The Rock on MNF

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GDAWG
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Re: The Rock on MNF

Post by GDAWG »

4th&long wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:28 pm
GDAWG wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:26 pm With the XFL and USFL around in 2023 at close to the same time, only one will emerge.
Or merge... which is a likely scenario.

Do you think both play in 2023?
I do, but I think only one plays in 2024. I do not know which one though.
GregParks
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Re: The Rock on MNF

Post by GregParks »

4th&long wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:12 pm

The only thing that I didn't like was this over emphasis on the players, that's their #1 goal? No its $$ lol. But it almost sounded they may be working towards dev league situation or it was just fluff. As a fan, that isn't my #1 priority.
I mean, what did you want him to say? "Yeah, we purchased the XFL so we can continue to line our own pockets. That's the deal." Rock was a former football player who didn't make it to the big time, he can relate to the XFL-level player, he's talked about that a lot in his public appearances since purchasing the XFL. Is he blowing smoke? Maybe, but that's part of the job in hyping up a league like this.

Of course they're going to want to make it, outwardly at least, as player-friendly as possible. That's how fans want it framed, and that's what prospective players want to hear when they're trying to decide (a) if playing in a secondary league is worth it and (b) whether to choose the XFL or USFL to be a part of.

I don't want to get into the semantics of what's considered a "developmental" league again, but you'd be naive to think 99% of the players that end up playing in the XFL don't have the goal of trying to get into/get back to the NFL. I have no problem with the owners embracing the idea that this is where players can go to refine their skills and attract the attention of NFL scouts.
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Re: The Rock on MNF

Post by 4th&long »

GregParks wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:32 am
4th&long wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:12 pm

The only thing that I didn't like was this over emphasis on the players, that's their #1 goal? No its $$ lol. But it almost sounded they may be working towards dev league situation or it was just fluff. As a fan, that isn't my #1 priority.
I mean, what did you want him to say? "Yeah, we purchased the XFL so we can continue to line our own pockets. That's the deal." Rock was a former football player who didn't make it to the big time, he can relate to the XFL-level player, he's talked about that a lot in his public appearances since purchasing the XFL.

Of course they're going to want to make it, outwardly at least, as player-friendly as possible. That's how fans want it framed, and that's what prospective players want to hear when they're trying to decide (a) if playing in a secondary league is worth it and (b) whether to choose the XFL or USFL to be a part of.

I don't want to get into the semantics of what's considered a "developmental" league again, but you'd be naive to think 100% of the players that end up playing in the XFL don't have the goal of trying to get into/get back to the NFL. I have no problem with the owners embracing the idea that this is where players can go to refine their skills and attract the attention of NFL scouts.
Let me clarify - as I wasn't specific to my POV. As a fan I'm really only concerned if it will be a good product to watch and that its good FB. That's what I meant by my (and fans) # 1 priority. The $ part was just "give me a break" LOL comment.

So I guess what I wanted him to say was - "The XFL is coming and FB fans are going to love it!" And why.

The Rock didn't talk about that side of it. It was all "priority #1 the players". That might sell well to the 400 or so players but fans Really only want good FB especially after watching 4/6 Garbage NFL wildcard games. And XFL needs millions of fans.

Of course the players are using it to jump into the NFL, but again people aren't going to watch for that, they are watching for the entertainment value and all that goes with it.

It was just a short blip but I think the Rock missed on that IMO. They need to focus less on that and more on why we FB fans want to watch. Now its possible they do have an arrangement with the NFL and may have access to players but I don't think so yet, but who knows maybe that's why Roger Badell was pushing D Smith for NFLPA. That's a lot of speculation there to go deeper - just have to wait and see.
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Re: The Rock on MNF

Post by GregParks »

4th&long wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:53 am
GregParks wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:32 am
4th&long wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:12 pm

The only thing that I didn't like was this over emphasis on the players, that's their #1 goal? No its $$ lol. But it almost sounded they may be working towards dev league situation or it was just fluff. As a fan, that isn't my #1 priority.
I mean, what did you want him to say? "Yeah, we purchased the XFL so we can continue to line our own pockets. That's the deal." Rock was a former football player who didn't make it to the big time, he can relate to the XFL-level player, he's talked about that a lot in his public appearances since purchasing the XFL.

Of course they're going to want to make it, outwardly at least, as player-friendly as possible. That's how fans want it framed, and that's what prospective players want to hear when they're trying to decide (a) if playing in a secondary league is worth it and (b) whether to choose the XFL or USFL to be a part of.

I don't want to get into the semantics of what's considered a "developmental" league again, but you'd be naive to think 100% of the players that end up playing in the XFL don't have the goal of trying to get into/get back to the NFL. I have no problem with the owners embracing the idea that this is where players can go to refine their skills and attract the attention of NFL scouts.
So I guess what I wanted him to say was - "The XFL is coming and FB fans are going to love it!" And why.

The Rock didn't talk about that side of it. It was all "priority #1 the players". That might sell well to the 400 or so players but fans Really only want good FB especially after watching 4/6 Garbage NFL wildcard games. And XFL needs millions of fans.
But don't you think that by acquiring the best players (and you get that in part by making it a place players want to play, selling them on being able to showcase for the NFL, etc.), that will lead to the really good football that you and the fans naturally want? I feel like they go hand-in-hand.
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Re: The Rock on MNF

Post by 4th&long »

GregParks wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 9:17 am
4th&long wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:53 am
GregParks wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:32 am

I mean, what did you want him to say? "Yeah, we purchased the XFL so we can continue to line our own pockets. That's the deal." Rock was a former football player who didn't make it to the big time, he can relate to the XFL-level player, he's talked about that a lot in his public appearances since purchasing the XFL.

Of course they're going to want to make it, outwardly at least, as player-friendly as possible. That's how fans want it framed, and that's what prospective players want to hear when they're trying to decide (a) if playing in a secondary league is worth it and (b) whether to choose the XFL or USFL to be a part of.

I don't want to get into the semantics of what's considered a "developmental" league again, but you'd be naive to think 100% of the players that end up playing in the XFL don't have the goal of trying to get into/get back to the NFL. I have no problem with the owners embracing the idea that this is where players can go to refine their skills and attract the attention of NFL scouts.
So I guess what I wanted him to say was - "The XFL is coming and FB fans are going to love it!" And why.

The Rock didn't talk about that side of it. It was all "priority #1 the players". That might sell well to the 400 or so players but fans Really only want good FB especially after watching 4/6 Garbage NFL wildcard games. And XFL needs millions of fans.
But don't you think that by acquiring the best players (and you get that in part by making it a place players want to play, selling them on being able to showcase for the NFL, etc.), that will lead to the really good football that you and the fans naturally want? I feel like they go hand-in-hand.
Look - I'm going to be watching - you don't have to sell us. And quite frankly I do an eye roll on the over selling to fans - BUT it works. "For the Love of Football" was XFL 2.0's motto. That SELLS. "For the Benefit of Player development" Does Not. That's all I'm saying. Even Manning sounded awkward when asked by the Rock.

You can imply that what's good for players will translate into good FB but its not the same.

At the end of the day the Rock got them to mention XFL and he got the word out that in 2-3 weeks more news is coming. But IMO they need to drop the 'its for the players' tag line and focus on their fan base like XFL 2.0 did.
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Re: The Rock on MNF

Post by laxtreme56 »

I can see both points of view here. You need to get the fans excited and invested, but also need quality football. Giving players incentive to continue their careers in the XFL can only be a good thing. I didn't really expect The Rock to go into much detail on the behind the scenes stuff, and honestly the ManningCast isn't the outlet for it anyway. The Rock and Redbird aren't selling to alternative football fans, they know we're going to watch anyway, and history has shown, their aren't enough of us to keep things profitable in the long term. What they need to do is tap into the 100million+ that watch the Super Bowl every year and get 2% of them to watch and attend games weekly,.
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Re: The Rock on MNF

Post by GregParks »

4th&long wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 9:37 am
GregParks wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 9:17 am
4th&long wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:53 am

So I guess what I wanted him to say was - "The XFL is coming and FB fans are going to love it!" And why.

The Rock didn't talk about that side of it. It was all "priority #1 the players". That might sell well to the 400 or so players but fans Really only want good FB especially after watching 4/6 Garbage NFL wildcard games. And XFL needs millions of fans.
But don't you think that by acquiring the best players (and you get that in part by making it a place players want to play, selling them on being able to showcase for the NFL, etc.), that will lead to the really good football that you and the fans naturally want? I feel like they go hand-in-hand.
Look - I'm going to be watching - you don't have to sell us. And quite frankly I do an eye roll on the over selling to fans - BUT it works. "For the Love of Football" was XFL 2.0's motto. That SELLS. "For the Benefit of Player development" Does Not. That's all I'm saying. Even Manning sounded awkward when asked by the Rock.

You can imply that what's good for players will translate into good FB but its not the same.

At the end of the day the Rock got them to mention XFL and he got the word out that in 2-3 weeks more news is coming. But IMO they need to drop the 'its for the players' tag line and focus on their fan base like XFL 2.0 did.
I agree with most if not all of this. If you've seen what Dany Garcia and The Rock have posted on Instagram and Twitter, many of their posts include the hash-tag #ForTheLoveOfFootball. That tells me they're not completely getting rid of that mantra. I guess my perception is we're reading too much into Rock's statements last night and extrapolating that out as some kind of tag-line the league is going to use over the next year. I'm not convinced that's the case.
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Re: The Rock on MNF

Post by 4th&long »

laxtreme56 wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:22 am I can see both points of view here. You need to get the fans excited and invested, but also need quality football. Giving players incentive to continue their careers in the XFL can only be a good thing. I didn't really expect The Rock to go into much detail on the behind the scenes stuff, and honestly the ManningCast isn't the outlet for it anyway. The Rock and Redbird aren't selling to alternative football fans, they know we're going to watch anyway, and history has shown, their aren't enough of us to keep things profitable in the long term. What they need to do is tap into the 100million+ that watch the Super Bowl every year and get 2% of them to watch and attend games weekly,.
Of course you need quality football and saying we are going to get great FB players is good PR, but that's not the same our priority is to help the players.

I guess I'm saying when talking to the fans - focus on the reasons they want to watch. When talking to the players (which is a smalll group that we won't be included in) then sell why playing in the league makes sense. That goes for both XFL and USFL.

And you are absolutely correct they are selling to FB fans in general. That's the major point.
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Re: The Rock on MNF

Post by laxtreme56 »

NFL.com posted The Rock's XFL segment from last night. While going full on NFL developmental league may not be ideal, (and likely not Rock/Garcia/Red Bird plans anyway) befriending the most powerful league on the planet can only be good for business. https://www.nfl.com/videos/dwayne-the-r ... ure-of-xfl
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Re: The Rock on MNF

Post by 4th&long »

laxtreme56 wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 11:17 am NFL.com posted The Rock's XFL segment from last night. While going full on NFL developmental league may not be ideal, (and likely not Rock/Garcia/Red Bird plans anyway) befriending the most powerful league on the planet can only be good for business. https://www.nfl.com/videos/dwayne-the-r ... ure-of-xfl
I'm not surprised by them doing this at all, it came across that way to me.

Look NFLN needs programming BAD, more than ever since they sold out TNF exclusing rights (mostly) to Amazon. Could the deal be an NFLN deal to televise games? Absolutely, NFLN needs something to justify the carriage fee and stay available on cable systems. Remember the poorly promoted AAF games on NFLN avgeraged something like 360-80k viewers which is BIG for NFLN outside of Draft or NFL games.

Could it be more than that? yep - but we'll see.
Last edited by 4th&long on Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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