XFL officially delays start until 2023

XFL Football discussion.
laxtreme56
Coach
Posts: 886
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2020 6:16 pm

Re: XFL officially delays start until 2023

Post by laxtreme56 »

Let's not forget Redbird/XFL just hired 2 high level executives from the NFL and ESPN respectively im the past month or so. These guys will be instrumental in working on TV deals and streaming rights. There's already rumors Disney is interested and with Garcia's production company that should cut down costs considerably. Look to bring in Toronto and Montreal in 2023/24 and TSN could easily throw $10-15 million towards the league. This new XFL has way more money and clout than McMahon ever had. I can only see them bolstering their front office over the next 90 days
4th&long
MVP
Posts: 6472
Joined: Sun Nov 24, 2019 2:27 pm

Re: XFL officially delays start until 2023

Post by 4th&long »

laxtreme56 wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 2:30 am Let's not forget Redbird/XFL just hired 2 high level executives from the NFL and ESPN respectively im the past month or so. These guys will be instrumental in working on TV deals and streaming rights. There's already rumors Disney is interested and with Garcia's production company that should cut down costs considerably. Look to bring in Toronto and Montreal in 2023/24 and TSN could easily throw $10-15 million towards the league. This new XFL has way more money and clout than McMahon ever had. I can only see them bolstering their front office over the next 90 days
Interesting - where are u hearing disney is interested.

Also keep in mind RBC has multiple properties. And they apparently only own 1/3 of XFL (DG/RBC/Rk) so if they inject capital that would come at DG/Rk %. Garcia's company is not likely to eat cost IMO. McMahon put up $300mm before pulling back in pandemic. What has RBC done? And Again DG said they need a lucrative TV contract... that means BIG $ and translates as covering (funding) the cost of the league. Which was why they bailed on 2021 in the first place.
Gopher123
Quarterback
Posts: 395
Joined: Sat Mar 13, 2021 7:07 pm

Re: XFL officially delays start until 2023

Post by Gopher123 »

johnnyangryfuzzball wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 3:32 pm
laxtreme56 wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 1:14 pm I noticed the word international as well. Perhaps the owners of the Argos, Alouettes, and possibly B.C. Lions are still open to the idea of the XFL. It was going to be hard to convince Winnipeg, Hamilton, and Saskatchewan to give up the CFL. At least we now know the CXFL is dead and buried and the XFL can work towards a successful 2023 season.
How can they work toward a successful 2023 season when they can't even work toward a 2022 season? The pandemic restrictions are over. There's no excuse now. Get back on the ----ing field already!
YES. AGREED.


The most frustrating thing for me is the XFL was good and it was working. Now it’s like this new group is trying to reinvent the wheel and it’s stall and delay. If you’re serious about getting back on the field, start with what was working and then start implementing your “grand” plan. I cringe when I see the word “international” in their statement. Simply because that sounds much more difficult to pull off especially if their goal is to start off with trying to put teams outside of the US. I’m good with some international teams and hopefully a lot of international fans but let’s get the plane off the ground first.
I believe it was MM that said this new XFL will be quite different from the last one we enjoyed so much. So now we are having to wait approximately another 20 months for something that might or might not be better. This group wasn’t worried about continuing the momentum that the league had and apparently they aren’t worried about keeping the fans they had as many have or will move on. I’m not throwing in the towel yet but I don’t have the confidence I did.

Now I guess we can focus on the USFL and hope they can put out a good product but I’m cautious about this league as well.
Tank55
MVP
Posts: 2804
Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2019 3:57 pm

Re: XFL officially delays start until 2023

Post by Tank55 »

laxtreme56 wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 2:30 am Let's not forget Redbird/XFL just hired 2 high level executives from the NFL and ESPN respectively im the past month or so. These guys will be instrumental in working on TV deals and streaming rights. There's already rumors Disney is interested and with Garcia's production company that should cut down costs considerably. Look to bring in Toronto and Montreal in 2023/24 and TSN could easily throw $10-15 million towards the league. This new XFL has way more money and clout than McMahon ever had. I can only see them bolstering their front office over the next 90 days
Well, Redbird does a lot more than just not run the XFL, so I don't think we can assume that any hirings they make have anything to do with anything.

I do think we'll soon if they're actually going to try to make this work on their own. The original XFL 2.0 ramp started in late 2017 and was announced in January 2018. That gave them two full years to launch. We're now 19 months away from February 2023. If they're going to make that date, they need to start building out their team soon.
2020 East Division Champions
2021 February Monthly T-Shirt Giveaway Champion
laxtreme56
Coach
Posts: 886
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2020 6:16 pm

Re: XFL officially delays start until 2023

Post by laxtreme56 »

Tank55 wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 9:19 pm
laxtreme56 wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 2:30 am Let's not forget Redbird/XFL just hired 2 high level executives from the NFL and ESPN respectively im the past month or so. These guys will be instrumental in working on TV deals and streaming rights. There's already rumors Disney is interested and with Garcia's production company that should cut down costs considerably. Look to bring in Toronto and Montreal in 2023/24 and TSN could easily throw $10-15 million towards the league. This new XFL has way more money and clout than McMahon ever had. I can only see them bolstering their front office over the next 90 days
Well, Redbird does a lot more than just not run the XFL, so I don't think we can assume that any hirings they make have anything to do with anything.

I do think we'll soon if they're actually going to try to make this work on their own. The original XFL 2.0 ramp started in late 2017 and was announced in January 2018. That gave them two full years to launch. We're now 19 months away from February 2023. If they're going to make that date, they need to start building out their team soon.
You're correct in saying Redbird is more than just the XFL, but the 2 guys they hired are well versed in network contract negotiations. What other properties would they need that help in besides the XFL currently? That's like if your car breaks down and and have a mechanic come look at it, perhaps he's also an interior designer and was hired to spruce up the place, but odds are he's just there to get the car up and running again.

While we all think the XFL was running well, how many actually looked at the bankruptcy documents. Remember at one time apparently dozens of interested parties were rumored to buy, but only one group actually placed a bid. Perhaps the saw the dearth of national sponsorship money, the greatly inflated attendance (8k+ tickets comped or discounted for the Guardians home opener) there was something that gave these other parties cold feet. Say what you want about MLS, but franchises are selling for half a billion dollars now and teams have season ticket waiting lists of 20k+ The quick fix is never the answer, slow and steady wins the race.
4th&long
MVP
Posts: 6472
Joined: Sun Nov 24, 2019 2:27 pm

Re: XFL officially delays start until 2023

Post by 4th&long »

laxtreme56 wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 11:51 pm
Tank55 wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 9:19 pm
laxtreme56 wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 2:30 am Let's not forget Redbird/XFL just hired 2 high level executives from the NFL and ESPN respectively im the past month or so. These guys will be instrumental in working on TV deals and streaming rights. There's already rumors Disney is interested and with Garcia's production company that should cut down costs considerably. Look to bring in Toronto and Montreal in 2023/24 and TSN could easily throw $10-15 million towards the league. This new XFL has way more money and clout than McMahon ever had. I can only see them bolstering their front office over the next 90 days
Well, Redbird does a lot more than just not run the XFL, so I don't think we can assume that any hirings they make have anything to do with anything.

I do think we'll soon if they're actually going to try to make this work on their own. The original XFL 2.0 ramp started in late 2017 and was announced in January 2018. That gave them two full years to launch. We're now 19 months away from February 2023. If they're going to make that date, they need to start building out their team soon.
You're correct in saying Redbird is more than just the XFL, but the 2 guys they hired are well versed in network contract negotiations. What other properties would they need that help in besides the XFL currently? That's like if your car breaks down and and have a mechanic come look at it, perhaps he's also an interior designer and was hired to spruce up the place, but odds are he's just there to get the car up and running again.

While we all think the XFL was running well, how many actually looked at the bankruptcy documents. Remember at one time apparently dozens of interested parties were rumored to buy, but only one group actually placed a bid. Perhaps the saw the dearth of national sponsorship money, the greatly inflated attendance (8k+ tickets comped or discounted for the Guardians home opener) there was something that gave these other parties cold feet. Say what you want about MLS, but franchises are selling for half a billion dollars now and teams have season ticket waiting lists of 20k+ The quick fix is never the answer, slow and steady wins the race.
The fact that VM and many "experts" predicted that the XFL would need nearly $300mm to be launched with no guarantee is one reason why buyers passed. The other is that IF there was no buyer the assets would have been auctioned off for cheap. Thirdly - if you weren't planning to play in 2021, just start a new league and use the $15mm plus $9mm in debt towards that.

We read on XFLNewsHub:

>> “The XFL had a number of holes in what they were necessarily offering, and all the CFL went through this process. They realized just how much they were bringing to the table. And if they were going to give up some of its game and its traditions, they needed to make sure that financially and logistically they were where they needed to be and that they were going to benefit from this. They ultimately couldn’t get there.” - TSN Farhan Lalji

Bottomline - XFL is looking for financial Partners to share risk... They weren't coming with a check to make it happen with the CFL. That's how this all reads. And its been that way since day one...

Again DG said early on (paraphrase) "we are looking for more than a no fees TV deal" before they move forward. They over estimated Rock's appeal and now they exhausted two options (Fox and CFL) and they still haven't opened a check book.

>> The consensus from sources I was in contact with was that RedBird Capital would not put one more dollar into the XFL until they secured a lucrative media rights deal.

“Going forward, having media rights deals where there are no fees, that’s not the option that we are looking at, and in fact, we’re in robust conversations with numerous partners.”- DG <<

https://xflnewshub.com/columns/xfl-the- ... 22-season/

So they are still banking on leveraging the 5 weeks of games TV ratings in 2021 to get a TV deal in 2023?, yet they will be 3 yrs removed from that. I've stated they needed to play in 2021 to keep that alive, they chose not to and now they passed on 2022. What TV net is giving a non-VM owned XFL with a whole new "vision" a LUCRATIVE TV deal three years later?

These are legit Questions, its not XFL bashing.

So what's changed in 2021? No CFL help and they say 2023? Are they going to move forward and spend money? Doubtful. IMO they are just trying to c##k block the USFL and buy MORE time to find an investor.

USFL biz model will be a much lower cost, lower risk operation at least early on. BWoods/Fox put on a successful TSL 2021 6+1 season and got respectable ratings with nearly zero promo. They are now rebranding as USFL and per MikeM there are investors . I expect it will be a step up from TSL, but still less than XFL 2.0.
We'll see where it goes but B Woods is cost conscious, something FOX sees as an asset. Fox DID give TSL money as B Woods stated in an "the_markcast" podcast prior to the 2021 season. So FOX is more than just a TV partner. FOX is in Need for low cost sports programming, with the TSL/USFL they have major influence on game scheduling etc... FOX has no movie studio or streaming service as the other Nets have (and even some Streaming services) - They are a US TV focused business and need it. They also are invested into gambling and I would expect FoxBET to be another driver for USFL on Fox.

This is going to be interesting...
GregParks
UFLBoard Correspondent
Posts: 2095
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 8:09 pm

Re: XFL officially delays start until 2023

Post by GregParks »

4th&long wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 1:02 am

We read on XFLNewsHub:

>> “The XFL had a number of holes in what they were necessarily offering, and all the CFL went through this process. They realized just how much they were bringing to the table. And if they were going to give up some of its game and its traditions, they needed to make sure that financially and logistically they were where they needed to be and that they were going to benefit from this. They ultimately couldn’t get there.” - TSN Farhan Lalji
Contrast that quote with Mike's latest article on XFLNewsHub (https://xflnewshub.com/xfl-news/inside- ... laboration) and this, from that article:

"The talks ultimately broke off because while some of the CFL’s leadership/owners were impressed and blown away by the XFL’s global plans, business strategies, and innovations, there were others who had hesitancy and were uncertain about how to operate in an alignment structure." (emphasis mine)

The cynic in me says Lalji's sources are from the CFL (makes sense, he's a Canadian reporter), trying to save face and throw blame on the XFL, while Mitchell's sources are from the XFL (makes sense, he's an XFL reporter), trying to save face and show that the CFL was still impressed with them even in being unable to agree to terms.
4th&long wrote: IMO - sell the rights to name to USFL or work with them in some way as an XFL - USFL partnership makes more sense than a CFL-XFL one ever could.
A large point of the XFL's discussions with the CFL seemed to be opening up that international aspect that the XFL wants - as evidenced by the use of the word "international" in their release ending talks with the CFL. A partnership with the USFL wouldn't accomplish that.
johnnyangryfuzzball wrote: They're not supposed to be starting a whole league from scratch. They did not pay $15 million to start a league from scratch. They are supposed to have inherited some form of infrastructure that would allow them to transition seamlessly back to play after this pandemic.
But...maybe not? Maybe we've been looking at this the wrong way this whole time. We assumed the purchase was made for a quick turn-around using much of the previous league's infrastructure. Maybe that was never the plan at all. The partners may have seen a league to build upon, not as is, but as something more. They obviously have a very grand plan above and beyond what Vince McMahon and Oliver Luck had for the league. The $15 million the partners have put in to buy the XFL has been referred to as "seed money," and I don't think that's an accident; the term "seed" doesn't denote a finished product, rather, something that you're investing in to grow and make larger.

Look, I'm not saying I agree with the route the new owners are taking, or whether or not it's the right one. But it is possible this whole thing is going more according to THEIR plan than some of us think.
@gregmparks
laxtreme56
Coach
Posts: 886
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2020 6:16 pm

Re: XFL officially delays start until 2023

Post by laxtreme56 »

Good analysis Greg. I also don't believe this is the last of the CFL talks. While a few teams released statements yesterday, especially the overly zealous one from Edmonton, the teams mysteriously absent were Montreal and Toronto. Perhaps the XFL puts 2 franchises there as both cities have domes, so does Vancouver as well. If the team (s) do well enough I could see the CFL owners converting over at a lower price point, especially without a players union to no longer deal with.

As for a lucrative T.V. deal I think some of us are thinking into that too much. Sure Garcia made that quip a while back, but she also said they're only a few months from hitting the field as well. Garcia is the creative brains, The Rock is the showman, but let's be real, Redbird is pulling all the strings here and wouldn't be surprised if they ultimate take over 50+% ownership, if they haven't already. A streaming deal and selling rights to the regular season, playoffs, etc. Can be just as lucrative as a paid television deal. Can anyone say Barclay's premier League?
User avatar
Firecop
Coach
Posts: 777
Joined: Mon Mar 04, 2019 10:10 pm

Re: XFL officially delays start until 2023

Post by Firecop »

Tank is right, if 2023 is the goal then things need to begin happening now. 20 months seems like forever for XFL fans but is not a whole lot of time to get an organization up and running, especially with multiple sub organizations (teams). Even if the current XFL ownership group has a "grand plan or plans" in place and even if those plans are right on track, they have still done a great disservice to their supporters by not alluding to them to the extent possible. Weren' t they going to be great communicators and transparent? Weren't they going to be XFL 24/7/365? All hype and little hope so far. Now the USFL has appeared to further confuse the landscape. I can't speak for anyone else on this board but the league that actually fields a team will get my support (and dollars) and right now that is most likely to be the USFL.
Direct from the Dragon's Lair
Tank55
MVP
Posts: 2804
Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2019 3:57 pm

Re: XFL officially delays start until 2023

Post by Tank55 »

laxtreme56 wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 11:51 pmYou're correct in saying Redbird is more than just the XFL, but the 2 guys they hired are well versed in network contract negotiations. What other properties would they need that help in besides the XFL currently? That's like if your car breaks down and and have a mechanic come look at it, perhaps he's also an interior designer and was hired to spruce up the place, but odds are he's just there to get the car up and running again.
I'm not totally following you on this metaphor. The car is the XFL, the broken part is the TV deal, and the mechanics are the recent ESPN hires. The place that needs sprucing up -- what's that supposed to be? Why are Redbird Capitals other sports properties not also cars?

Broadcast rights touch all sports, and Redbird specializes in sports. They own a piece of YES. We don't have to imagine that these guys are experts in something other than television contracts -- that has value across their business.

You may be right -- I don't remember the details on these two guys. Wasn't one directly tied to the XFL (on a Zoom with Garcia?) and the other just hired by Redbird? All I'm saying is don't assume that Redbird activity necessarily = XFL activity.
2020 East Division Champions
2021 February Monthly T-Shirt Giveaway Champion
Post Reply