TV ideas

XFL Football discussion.
4th&long
MVP
Posts: 6474
Joined: Sun Nov 24, 2019 2:27 pm

Re: TV ideas

Post by 4th&long »

I'll just say it will be a bit more cramped sch with NHL contract that DIsney has.
MGB01
MVP
Posts: 3313
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2019 8:42 pm

Re: TV ideas

Post by MGB01 »

I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention that ABC blocks out a Saturday for the all-important airing of The Ten Commandments (back to Easter eve after it was on the eve of Palm Sunday in 2022, of course Easter isn't as late in '23), not that the XFL would go prime time but it does affect both bigger leagues.
User avatar
johnnyangryfuzzball
Head Coach
Posts: 1855
Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2019 8:22 pm

Re: TV ideas

Post by johnnyangryfuzzball »

4th&long wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 8:06 pm I'll just say it will be a bit more cramped sch with NHL contract that DIsney has.
A little, but it won't be that big of a block-out.

Remember, in 2020, the XFL's main block was Saturday, 2 p.m. Eastern. The NHL typically airs Sunday afternoons, meaning that the original time slot is still open.
MGB01
MVP
Posts: 3313
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2019 8:42 pm

Re: TV ideas

Post by MGB01 »

Bump with the NHL TV schedule (finally) out, nearly two months after the schedule release. I'm looking more of a MNF-type setup with mostly ESPN and select ABC games.

Probably go opening weekend (which could also include PT if they wanted to), Mar 19-26, April 9 for ABC and ESPN the rest. And maybe 'X-Bowl' to ABC on May 7.

And on a semi-related note ABC will also have the FCS title game on Week 18 Sunday, for all the BUT MARCH MADNESS! types. I always think of David Brinkley hosting NBC News Magazine the night of the iconic Dallas season finale saying "This is for the people who don't give a damn who shot J.R.". Plus people actually might like to flip between both.
DavedaHammer
Quarterback
Posts: 282
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2022 10:19 pm

Re: TV ideas

Post by DavedaHammer »

No drones during a football telecasts, please. Leave the toys at home
4th&long
MVP
Posts: 6474
Joined: Sun Nov 24, 2019 2:27 pm

Re: TV ideas

Post by 4th&long »

MGB01 wrote: Thu Sep 08, 2022 1:44 pm Bump with the NHL TV schedule (finally) out, nearly two months after the schedule release. I'm looking more of a MNF-type setup with mostly ESPN and select ABC games.

Probably go opening weekend (which could also include PT if they wanted to), Mar 19-26, April 9 for ABC and ESPN the rest. And maybe 'X-Bowl' to ABC on May 7.

And on a semi-related note ABC will also have the FCS title game on Week 18 Sunday, for all the BUT MARCH MADNESS! types. I always think of David Brinkley hosting NBC News Magazine the night of the iconic Dallas season finale saying "This is for the people who don't give a damn who shot J.R.". Plus people actually might like to flip between both.
What are you bumping? Is the NHL tv sch conflicting with potential XFL openings?
MGB01
MVP
Posts: 3313
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2019 8:42 pm

Re: TV ideas

Post by MGB01 »

You're.................new at this, aren't you? :lol:

ABC is doing NHL doubleheaders most Saturdays as well as some prime time spots (meaning that The Ten Commandments, I'm sure everyone's favorite, will once again air the night before Palm Sunday, April 1).

Being that in the original NHL schedule release none of these early Saturday games showed up (why I assumed a ton of Rangers/Bruins/Caps/Pens at 3 initially), this could have been a request by the XFL to have their main windows on Sundays, especially if the alternative was moving timeslots with noon starts on Saturday half the season--which eliminates Seattle and Vegas plus gives half the other six 11 AM local starts.

This is also the first time I can ever think of a semi-regular NHL doubleheader on a net (ESPN obviously but not FOX, NBC, or ABC til now), likely to compensate for not having the Stanley Cup in '23.
nick1091
Running Back
Posts: 170
Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2019 9:16 pm

Re: TV ideas

Post by nick1091 »

NHL is in the first year of a seven year deal with ESPN/ABC that the NY Post (who seems to have pretty good sports media source) put at worth $400 million annually, which I'm guessing dwarfs the XFL agreement. I mean it's advantageous probably for XFL to go Sundays since they're likely to pick up right after the Super Bowl, but not sure how much weight would be put by the network on their request.
User avatar
johnnyangryfuzzball
Head Coach
Posts: 1855
Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2019 8:22 pm

Re: TV ideas

Post by johnnyangryfuzzball »

4th&long wrote: Thu Sep 08, 2022 8:28 pm What are you bumping? Is the NHL tv sch conflicting with potential XFL openings?
Yes. Namely, they moved the games from Sunday afternoons where they'd been the past two decades, to Saturday afternoons, the fixed time slot that ABC had given the XFL in 2020.

Now, MOST of the Sunday afternoons don't have an NBA conflict, but weeks 2 and 3 do. That will throw a huge wrench into trying to retain/build an audience. Part of the reason why the XFL held more audience, not just because it began with a bigger audience, is because it was on regularly the same time, the same channel, each week: 2 pm each Saturday on ABC. The NHL has taken that time slot, even though it's repeatedly been shown to do better as a prime time sport (unlike football).

So this is basically what I had feared the most: that ABC and ESPN are basically going to use it like Fox used TSL and the USFL, to plug holes in their schedules that weren't filled by the NBA, NHL or college basketball.
MGB01
MVP
Posts: 3313
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2019 8:42 pm

Re: TV ideas

Post by MGB01 »

Time to revisit this bad boy and see how it squared up:
WEEK 1

Saturday, February 18
3:00PM ET Vegas Vipers @ Arlington Renegades ABC
8:30PM ET Orlando Guardians @ Houston Roughnecks ESPN / FX

Sunday, February 19
3:00PM ET St. Louis Battlehawks @ San Antonio Brahmas ABC
8:00PM ET Seattle Sea Dragons @ D.C. Defenders ESPN
I originally had just Saturday on ABC as I figured they would have put Oilers/Avs, Western Conference Final rematch and Edmonton's only trip to Colorado, on Sunday but that only gets the ESPN+ treatment. Plus the XFL gets Sat night on ESPN that was originally Caps/Canes at CFS, although I expected that to be on ABC from the beginning. Using ESPN to kickstart FX is sort of like NBC with Peacock's MLB package last year. We'll see how it works.
WEEK 2

Thursday, February 23
9:00PM ET St. Louis Battlehawks @ Seattle Sea Dragons FX

Saturday, February 25
7:00PM ET D.C. Defenders @ Vegas Vipers FX

Sunday, February 26
4:00PM ET San Antonio Brahmas @ Orlando Guardians ESPN
7:00PM ET Arlington Renegades @ Houston Roughnecks ESPN2
Had these weeks pretty much set, the Thursday night game's a curveball. This was also originally done not expecting NHL doubleheaders on ABC, which for the NHL network doubleheaders have been unheard of--especially considering they went over decade being only on cable (ESPN, Sportschannel America)
WEEK 3

Saturday, March 4
7:00PM ET Seattle Sea Dragons @ Vegas Vipers FX

Sunday, March 5
1:00PM ET St. Louis Battlehawks @ D.C. Defenders FX
4:00PM ET Orlando Guardians @ Arlington Renegades FX
8:00PM ET San Antonio Brahmas @ Houston Roughnecks ESPN2
Interesting scheduling with the Sunday tripleheader (and the FX DH), hopefully it doesn't seem like overkill.
WEEK 4

Saturday, March 11
7:00PM ET Houston Roughnecks @ Orlando Guardians FX
10:00PM San Antonio Brahmas @ Seattle Sea Dragons FX

Sunday, March 12
4:00PM ET Arlington Renegades @ St. Louis Battlehawks ESPN2
7:00PM ET Vegas Vipers @ D.C. Defenders ESPN2
This was the weekend that ESPN and ABC would be out, ESPN for basketball (they have Knicks/Lakers on after Selection Sunday) and ABC with their daylong Oscars--as I hoped for elsewhere maybe now that ABC's back in the Super Bowl rotation, since this seems to be an answer to it, this slowly goes away over the next few years, aw who am I kidding?
WEEK 5

Thursday, March 16
9:00PM ET Houston Roughnecks @ Seattle Sea Dragons FX

Saturday, March 18
7:00PM ET D.C. Defenders @ St. Louis Battlehawks FX
10:00PM ET Orlando Guardians @ Vegas Vipers FX

Sunday, March 19
10:00PM ET Arlington Renegades @ San Antonio Brahmas ESPN2
So I'm guessing that ABC will handle the first weekend of the women's tournament as they've done the last two years previous. A 9:00 local start in SA on Sunday night is ambitious, although it's likely a byproduct of the women's tourney as well. Just be glad that ESPN didn't outbid CBS/Turner for the men's tourney back in 2010, not only would the gals never see TV but a league like this would never be happening.
WEEK 6

Saturday, March 25
1:30PM ET Seattle Sea Dragons @ Orlando Guardians ESPN
7:00PM ET St. Louis Battlehawks @ Vegas Vipers FX

Sunday, March 26
3:00PM ET San Antonio Brahmas @ Arlington Renegades ABC

Monday, March 27
7:00PM ET Houston Roughnecks @ D.C. Defenders FX
So they do get ABC on that Sunday after all. We'll test my theory of countering if CBS has an underdog (or two) in the Elite Eight and they get the big boy matchup on during the bulk of the XFL game. They usually have it in the 5:00 slot but being they haven't had any counterprogramming for years (other than the golf that moves over to NBC) that hasn't been a concern. This could be different.
WEEK 7

Friday, March 31
7:00PM ET Seattle Sea Dragons @ Arlington Renegades FX

Saturday, April 1
3:00PM St. Louis Battlehawks @ Houston Roughnecks ESPN2
6:00PM ET San Antonio Brahmas @ Vegas Vipers ESPN

Sunday, April 2
7:00PM ET D.C. Defenders @ Orlando Guardians FX
Much like week two throw my original out cause that was under the NHL assumption. ABC has the women's final on Sunday afternoon and ESPN hasn't released the rest of their MLB opening weekend schedule.

And this could/should put the final kibosh on Rock at Wrestlemania, the fact that the XFL has games on the same nights as the RAW and SD before WM. Not to mention that Brahmas/Vipers matchup I had for the opener set for night 1. How is effectively self-counterprogramming going to do anything for the league here?

I preferred though if there was going to be one going against SD, it would Feb 23, the 20th anniversary of Rock lighting Toronto on fire
WEEK 8
Saturday, April 8
1:00PM ET Vegas Vipers @ St. Louis Battlehawks ESPN
4:00PM ET Arlington Renegades @ Orlando Guardians ESPN

Sunday, April 9
3:00PM ET Houston Roughnecks @ San Antonio Brahmas ABC
7:00PM ET D.C. Defenders @ Seattle Sea Dragons ESPN2
Alright, ABC back in the fold, and a Saturday ESPN DH. I'm guessing that Houston's spring game is this weekend. UAB's was last year, hence the USFL opening a week later. I'm sort of glad the AAF never made it to the finish line, Salt Lake hosting a Friday night game that is clearly meant for Utah's spring game the next day, would have been all sorts of bad.
WEEK 9
Saturday, April 15
12:30PM ET Vegas Vipers @ Houston Roughnecks ABC
7:00PM ET Orlando Guardians @ San Antonio Brahmas ESPN2

Sunday, April 16
12:00PM ET Arlington Renegades @ D.C. Defenders ESPN
3:00PM ET Seattle Sea Dragons @ St. Louis Battlehawks ESPN
Our first XFL/USFL head-to-head week is possibly allowing for an afternoon USFL opener, thus the Sat morning (west coast) start--also opening weekend of the NBA playoffs, ABC could go back to an afternoon game after being in primetime. A Sunday ESPN doubleheader leading into Sunday night baseball, always good to be part of the show.
WEEK 10
Saturday, April 22
12:00PM ET Orlando Guardians @ St. Louis Battlehawks ESPN
3:00PM ET D.C. Defenders @ San Antonio Brahmas ABC

Sunday, April 23
3:00PM ET Houston Roughnecks @ Arlington Renegades ESPN
9:00PM ET Vegas Vipers @ Seattle Sea Dragons ESPN2
This week suggests that this weekend of the NBA playoffs (at least during the day) will be reserved for TNT and ABC's game will be Friday night, as I predicted. The two PT teams get 'game 40', but having two non-division games on Saturday is a hmmmmm.
SEMIFINALS
Saturday, April 29
7:00PM ET TBD @ TBD ESPN2

Sunday, April 30
3:00PM ET TBD @ TBD ESPN
As expected the draft kind of runs over everything, you take what you get.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday, May 13
3:00PM ET TBD @ TBD ABC
I thought, if this a home game, maybe a reason for having the week in between (in addition to both games split up over Sat and Sun) was stadium availability since the Sounders host SLC on May 7--my original prediction. But DCU hosts Nashville on May 13, so there'd be an issue there. Of course this all goes away with an Arlington announcement this month.

Overall I can't complain, since I had doubts about what would go where with the NHL now in the picture (where they weren't three years ago). Unless it's just your fantasy league and you just download it from Footballguys or wherever, not having to worry about venues or TV, it's not something you just throw together in half an hour even in a league where everybody plays each other. So this has definitely been a few months in the works.
Post Reply