ESPN/ABC+ XFL advertising & promotion

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4th&long
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Re: ESPN/ABC XFL advertising & promotion

Post by 4th&long »

GDAWG wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 2:53 pm I can't see the XFL announcing their schedule tomorrow for two reasons:

- The Vegas venue has yet to be announced (or even finalized).
- The big topic in the football world is the status of Damar Hamlin (for good reason), so ESPN will want focus most of its daytime coverage on any updates with Hamlin. While things are looking positive for Hamlin, he's not out of the woods yet. Most of us who are football fans (even if we are not NFL fans) are wanting Hamlin to recover and football is secondary to his health. The release of the XFL schedule tomorrow, even if Vegas is finalized would not be the right time.
Well... all other sports are moving forward... So you can be kind but still move forward, the NFL will too at some point. I certainly think XFL can announce Vegas stadium and also state tomorrow that the full schedule will be "released on XXX date" tomorrow as well. Otherwise it looks like using poor Hamlin as cover.
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johnnyangryfuzzball
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Re: ESPN/ABC XFL advertising & promotion

Post by johnnyangryfuzzball »

There's going to be a point, though, where the league isn't going to be able to continue to rely upon filling in gaps in the news cycle, because with the NFL playoff run-up, NHL, NBA, and college basketball, those gaps are filling in fast.

I keep flashing back to the 2012 UFL season. Although that situation was far more extreme in how they postponed everything to the last minute, it was a disaster for everyone involved and pretty much ensured that league's demise. Training camps start in Arlington next week, and we still don't have a Vegas stadium or a schedule for any of the eight teams. Even if they DID manage to land a stadium, at this point it might well be way too late to actually get any tickets sold. (Hey, maybe the Field of ImPOSSEable Dreams is still available! :lol: )
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johnnyangryfuzzball
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Re: ESPN/ABC XFL advertising & promotion

Post by johnnyangryfuzzball »

Actually, looking things up: as far as schedule release goes, this might even be worse than that infamous 2012 UFL season. They released their schedule July 26, ahead of an intended September 19 start date (Week 1 of that season would be cancelled, and it wouldn't start until September 26).

As a reminder, there were games that season in Las Vegas (heh) and Virginia that drew less than 1,000 spectators. Omaha went from over 20,000 a game in 2010 to under 4,000. The XFL is at a major risk of a similar collapse.

There is no denying at this point that the XFL is looking like it's in really, really bad shape as far as being able to relaunch on time.
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Re: ESPN/ABC XFL advertising & promotion

Post by laxtreme56 »

Battlehawks director of player personnel confirmed schedule to be released tomorrow.
4th&long
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Re: ESPN/ABC XFL advertising & promotion

Post by 4th&long »

laxtreme56 wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 8:49 pm Battlehawks director of player personnel confirmed schedule to be released tomorrow.
Let's hope so... but we've heard similar from more profile guys in the past.
They really needed to, its gotta be impacting ticket sales, now does that include full TV schedule, that may be a bit later. The NFL is moving forward already.

MM saying ESPN+ could carry weekly games, which is no surpise to me.

1-ABC/ESPN; 2-ESPN/ESPN2; 3-FX; 4ESPN+ (for the most part) would not shock me.
Last edited by 4th&long on Wed Jan 04, 2023 9:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: ESPN/ABC XFL advertising & promotion

Post by laxtreme56 »

4th&long wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 9:32 pm
laxtreme56 wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 8:49 pm Battlehawks director of player personnel confirmed schedule to be released tomorrow.
They really needed to, its gotta be impacting ticket sales, now does that include full TV schedule, that may be a bit later. The NFL is moving forward already.

MM saying ESPN+ could carry weekly games, which is no surpise to me.

1-ABC/ESPN; 2-ESPN/ESPN2; 3-FX; 4ESPN+ (for the most part) would not shock me.
Seems like the Vegas USL team could have been holding things up. Their home opener was just announced today for early May, nearly 2 months after the season kicks off on March 11. Idk if FX gets a weekly game honestly, but could see ESPN+.
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Re: ESPN/ABC XFL advertising & promotion

Post by 4th&long »

laxtreme56 wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 9:35 pm
4th&long wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 9:32 pm
laxtreme56 wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 8:49 pm Battlehawks director of player personnel confirmed schedule to be released tomorrow.
They really needed to, its gotta be impacting ticket sales, now does that include full TV schedule, that may be a bit later. The NFL is moving forward already.

MM saying ESPN+ could carry weekly games, which is no surpise to me.

1-ABC/ESPN; 2-ESPN/ESPN2; 3-FX; 4ESPN+ (for the most part) would not shock me.
Seems like the Vegas USL team could have been holding things up. Their home opener was just announced today for early May, nearly 2 months after the season kicks off on March 11. Idk if FX gets a weekly game honestly, but could see ESPN+.
While coordinating with the USL Vegas team at this late date may have further delayed the schedule, the blame is solely on the XFL. Whether they made bad assumptions or miscues, this could have been avoided. And no, they can't blame davis and the Raiders, that's lame.

The late USL home opener for the Vegas team may mean field modification/seating or other stadium alterations for the XFL that don't mesh well with the USL.
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Re: ESPN/ABC XFL advertising & promotion

Post by MGB01 »

4th&long wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 9:42 pm
laxtreme56 wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 9:35 pm
4th&long wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 9:32 pm
They really needed to, its gotta be impacting ticket sales, now does that include full TV schedule, that may be a bit later. The NFL is moving forward already.

MM saying ESPN+ could carry weekly games, which is no surpise to me.

1-ABC/ESPN; 2-ESPN/ESPN2; 3-FX; 4ESPN+ (for the most part) would not shock me.
Seems like the Vegas USL team could have been holding things up. Their home opener was just announced today for early May, nearly 2 months after the season kicks off on March 11. Idk if FX gets a weekly game honestly, but could see ESPN+.
While coordinating with the USL Vegas team at this late date may have further delayed the schedule, the blame is solely on the XFL. Whether they made bad assumptions or miscues, this could have been avoided. And no, they can't blame davis and the Raiders, that's lame.

The late USL home opener for the Vegas team may mean field modification/seating or other stadium alterations for the XFL that don't mesh well with the USL.
Just tell me that when/if the USFL doesn't get theirs out until March again that you'll have the same for them
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Re: ESPN/ABC XFL advertising & promotion

Post by 4th&long »

MGB01 wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 9:48 pm
4th&long wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 9:42 pm
laxtreme56 wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 9:35 pm

Seems like the Vegas USL team could have been holding things up. Their home opener was just announced today for early May, nearly 2 months after the season kicks off on March 11. Idk if FX gets a weekly game honestly, but could see ESPN+.
While coordinating with the USL Vegas team at this late date may have further delayed the schedule, the blame is solely on the XFL. Whether they made bad assumptions or miscues, this could have been avoided. And no, they can't blame davis and the Raiders, that's lame.

The late USL home opener for the Vegas team may mean field modification/seating or other stadium alterations for the XFL that don't mesh well with the USL.
Just tell me that when/if the USFL doesn't get theirs out until March again that you'll have the same for them
The USFL had one location ins 2022, and a flex schedule for TV. All 10 weeks were in Birmingham - Its totally different - there's your schedule. Times were flexible for TV.

What will USFL do in 2023? Yeah they should have at least the Birm, Memphis, Mich games dates set ahead of 2022, to help with ticket sales. Maybe not the times and opponents. We'll see - but the biz goals are different enough for each league.
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Re: ESPN/ABC XFL advertising & promotion

Post by GDAWG »

4th&long wrote: Thu Jan 05, 2023 12:57 am
MGB01 wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 9:48 pm
4th&long wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 9:42 pm
While coordinating with the USL Vegas team at this late date may have further delayed the schedule, the blame is solely on the XFL. Whether they made bad assumptions or miscues, this could have been avoided. And no, they can't blame davis and the Raiders, that's lame.

The late USL home opener for the Vegas team may mean field modification/seating or other stadium alterations for the XFL that don't mesh well with the USL.
Just tell me that when/if the USFL doesn't get theirs out until March again that you'll have the same for them
The USFL had one location ins 2022, and a flex schedule for TV. All 10 weeks were in Birmingham - Its totally different - there's your schedule. Times were flexible for TV.

What will USFL do in 2023? Yeah they should have at least the Birm, Memphis, Mich games dates set ahead of 2022, to help with ticket sales. Maybe not the times and opponents. We'll see - but the biz goals are different enough for each league.

Ticket sales aren't the only thing the USFL has to do. They also need to fully reveal what the Showboats look like (we've only seen teases so far), the Stars need to add to their QB room (they have one under contract so far) and announce one or two more hubs. The USFL has been silent on all of these announcements, but my theory on that is that since the USFL season doesn't start until April, that they will wait until after the Super Bowl to announce some or all of these.

I suspect that there will be movement on the Stars QB room within the next few weeks. There's a reason that they only have one QB and my theory is that they are waiting for Case Cookus and I could also see them re-signing KJ Costello (The fact that he hasn't been mentioned anywhere: NFL tryouts, XFL, signed elsewhere in the USFL or wound up in the IFL or NAL is odd if he hasn't retired. He might have decided to retire after the Saints released him).
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