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Press Release: XFL Announces Return to the Field in 2022

Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2020 9:37 am
by MarkNelson
XFL Announces Return to the Field in 2022

Decision allows ample time for the league and its new owners to develop and execute a strategic and innovative plan for the relaunch

STAMFORD, CT – October 1, 2020 – The XFL today announced that the league will return to the field for the 2022 season. The new ownership group and league executives are in the process of finalizing next steps for the relaunch with more details to be shared in the coming weeks and months.

The announcement was made by Dany Garcia and Dwayne Johnson through a video shared across their social media platforms and available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ai5RJD ... e=youtu.be

“The XFL represents the idea of ultimate opportunity; it’s a league of soul and culture, anchored by the pursuit of dreams and love for the game, that we couldn’t be more proud to lead,” said Garcia and Johnson. “Every XFL player, coach, city and fan is our top priority and we couldn’t be more excited to champion them in an electrifying 2022 season. We are the new XFL—hungry, humble and no one will outwork us.”

“For the love of football and for the safety of our players and fans, we’ll be back on the field in 2022,” said Jeffrey Pollack, XFL President and COO. “The opportunity in front of us, with our new ownership, is simply too big to rush back. We want to do this properly with care and thought for everyone who loves football, especially our players, coaches, partners and fans.”

In August 2020, Dany Garcia, Dwayne Johnson and RedBird Capital Partners acquired substantially all of the assets of Alpha Entertainment LLC, the parent company of the XFL.

Re: Press Release: XFL Announces Return to the Field in 2022

Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2020 9:49 am
by 4th&long
MarkNelson wrote: Thu Oct 01, 2020 9:37 am XFL Announces Return to the Field in 2022

Decision allows ample time for the league and its new owners to develop and execute a strategic and innovative plan for the relaunch

STAMFORD, CT – October 1, 2020 – The XFL today announced that the league will return to the field for the 2022 season. The new ownership group and league executives are in the process of finalizing next steps for the relaunch with more details to be shared in the coming weeks and months.

The announcement was made by Dany Garcia and Dwayne Johnson through a video shared across their social media platforms and available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ai5RJD ... e=youtu.be

“The XFL represents the idea of ultimate opportunity; it’s a league of soul and culture, anchored by the pursuit of dreams and love for the game, that we couldn’t be more proud to lead,” said Garcia and Johnson. “Every XFL player, coach, city and fan is our top priority and we couldn’t be more excited to champion them in an electrifying 2022 season. We are the new XFL—hungry, humble and no one will outwork us.”

“For the love of football and for the safety of our players and fans, we’ll be back on the field in 2022,” said Jeffrey Pollack, XFL President and COO. “The opportunity in front of us, with our new ownership, is simply too big to rush back. We want to do this properly with care and thought for everyone who loves football, especially our players, coaches, partners and fans.”

In August 2020, Dany Garcia, Dwayne Johnson and RedBird Capital Partners acquired substantially all of the assets of Alpha Entertainment LLC, the parent company of the XFL.
(since there are now two threads on this....)

MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT!

I said this before and I'll say it again - with no 2021 is a waste of time for bringing back the XFL. A 5 game league to go dormant for a TWO years you'd be better starting from scratch. All momentum IS LOST.

Based on the tweets from Rock and DG - it is basically starting from scratch, not good.

I suggested a scaled down, even way scaled down approach would have been better. To maintain interest, learn, retain some talent, show the world you are a serious group, and as a giant ad for full return.

Even an UFL style 4 team, 6 week sch would have been enough.

Chances of a return at all just plummeted - they likely are looking to sell or bring in investors- at best.

DOA

Here's ESPN quick article...
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/300 ... eturn-2022

When VM was going to buy back in and that jackazz Coach Hayes and others squawked that was a BIG MISTAKE. The Nets wanted VM involved and he had the resources - once the markets rebounded and economy started showing signs of life.
Total Idiots. Bad decisions have consequences. Keep that in mind over the next 5 weeks.

Re: Press Release: XFL Announces Return to the Field in 2022

Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:02 am
by Tank55
2021 only made sense if they found a TV partner ready to pay them. If that wasn't going to come together, I don't see why you wouldn't wait until 2022. I think you need to rebuild momentum from scratch either way. March 2020 feels like a decade ago.

Re: Press Release: XFL Announces Return to the Field in 2022

Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:16 am
by Firecop
Tank is right, it was their only realistic and viable option. Trying to cobble something together for this next Spring would have been a mistake IMO a false start would certainly have been fatal. That said, 4th&Long's point about engagement is correct but must be handled differently.

The new ownership must quickly re-engage and excite (re-ignite?) the fanbase. They need to survey the fans about what worked, what didn't work and what we liked and didn't like. Review all of the suggestions that flooded boards such as this one and re-examine every part of the operation.

They also need to keep the fans "in the loop" as much as feasibly possible. Finally, they need to keep the teams in the cities that they were UNLESS it is not fiscally responsible to do so. Patience is a virtue they say, so let's be virtuous and give them a fair shot.

Re: Press Release: XFL Announces Return to the Field in 2022

Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:18 am
by 4th&long
Tank55 wrote: Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:02 am 2021 only made sense if they found a TV partner ready to pay them. If that wasn't going to come together, I don't see why you wouldn't wait until 2022. I think you need to rebuild momentum from scratch either way. March 2020 feels like a decade ago.
That's my point ( it does feel like a long time already) why buy XFL then, start from scratch - they could have found a TV partner and cut costs enough for a short season. 2 years is an eternity in sports - BIG FUp imo.

How hard is it to line up a TV partner when you scale down the number of games and pay for the air time or at least partial. Recall ABC/ESPN & Fox/FS1 were NON-paying deals.

Clearly they had no plan and now they are taking something that worked and reimagining it? WHY??

Re: Press Release: XFL Announces Return to the Field in 2022

Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:21 am
by Tank55
I guess I'm not following why you think this signals a reimagination.

Re: Press Release: XFL Announces Return to the Field in 2022

Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:25 am
by MGB01
I'd rather have 2021 as well. There's a reason you do this, otherwise you end up with "The New USFL" which was supposed to be relaunching for like eight straight years.

That said, as long as the media continues to keep the COVID fear alive (that and Trump got Jello to reiterate that he'll shut everything down for months, now about that endorsement Dwayne..........) it might be more realistic.

Re: Press Release: XFL Announces Return to the Field in 2022

Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:27 am
by GregParks
For those of us who thought the time between the announcement of the purchase and the first big news was a long time, get ready for more news downtime over the next several months.

I'm curious about the engagement strategy; I'm not as convinced as 4th&long that a ton of momentum will be lost by not playing in 2021 - there's an ebb and flow with a sports league during the calendar year and I'm not sure there was all that much momentum to capitalize on in the first place. That said, Dany Garcia has made it a point to note they want the XFL to live year-round in the consciousness of the fan; will that process begin in the lead-up to 2022?

Re: Press Release: XFL Announces Return to the Field in 2022

Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2020 11:04 am
by GDAWG
They likely made the announcement with the assumption that the virus won't be gone in 2021 and that 2022 would be considered a normal year.

Re: Press Release: XFL Announces Return to the Field in 2022

Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2020 12:10 pm
by steinerfhc
4th&long wrote: Thu Oct 01, 2020 9:49 am
MarkNelson wrote: Thu Oct 01, 2020 9:37 am XFL Announces Return to the Field in 2022

Decision allows ample time for the league and its new owners to develop and execute a strategic and innovative plan for the relaunch

STAMFORD, CT – October 1, 2020 – The XFL today announced that the league will return to the field for the 2022 season. The new ownership group and league executives are in the process of finalizing next steps for the relaunch with more details to be shared in the coming weeks and months.

The announcement was made by Dany Garcia and Dwayne Johnson through a video shared across their social media platforms and available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ai5RJD ... e=youtu.be

“The XFL represents the idea of ultimate opportunity; it’s a league of soul and culture, anchored by the pursuit of dreams and love for the game, that we couldn’t be more proud to lead,” said Garcia and Johnson. “Every XFL player, coach, city and fan is our top priority and we couldn’t be more excited to champion them in an electrifying 2022 season. We are the new XFL—hungry, humble and no one will outwork us.”

“For the love of football and for the safety of our players and fans, we’ll be back on the field in 2022,” said Jeffrey Pollack, XFL President and COO. “The opportunity in front of us, with our new ownership, is simply too big to rush back. We want to do this properly with care and thought for everyone who loves football, especially our players, coaches, partners and fans.”

In August 2020, Dany Garcia, Dwayne Johnson and RedBird Capital Partners acquired substantially all of the assets of Alpha Entertainment LLC, the parent company of the XFL.
(since there are now two threads on this....)

MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT!

I said this before and I'll say it again - with no 2021 is a waste of time for bringing back the XFL. A 5 game league to go dormant for a TWO years you'd be better starting from scratch. All momentum IS LOST.

Based on the tweets from Rock and DG - it is basically starting from scratch, not good.

I suggested a scaled down, even way scaled down approach would have been better. To maintain interest, learn, retain some talent, show the world you are a serious group, and as a giant ad for full return.

Even an UFL style 4 team, 6 week sch would have been enough.

Chances of a return at all just plummeted - they likely are looking to sell or bring in investors- at best.

DOA

Here's ESPN quick article...
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/300 ... eturn-2022

When VM was going to buy back in and that jackazz Coach Hayes and others squawked that was a BIG MISTAKE. The Nets wanted VM involved and he had the resources - once the markets rebounded and economy started showing signs of life.
Total Idiots. Bad decisions have consequences. Keep that in mind over the next 5 weeks.
They are starting from scratch is because everything Vince and Co did was mostly erased when Vince and Co fired the majority of everyone in the league. The foundation that Luck had put together where fired. Luck himself was fired and got into a law suit with Vince. Plus the Pandamic may not be over to the point fans are allowed fully in venues in Feb.


So the next year they can work on TV partners which the Rock name attached is a huge benefit, Rebuild the foundation and ext. It not like all the coaches and players where just sitting around ready to go and the TV deals where just on hold either. So I don't think it a disappointment but smart. If The Rock and Co gets those TV deals like they had again. Plus from management isde of things get most of these guys back. Then they should be fine. The league needs stability in the top of the later. The Rock can be that guy because nothing he ever done, he has ever gone in half way. He always been all or nothing. He wouldn't invested if he didn't believe in this league.

We are talking right now Oct. Less than six months if 2021 to get coaches, players, TV deal, and the structure. Plus stadium leases and ext.