Bye week?

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johnnyangryfuzzball
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Bye week?

Post by johnnyangryfuzzball »

I've been thinking. A dangerous notion, I know, but it is what it is.

Given how ridiculously crowded the late March period is on ESPN's broadcast schedule, right in the middle of the XFL season, would it make some sense to add a bye week to stretch the season out an extra week and reduce the inventory load ESPN has to accommodate?

I mean, FX has worked out well in terms of having a basic-cable home for the league on a prime Saturday night, but they're still having to navigate around the NHL, NBA, and all the NCAA tournaments they hold the rights to broadcast... and that's part of the reason we have a huge chunk of Thursday and Sunday games in bizarre late-night time slots, which is hurting attendance and ratings.

For future reference in 2024, might the league be better off doing what the UFL did in 2009, spreading one week of games across these two weekends and giving a bye week to each team? The drawback of course would be that you'd have to push the start or end of the season at least a week further in either direction. (Not that playing on the Saturday of the NFL conference championships, Pro Bowl and Super Bowl are non-starters—you're not facing any more competition than you would be by starting it the way you do now—but the setup of starting the week after the Super Bowl seems to be entrenched right now and it works pretty well for what the league wants to do.)
4th&long
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Re: Bye week?

Post by 4th&long »

The need to start earlier IMO regardless of bye weeks, but could do both.

Start as early as NFL Conf Championship Weekend - That Saturday is wide open, same with ProBowl following week and SB week. These games would be in dead winter when the most people are trapped inside and looking for something to watch. You could then spread games out esp durng maddness and masters.
Sounder
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Re: Bye week?

Post by Sounder »

I've got a more radical plan....keep an open mind.
The XFL and USFL need to come to an agreement that results in both leagues playing a common schedule. And within that, you could have interleague. The rules would be that of the host, the tv would go to the road team network. Play the first five weeks from the post super bowl week....then take a two to three week break during the madness....come back with two weeks of XFL -USFL interleague action which has been promoted throughout the off time, teams get their act together, everything resumes the Sunday of final four weekend, right between the semis and championship of the tournament. Then you play the rest, ending with an interleague championship either the weekend before or right after memorial day, because you don't want to compete against the racing.
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Coffeeeyes
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Re: Bye week?

Post by Coffeeeyes »

Sounder wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 11:16 am I've got a more radical plan....keep an open mind.
The XFL and USFL need to come to an agreement that results in both leagues playing a common schedule. And within that, you could have interleague. The rules would be that of the host, the tv would go to the road team network. Play the first five weeks from the post super bowl week....then take a two to three week break during the madness....come back with two weeks of XFL -USFL interleague action which has been promoted throughout the off time, teams get their act together, everything resumes the Sunday of final four weekend, right between the semis and championship of the tournament. Then you play the rest, ending with an interleague championship either the weekend before or right after memorial day, because you don't want to compete against the racing.
Inevitably ends with a merger in that situation, also I think y’all overestimate some of these sports. Competing against NASCAR, NHL, MLS and any other major sport that isn’t MLB or NBA isn’t an issue for the XFL or USFL, the problem is that when big events like March madness happen but you cant prevent it.
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FootballYoda
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Re: Bye week?

Post by FootballYoda »

I like the idea of a bye week to rest and refresh. League would have to stretch the season another week which would cost them to keep the Arlington facility open longer.
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Firecop
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Re: Bye week?

Post by Firecop »

Bye Week - Thumbs Up! :!:
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GregParks
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Re: Bye week?

Post by GregParks »

Some interesting proposals here. I don't feel strongly one way or another on a bye week - I'm not sure it's really needed for a league with a short ramp-up period and 10-game regular season - but something interesting to think about anyway if they were to eventually build one in to the schedule.
@gregmparks
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