFL could decide to go in a different direction for their last four hires.

Former NFL player and future hall of famer Isaac Bruce has expressed an interest in joining the XFL as the HC/GM of the St. Louis franchise. Would the league consider someone who has no coaching experience? Could the last group of GM/Head Coach hires consist of coaches who have never held those roles? XFL VP Doug Whaley’s NFL PA collegiate bowl had two charismatic former NFL players coordinating defenses in Ed Reed and Bryan Cox. Both men do have coaching experience, but would the league think outside the box and hire one of them to run one of their teams? Your Call Football‘s two head coaches, Merril Hoge and Solomon Wilcots, are former players and NFL analysts. These types of hires would go against the grain of standard sports league hires.

Retread is an ugly word, and there are dozens of former NFL and College Head Coaches available that would fall into that category. Instead of sticking with the status quo, could the league look for someone as innovative and outside the box as a Kevin Kelley? The “mad scientist” head coach of the Pulaski Academy Bruins in Arkansas has won several state titles. His claim to fame is never punting, always going for onside kicks, and running several trick plays every game. If the XFL is looking to be innovative and re-imagine the game, would Kevin Kelley be someone they would target?

The truth is in order to stand out and get attention, the XFL is going to have to take a uniquely different approach than other upstart sports leagues have in the past. It’s a fine line of trying to figure out where the line is, and when it’s okay to cross it. You want to give sports fans a reason to watch, while at the same time, not giving them a reason not to watch. It’s going to be a delicate balancing act from now until next February. It’s pretty clear at this point that the XFL is not looking to be a developmental league. They have no interest in being a minor league, and they want to be a legitimate pro sports league. The goal is to start their own path and not follow the path of others. How does the XFL do that and still find a way to fit into the standard sports landscape?

XFL head coaches Jim Zorn (Seattle), Marc Trestman (Tampa Bay), and Pep Hamilton (Washington D.C.) recently spent time working with “Your Call Football” in another test of the proposed XFL rules.

Great to have @xfl2020 and their head coaches here to check out #YourCallFootball and test some of their new rules! https://t.co/56RlXEse9u

— Your Call Football (@YourCallFB) March 11, 2019

“Your Call Football” is an interactive football competition where online spectators call the plays via a smartphone app.  Now in their second season, games are held on Monday evenings and played by relatively high quality players who are largely recent cuts from NFL and CFL rosters.

As well as “Your Call Football,” the XFL has also tested their proposed rules with community colleges, and is partnered with the Spring League to continue to test the league’s unique set of rules during their upcoming Spring 2019 season.

Additional details regarding the XFL’s proposed rules may be found here on XFLboard.com.

The amount of XFL rule testing being undertaken seems impressive, especially when compared to how the original XFL was rolled out in 2000-2001, with little chance to test the rules.

Eighteen years ago, when Vince McMahon talked about the first version of his pro-football league, he continuously made the boast that his league would have the best cheerleaders. He insisted that football and cheerleaders belonged together, and that the cheerleaders should have a greater role in the game day product. ‘

Of course, other sports leagues are no strangers to promoting the sex-appeal of cheerleaders, but the 2001 version of the XFL packaged and sold the cheerleaders as sex objects.

At one point, in an interview with “ESPN The Magazine,” McMahon even made the outlandish claim that players would date the cheerleaders, and the fans would know if they were doing the “wild thing.”

“Yes, our cheerleaders will date our players,” McMahon said. “Yes, they’ll be hot babes … We’re going to have three or four of them surround our announcers — who’ll be sitting in the stands, by the way… then, when the quarterback fumbles or the wideout drops a pass — and we know who he’s dating — I want our reporters right back in her face on the sidelines demanding to know whether the two of them did the wild thing last night.”

That’s right. He said, “the wild thing.”

In an era that brought us reality television, Vince McMahon, the master showman, was willing to take things as far as anyone could imagine and put the cameras in places they had never gone before. The XFL cheerleaders were a key part of this plan.

On game day, the cheerleaders were normally not found on the field. They were featured on specially constructed platforms situated within the stands, right where the hungry eyes of the fans could get a good look at them. A large crowd of men usually surrounded the cheerleader’s location.

Why would a woman sign up to be an ogled at by strange men? Bonnie-Jill Laflin, a cheerleader with the XFL’s Los Angeles Xtreme, revealed, “I decided to do the XFL because for me it was great exposure and I hoped it would help with my sports broadcasting career. But what they have shown so far on national TV is girls looking like strippers, and it looks like we may not get all the breaks we thought we would get.” Clearly, not everyone enjoyed cheerleading for the XFL.

Unfortunately for Vince McMahon, using cheerleaders to garner popularity for his league didn’t always go well. In what is now billed as the “worst halftime football stunt in history,” Vince McMahon sent a cameraman into the Orlando Rage Cheerleaders locker room. When fans realized it was a WWE-style scripted scenario, it fell as flat as a pancake… despite the fact it featured a cameo by a towel-clad Rodney Dangerfield. Even Rodney’s popularity couldn’t save the day, and this debacle is now how many remember the XFL.

Complete turnaround in 2020

When it comes to cheerleaders, in 2020 we will see a complete one-eighty. When Vince McMahon relaunched the XFL in January 2018, he said plainly, “There will be no cheerleaders.”  This is a far cry from talking about “the wild thing.”

In trying to create a new XFL that is all about “better football,” McMahon is now using a lack of cheerleaders as a wedge, just to prove how serious he is about cleaning up his league.

Recently, in an XFLBoard Discussion, user Tank55 nailed it:

“I think dropping the cheerleaders entirely was a really easy, clean way to separate yourself from the worst parts of the old XFL, especially considering today’s climate. You don’t have to waste any effort of explaining how 2020’s cheerleaders would be presented differently than in 2001.”

So, it’s a brand new XFL, and the lack of cheerleaders proves it!

So far, as shown in the results of this recent XFLBoard Twitter poll, fans seem to be in agreement with the plan to shelve the cheerleaders. However, the result is clearly not a landslide.

When Vince McMahon announced #XFL2020 he declared there would be no cheerleaders. Are you okay with this? #XFL

— XFLBoard.com (@xflboard) March 9, 2019

We will see what happens next February, when the players hit the field. How many fans will be disappointed by the absence of the infamous XFL cheerleaders?

In a well-known 2001 photo, San Francisco Demons fan Chris Wright held a sign proclaiming his young desires. We hope, eighteen years later, a grown-up Chris Wright is not too disappointed when he discovers the XFL Cheerleaders he once coveted are no longer part of the game day experience.

For better or worse, the original XFL changed the way football is broadcasted forever. There are some football fans who don’t even realize it, as they are not old enough to remember the original XFL nearly two decades ago in a pre-HD era. Everyone who watches a college football or pro football game now, is seeing the innovations that the original XFL introduced. From the sky-cam to the on-field cameras, sideline reporters, and audio access with players and coaches. For all its obvious warts and failings, and much deserved ridicule in some instances, the XFL was way ahead of its time from a production/presentation standpoint. For this we thank the vision of Vince McMahon and Dick Ebersol, and the execution of their teams at WWE and NBC.

Being ahead of the game is very important. There’s a famous quote that goes, “The person who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The person who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever seen before.” In many circles, this quote has been incorrectly attributed to Albert Einstein. After all, anything in relation to brilliance can be attributed to him. The quote however belongs to Francis Phillip Wernig, who used the pseudonym Alan Ashley-Pitt. Thus, proving that someone can come along with a great idea or thought, and have it transported to someone with more notoriety or acclaim. Over time a great idea or thought can lose its author. This has happened in many fields, football being one of them.

The benefit that non-NFL leagues have is the luxury to take chances. They can try new things to innovate the game, and enhance the way it is presented. In 1974, the short-lived World Football League moved the goal posts from the front of the end zone to the back. The NFL followed suit immediately. The WFL also introduced what would become the modern day 5-yard bump zone. The USFL used 2-point conversions and introduced the coaches replay challenge system, two things the NFL would adopt years later.

The original XFL eliminated the extra point kick, because it was deemed too easy. The NFL and CFL have since both moved back their extra point kicks to make them more difficult. The AAF has adopted the XFL’s elimination of the extra point. As well as the shorter 35 second play clock and the sky-cam. The United Football League decided to have all their major replays reviewed by a video official up in the booth. The current XFL announced that idea, with XFL CEO Oliver Luck stating that the league would be borrowing Dan Rooney’s suggestion from many years ago. The AAF is currently implementing the “sky judge” in their games. After the NFC Championship fiasco, and some of its other failings, the NFL is currently reviewing making several changes to their review system, overtime rules, onside kicks and even potentially eliminating the extra point.

In order to stand out from the crowd and succeed, the 2020 version of the XFL needs to be innovative in how they present the game of football, on the field and off. There’s a fine line, where the league needs to tread carefully and wisely. The XFL wants to innovate and evolve the game of football, without getting away from what football is.

The first mission statement and company line of the current XFL, is they are going to stay away from gimmicks and put the game of football first. On the field, the original XFL was all about old school football. It was designed to be an in-your-face, smashmouth league. All the teams had to play on natural grass fields. Physical play was encouraged. Very few if any of the league’s quarterbacks started and finished the season in one piece. The “bump and run” was allowed all the way down the field. There were no touchbacks. Returners had to run out of the end zone. No fair catches, and the ball was live after being punted more than 25 yards. Then there was the infamous scramble, which replaced the coin toss. The league favored defensive play and hard hitting so much, that the rules needed to be tweaked as the inaugural season went on.

The new XFL figures to be the exact opposite. The league is more about the safety of the players. The rules that are going to be tested with the Spring League later this month, and that have been tested already, figure to be more offensive friendly than the original XFL. It works out to be a more wide-open game. The 2020 version of the XFL wants to play a faster up-tempo game with potentially 25 second play clocks, even going to the length of hiring an extra official for ball spotting just to get teams set up quicker after a play is over.

This past week on Tampa Bay radio, XFL CEO Oliver Luck mentioned that the league would be experimenting with a new communication system, that could eliminate the need for an actual huddle. The head coach would have audio access to all eleven of his offensive players on the field. Every player would hear the call directly from the head coach/play caller immediately, without the QB having to tell his teammates the call.

In the NFL and college football, after a head coach communicates his play to the QB, the audio communication is cut off. As Oliver Luck stated, the league is thinking of not cutting off the audio communication until the ball is snapped. It sounds radical but imagine using this technology with not only all the offensive players, but with all the defensive players as well. It’s like Tony Romo telling you where the ball should go right before the snap happens. Will the viewers at home and in the stands be able to hear this communication as well? Spectators to live games of the XFL in 2001, had audio access broadcast live through the speakers of the stadium. That might return yet again, but with new technology being implemented. The new XFL needs to make going to a game, something fresh and new, and not just another football game. Despite ratings being up in the NFL, attendance went down in 2018. The AAF is drawing poorly at the gate. You have to make the games affordable and give fans a reason to want to come and experience the games live.

Oliver Luck has gone on record stating that the XFL will be using and implementing about twelve new innovations. This is a part of the league’s goal of reimagining the game of football for the year 2020 and beyond. There’s already been talk and testing of a new kickoff, new overtimes and even bringing back the XFL original idea of a 3-point conversion after a touchdown. The league might be a little gun shy about letting their ideas get out there before they have an opportunity to test and then brand them as their own. Especially now with a competing spring pro football league on the horizon.

The reimagining of the game of football could extend to the way fans interact with the games and teams as well. The XFL has a loose partnership right now with “Your Call Football.” YCF is currently running their second series of games. The technology-based company allows fans to pick one out of three plays that the head coach chooses before every snap. Oliver Luck has also hinted at potentially letting the fans pick a play in the XFL. It may not be for an entire game, the way YCF implements, but it could be for a play or two each game. Luck has even hinted at the fans potentially making other choices like choosing a home team’s uniform before a game. It’s just another potential way of making the game more immersive for fans. The XFL’s app needs to be state of the art, it has to fully engage the fans in fantasy football, the game itself and potentially in gambling. With three of the league’s eight teams already in legalized gambling states, New Jersey, Washington D.C., and Missouri, the league is in position to generate interest in their games through that resource as well.

The 2020 version of the XFL needs to be different and unique, just like the original… but in a totally different way. In order for the league to get attention and keep it. They are going to have to be revolutionary in how they present the game, in how they make the fans a part of the game, and how they build their league through their players and coaches. They can’t present just another league. It will not be enough to obtain, sustain or grow an audience.