Football Discussion Forums

Is this the end of the XFL brand? Started 24 years ago with the vision of smashmouth football and the promise of a new and innovative football spectacle, after one year it went away. But it never died as McMahon brought it back with the success he had hoped for the first time around. Sadly, the pandemic brought it down. New owners thought they had the charm, but they could never achieve the same magic.

Soon, the league will morph into something new. It won’t be the XFL for much longer. Does that really matter? Isn’t it about the football? Well, sure. The pigskin will be snapped and play will go on.

Years from now, some time after these owners fail and Spring football is only thought of as a nightmare for cashed-out ex-owners, will a new owner step forward with the dream to revive the XFL brand?

Will there be an XFL 4.0?
.

MarkNelson wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2023 12:09 am Is this the end of the XFL brand? Started 24 years ago with the vision of smashmouth football and the promise of a new and innovative football spectacle, after one year it went away. But it never died as McMahon brought it back with the success he had hoped for the first time around. Sadly, the pandemic brought it down. New owners thought they had the charm, but they could never achieve the same magic.

Soon, the league will morph into something new. It won’t be the XFL for much longer. Does that really matter? Isn’t it about the football? Well, sure. The pigskin will be snapped and play will go on.

Years from now, some time after these owners fail and Spring football is only thought of as a nightmare for cashed-out ex-owners, will a new owner step forward with the dream to revive the XFL brand?

Will there be an XFL 4.0?
.

Does it really matter? - No.
We've seen winter-spring football for 5 years now 2019-2023 being AAF>XFL2.0>TSL>USFL>XFL3.0 & USFL. The differences (sans the TSL but even there) was minimal the FB was real FB.

I hope the new league succeeds and there is no failure to look back on. The existence of the two leagues at once was not good for success of either and I hope the merger rectifies that and spring FB progresses forward.

I enjoy the nostalgia of the XFL name, but to the general public it will always be a joke. If this is ownership group can't make spring ball work, then nobody can. This is probably my last stand as a fan as well, if this folds then I'll officially retire my spring football fandom of 25+ years.

I'll always remain faithful to the XFL brand no matter what. I also like the IFL, CFL, etc. but have a unique passion for the XFL. I just want the merger details to finally come out and we can all start to move forward and see what this new league is like.

I am more of a USFL fan but I was glad that they kept the name USFL conference. The league's name makes more sense now, it is essentially, the United (XFL and USFL) Football League. I hope that they keep the Gamblers' name. If it's a merger of equals, the Gamblers' name should stay. But I think that you can argue that the XFL and USFL both live on even though they are now just the name of each conference.

2024 and the XFL relegated to a division name. XFLBoard now UFLBoard.

At least we will have some football to watch on March 30th.

FootballYoda wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 9:01 pm 2024 and the XFL relegated to a division name. XFLBoard now UFLBoard.

At least we will have some football to watch on March 30th.

Remember the promises of never ending XFL from the league owners? Remember the XFL branded weight belts? It was all for this? They were screwing around between 2021 and 2023 letting the USFL get a year head start on them. That’s on Dany Garcia and the Rock.

Joker wrote: ↑Fri Jan 12, 2024 6:02 am

FootballYoda wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 9:01 pm 2024 and the XFL relegated to a division name. XFLBoard now UFLBoard.

At least we will have some football to watch on March 30th.

Remember the promises of never ending XFL from the league owners? Remember the XFL branded weight belts? It was all for this? They were screwing around between 2021 and 2023 letting the USFL get a year head start on them. That’s on Dany Garcia and the Rock.

I took that as blowing smoke from the minute they said it. At least VM set a $ amount and sold stock - pre china covid breakout. I posted in early 10/2020 that delaying till 2022 was a big mistake and they should have had a 2021 stunted short season to keep things moving forward. They weren't ready for that. They day after announcing a delay til 2022 Fox announced the TSL.
The CFL talks were a complete waste of time. B Woods said in May 2021 at time of TSL season start on theMarkcast - why isn't the XFL talking to them? The two leagues were clearly more alike and the USFL was all but official at that point.
But I don't blame the Rock/DG, they aren't wrting the checks. This was on GC/RBC, they thought with ESPN, a winter start and the Rock it would dominate spring FB and force USFL hand (to fold). It obviously didn't as the leagues viewership were nearly identical.
BUT they wisely knew the two leagues could not co-exist so both leagues live on in the UFL, which when you think about it was right where the USFL/Fox wanted to be in year 3 or 4. Teams playing in all cities. A big investor. A long term TV partner. While the XFL was also looking for a large investor and a more TV exposure. Clearly RBC sees potential in spring FB.
So at the end of the day the USFL/Fox is right where they projected. They just got there differently than many expected. I think its all win-win.

Joker wrote: ↑Fri Jan 12, 2024 6:02 am

FootballYoda wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 9:01 pm 2024 and the XFL relegated to a division name. XFLBoard now UFLBoard.

At least we will have some football to watch on March 30th.

Remember the promises of never ending XFL from the league owners? Remember the XFL branded weight belts? It was all for this? They were screwing around between 2021 and 2023 letting the USFL get a year head start on them. That’s on Dany Garcia and the Rock.

Not this again..........