The Rock on CNBC

[herns]

The rock was on CNBC and said within the next few months they’ll announce the broadcast partner, the new teams, and the new cities.

https://twitter.com/the_markcast/status ... 52497?s=21

[Tank55]

ESPN or bust, right? Or honestly, if the USFL isn't kicking off until April, I wonder if FOX is even off the table? More football is more football.

[herns]

ESPN or bust, right? Or honestly, if the USFL isn't kicking off until April, I wonder if FOX is even off the table? More football is more football.

I saw Mike Mitchell mention Amazon as a potential partner. I think Fox and NBC are likely off the table. CBS and Tnt/TBS likely aren’t options due to March madness. I’m guessing espn and Amazon

[laxtreme56]

The NFL network desperately needs content. They were happy with AAF ratings and this version of the XFL seems more friendly towards NFL collaboration.

[4th&long]

The NFL network desperately needs content. They were happy with AAF ratings and this version of the XFL seems more friendly towards NFL collaboration.

Agreed. Desperate is the word.

I definitely see NFLN in play especially if XFL get cheap prod cost. I could see Amazon cut a deal esp if they can get a movie deal with the ROCK. Plus Amazon needs LIVE content and they may want to leverage any hires related to NFL-TNF.

AAF had mid-300k ratings on the much lower profile NFLN (esp in off season) and lower # of households availability. That beats MLS on ESPN.

[Gopher123]

I would be very surprised if ESPN isn’t involved. I agree that NFLN could be as well. Maybe this could be part of that XFL/NFL working relationship MM wrote about as a possibility last month?

The broadcast deals, or lack there of, was seen as a big hurdle in getting XFL 3.0 off the ground. Now it seems there is something to announce so as long as it’s substantial I’ll be happy.

[4th&long]

I would be very surprised if ESPN isn’t involved. I agree that NFLN could be as well. Maybe this could be part of that XFL/NFL working relationship MM wrote about as a possibility last month?

The broadcast deals, or lack there of, was seen as a big hurdle in getting XFL 3.0 off the ground. Now it seems there is something to announce so as long as it’s substantial I’ll be happy.

I think the difference may be that XFL 3.0 opened up the check book first, that was something they were unwilling to do in 2021 & 2022. If they are now spending their own funds, which they are apparently doing, they likely will get more interest. The financing and revenue packages will be interesting.

I'm curious as to what they get as far as TV interest vs 'paying for time' like AAF did or for free like XFL 2.0 did. ESPN has alot of programming now in the mid-Feb time frame (NBA, NHL, CBB, MLS with MLB picking up in late March). And TNT/TBS have NBA/NHL. And CBS is heavy with CBB. I would not rule out NBC/Peacock.

So it will be interesting to see what TV picks up vs Streamer like Amazon and ESPN+ (possibly even Disney+), and I would not rule out NBC/Peacock. Bottomline on streaming is all these big TV nets are scrambling to increase programming as all they have done is increase the number of hours they need to fill.

Its also going to be interesting on how long a season they have, 8, 10, 12 games.