XFL In Talks With CFL, Will Continue Planning for 2022 Once Discussions Leave Preliminary Stage

[laxtreme56]

It's a little weird to me that some CFL owners and the commissioner are so gung-ho about creating a partnership with what's basically an idea at this point. The XFL doesn't even exist as a league save for a bunch of uniforms and helmets in a warehouse somewhere. It reeks a little bit of desperation.

But remember - it's not about the money.

Well as I said in another thread, they're both essentially in the same boat; one in scratch mode (again), the other in pay-now or pay-later mode (lose some by playing now or lose forever by never coming back), might as well at least put the two together and gather intel.

As has been said, these negotiations have been going on for months now. The Rock is Worth more than the entire CFL, Danny Garcia has her own production company, and Redbird has $4 billion in assets and already owns a French soccer team and part of the Yes Network. The CFL desperately wants in on the US market and these are the 3 key players that could make it happen. It actually makes lots of sense the more you think of it.

[GregParks]

It's a little weird to me that some CFL owners and the commissioner are so gung-ho about creating a partnership with what's basically an idea at this point. The XFL doesn't even exist as a league save for a bunch of uniforms and helmets in a warehouse somewhere. It reeks a little bit of desperation.

But remember - it's not about the money.

Well as I said in another thread, they're both essentially in the same boat; one in scratch mode (again), the other in pay-now or pay-later mode (lose some by playing now or lose forever by never coming back), might as well at least put the two together and gather intel.

As has been said, these negotiations have been going on for months now. The Rock is Worth more than the entire CFL, Danny Garcia has her own production company, and Redbird has $4 billion in assets and already owns a French soccer team and part of the Yes Network. The CFL desperately wants in on the US market and these are the 3 key players that could make it happen. It actually makes lots of sense the more you think of it.

Thing is, none of those qualities I've bolded have gotten the XFL anything thus far: No sponsors announced, no TV deals, nothing. Now maybe the talks with the CFL have been going on for so long they've put that stuff on the back burner; maybe they've made deals they haven't announced. But what if the talks with the CFL lead nowhere? Then they've got a limited amount of time to scramble to get that stuff done in time for 2022.

I'm also assuming by the fact that they're making the "talks" public that the two groups are far enough down the road that they won't walk away without SOME kind of agreement.

[4th&long]

Well as I said in another thread, they're both essentially in the same boat; one in scratch mode (again), the other in pay-now or pay-later mode (lose some by playing now or lose forever by never coming back), might as well at least put the two together and gather intel.

As has been said, these negotiations have been going on for months now. The Rock is Worth more than the entire CFL, Danny Garcia has her own production company, and Redbird has $4 billion in assets and already owns a French soccer team and part of the Yes Network. The CFL desperately wants in on the US market and these are the 3 key players that could make it happen. It actually makes lots of sense the more you think of it.

Thing is, none of those qualities I've bolded have gotten the XFL anything thus far: No sponsors announced, no TV deals, nothing. Now maybe the talks with the CFL have been going on for so long they've put that stuff on the back burner; maybe they've made deals they haven't announced. But what if the talks with the CFL lead nowhere? Then they've got a limited amount of time to scramble to get that stuff done in time for 2022.

I'm also assuming by the fact that they're making the "talks" public that the two groups are far enough down the road that they won't walk away without SOME kind of agreement.

Agreed on first sentence.... And I do think they expected people would fawn over them, apparently didn't happen.

On second point - Yet CFL commissioner keeps saying 'we're talking about talking' and we really haven't gotten far... we shall see... what it does do is get buzz for the XFL and CFL in the near term anyway

[GregParks]

On second point - Yet CFL commissioner keeps saying 'we're talking about talking' and we really haven't gotten far... we shall see... what it does do is get buzz for the XFL and CFL in the near term anyway

There does seem to be some conflicting reporting on how long conversations have been taking place. Maybe internal conversations within the XFL about this have been going on a while but they're just now sitting down to talk?

Sure, this gets a buzz for now, but what happens if they don't agree on anything and both walk away with nothing? That's a bad look, not to mention crucial time wasted (at least for the XFL), which is why I assume a deal of some sort will be worked out.

EDIT: By the by, the Calgary Herald has a story on this with new quotes from Dany Garcia & Jeffrey Pollack (apologies if this has been posted elsewhere in the forum):

https://calgaryherald.com/sports/footba ... g-the-game

[laxtreme56]

I do find the dichotomy funny from both sides of the border. On the states side we see this as the XFL throwing out a hail Mary in hopes the almighty CFL will save it. On the Canadian side, younger fans are welcoming 4 down ball, and the biggest CFL reporters at TSN are saying 3 down football is all but dead in Canada and games will begin being played as early as 2022. Which is at least partially why the XFL has "paused" plans for 2022. Will the Guardians be squaring off against the Defenders or Stampeders of Edmonton?

Commissioner Ambroise is pretty coy about changing the CFL game and is open to "everything at the moment." He's side stepped the 3down question multiple times. Me thinks this talk has happened as early as day 1 from the XFL acquisition and part of the, if not main reason RedBird the Rock and DG even bothered to buy the league.

Some interesting quotes from CFL Commissioner here. https://3downnation.com/2021/03/10/qa-c ... -with-xfl/

Ambrosie: “We’re not there yet. We’re not putting financial metrics around this, but when you’re talking about sharing each other’s best practices, and talking about our aspirations, at the core of it you’re looking for opportunities to grow the game. If you follow that, the natural extension of growing the game is having better financial outcomes.

“In all of this, yes, there is an expectation that this is going to take us some place better. Exactly where that some place is, we don’t know, but it was a great day to be talking about talking with really good people. And when you’re in the room with them, as we’ve had a chance to be, there’s a tremendous authenticity to who they are. Their respect for us has been obvious, and that’s one of the many reasons why it’s been encouraging.”

[MGB01]

And now we're, in a way, back to where we were in 1999, when the CFL, coming off US expansion and leery of any more Americanization, turned down one Vincent Kennedy McMahon, in what could be argued the origins of XFL1.0, this time with much less bombast.

Can see it from both sides: the CFL had some momentum in the form of a strong series of Grey Cups, the franchise-saving U2-aided move in Montreal from the Big O to Molson Stadium, a new deal with CBC worth triple, oh and a loan from the NFL. But they were also coming off a lousy decade of flim-flammers like Bruce McNall and the Gliebermans that nearly sunk the league and were understandably suspicious.

How far we've come, maybe if things had gone like this 22 years ago, we'd be possibly talking Can-X league decade three.

[Tank55]

More from Mike Mitchell:

Everything has been put on pause for the XFL until these discussions with the CFL are over. The XFL’s Chief Football Officer search is also on pause temporarily, a search that has been headed by Gerry Cardinale and former NFL executives Russ Brandon and Alec Scheiner, among others.

One person inside the talks told me when asked about a potential merger of the leagues.

“Don’t jump the gun yet. talks are still developing and have advanced beyond the preliminary stages, but nothing is set in stone or finalized”.

The CFL has lost tens of millions of dollars, and even if they return in 2021, there’s doubt that they will be able to get back on track financially. Their season is still very much up in the air, from the length of their season, to when and where the games will be played.

https://xflnewshub.com/xfl-news/details ... -on-pause/