3 Reasons Why The NFL Should Fear The XFL

Return of Kings ^ | February 15, 2018 | Brian F. Lockard

[vannrox]

If you haven’t heard, Vince McMahon is resurrecting the XFL in 2020, and if I was Roger Goodell, I would be very, very afraid. McMahon is somebody who has been in and around sports and sports entertainment for a very long time. He took the reins of the WWE in 1982, and it is still a very strong brand with high viewership and decent ratings. The WWE has been thriving for decades now. Not as long as the NFL, but… you see my point.

Vince is a calculating businessman, and a highly successful one. The original XFL was a failure because it didn’t take itself too seriously. But that was a different time.

Now, the NFL has made the mistake of taking itself too seriously. It has annoyingly embedded itself in political and social issues, rather than remaining neutral and impartial. We don’t care what Colin Kaepernick says about racial prejudice, or anything that Al Michaels says about anything. Their condescending ignorance is painfully hollow. We don’t care about their politics. We just want football!

So here are three reasons why the NFL should fear McMahon’s potential gridiron messiah…

1. NFL Games Are Simply Dull

Honestly, we just want to see these idiots (the players) kill each other (on the field, of course, though some of them have taken their work home with them), and we’re not even allowed that! A whole bevy of slanted rules of contact favoring quarterbacks, halfbacks, and wide receivers (the owners’ hottest commodities) have taken away a lot of the defensive spectacle that old football had.

Even the kickoff is ruined for the sake of mitigating violence. Imagine the most adrenaline-packed playoff game, the hype leading up to it, the crowd—the mob is primed and ready and drunk since 9AM—and the very first thing that happens is a disappointing sequence of inaction. A touchback! O holy blue balls!

Soon, it might all very well be flag football exclusively. Never say never when it comes to greed and the protection of the owners’ prized stallions.

Another malady the No Fun League refuses to treat is the pace of games, which have become nauseatingly sluggish. With the over-analyzing of replays and incessant penalties, which are reportedly up 20 percent since 2009, a sport that was once teeming with exciting moments and memorable displays of physical feats has been reduced to a time drag, a slow crawl to the next commercial break. When the Little League World Series is more exciting than the Super Bowl, you know you’re in trouble.

The maudlin, inebriated ballads of the disgruntled Browns fan in the corner of the pub are far more interesting. And in these ballads, you hear voices. Through the slurring of adjectives and expletives, the mob is in a confused, delirious state of discontent.

2. Its Stars Are Detestable

The mob is growing tired of prima donna athletes, who chew and spit out the hands that elevated them from street thug to penthouse thug. What image is the league presenting by jumping on the “progressive” bandwagon, yet handing out slaps on the wrist and second chances to convicted felons and ultimately glorifying this behavior? The mob has had enough of the double standards.

And finally, the mob is growing tired of the unpatriotic atmosphere these ignoramuses perpetuate, even if it’s all at the behest of their overlords. They simply do what they’re told. But they’ve forgotten that they exist for our entertainment. For our amusement. And nobody is forcing them to do it. You assume the risk of bodily injury by putting on the pads. Don’t like it? Don’t play. Simple as that.

With ratings hitting all-time lows (down 9% in week 15), merchandise sales plummeting, and attendance deteriorating faster than Dak Prescott’s intangibles, fans are hungry for a new medium to sate their inherent thirst for blood, for contemporary gladiatorial games to commence once again. They just don’t know it yet. The desire has been laying dormant as of now. People have come to terms with the NFL monopoly. At least it’s something, right?

As a result, the NFL has been getting away with mediocrity for years, except now they’ve exposed their flaws for the world to see, and Janet Jackson’s nip slip may be more prophetic than we initially realized. There are cracks in the foundation. And the XFL might just find enough room to squeeze in.

3. Market Potential

Yes, there’s a market for new football. Gritty, spectacular, testosterone-fueled blood sport. And Vince McMahon is no doubt salivating at the chance of redeeming himself in this market. McMahon understands that football should be entertainment primarily, because that is exactly what it is and should be treated as.

Just imagine a Roman gladiator, a person barely higher than the level of slave, screaming up from the pit instead of battling tigers, attempting to dictate what the Senate should do. Nobody would listen. There’s a time and place for everything, and politics do not belong in sport.

McMahon believes this and is making it a selling point. A shrewd, tactical approach in the wake of a season that will be remembered more for tabloid headlines instead of what really matters: the football itself. He also believes that players with criminal records will not enjoy the eventual fruits this rebooted league will bear.

With standards so low in our society as it pertains to culture for what degeneracy, the new XFL will be a deep, crisp breath of fresh air. A clean inhale, free from the smog of politics and pop culture brain-rot.

Ironically, this competition may be good for the NFL, who will no doubt be forced to improve their own image and the quality of their product if the XFL becomes more popular. Only time will tell.

But if McMahon has learned anything from his friend Trump, playing to the mob and giving the people what they truly want is a model to be emulated and repeated, something the NFL has forgotten.

Read More: 4 Reasons Why Americans Will Never Fully Embrace Soccer

[Vermont Lt]

Dude, if you want us to spend all day on this website, just buy an ad.

This stuff is all click bait.

[GreenHornet]

The only way to beat the NFL is when the best players start going to the XFL instead Pay the players more than the NFL is doing but the NFL is a moneymaking juggernaut so I don't see that happening

The last time around, Vince set up the XFL salary structure as follows: Quarterbacks made $35K per season, all other players made $30K. I don't see Vinnie Mac paying out any big salaries this time around, either.What are the players going to do? Since Vince owns all of the franchises, they can't become free agents and sign for more money with another XFL team. Most of the players will sign on with the XFL hoping to stand out enough to attract the attention of one of the NFL teams.

[Mr. Jeeves]

When you combine injuries, brief careers, and a talent shortage, a competitive second league is impossible.

By that standard, minor-league baseball is impossible. But it seems to be pretty well-attended. :)

The XFL will be a minor league, no matter what happens. But people will give it a chance.

[ThunderSleeps]

Respectfully, I disagree. There are thousands of good players in college. Only a couple hundred or so make it into the NFL. I see three things going for an XFL restart. One, there are plenty of good players. Two, the players that go into the NFL are they ones that can excel in that rule-bound environment. They are not necessarily the best physically. Three, a more raw, less scripted game, where mistakes are made on both sides of the ball makes for a more exciting, anything can happen on any play environment. I like his chances.

[discostu]

And putting a bunch of NFL washouts in a game will fix which parts of that? Note it didn’t before. The XFL put out a terrible product that got pathetic ratings and probably shouldn’t even have bothered to finish the season. I predict it’ll be even more pathetic this time, they actually might give up midseason.

[discostu]

2 of the 4 broadcasting contracts were renewed last year. One doubled in price, the other went up over 30%. The NFL ain’t dying. They’re still the biggest game in town, by a large margin.

[Redleg Duke]

Agree! I love football, but I detest the NFL.

As a life-long Packer Backer, the NFL has betrayed Vince Lombardi and the rest of my childhood hero’s. The NFL is dead to me!

[discostu]

2 of 6. Brain not do math early in morning.

[photodawg]

Specifically, at the most important position, there might be 12 NFL quarterbacks who play at a consistently high level. At least three will get knocked out for the season, and another three will miss substantial game time because of injuries.

When you combine injuries, brief careers, and a talent shortage, a competitive second league is impossible.
////////////////////////////////

True enough. Here is where your analysis breaks down. The NFL locker rooms are now divided between the social activist revolutionaries and the guys who just want to play football. The Oakland Raiders black linemen refused to block for the white “star” QB because he refused to support the protests. The QB was out for the season with rib injuries. Many talented players will be forced out of the NFL because they will be viewed by the thugs now running the league as SCABS, I remember the AFL was laughed at until Joe Namath jumped to the league for $400,000 a year and brought instant respectability to the league. The hard core football fan will put up with less talent in favor of more entertaining games. college football has a great following even though National Champ Alabama couldn’t beat the worst team in the NFL. McMahon is a marketing genius and many fans will jump to XFLjust to stick it up the NFL’s sanctimonious ass!

[wrcase]

The XFL could survive as a minor-league if he offers the top high-school players the opportunity to play for pay just as baseball does.

[EliRoom8]

And Hillary won the popular vote in 2016. So . . . Wow!

[discostu]

When you’re talking about a professional sports league it’s the money that matters. I know here it’s popular to blame all of the NFL’s woes on kneeling players but out in reality the NFL doesn’t actually have any woes that anybody else isn’t having. Yes ratings are down, LESS than the average for the rest of TV, and less than most of the other sports league, and the numbers are still high enough that the networks are willing to pay significantly more for the rights than the expiring contracts. You asked about the predictions of NFL resurgence, I pointed out they’re fine. Any problems they’re having will be faced equally by the XFL, much like how they’re being faced by NCAA (ratings are down, attendance dropped 34% in recent years).

[oldvirginian]

“Delusional.

There are not enough high quality players and coaches to staff the 32 team NFL, even at the beginning of the season..”

Not really.
I would rather watch two teams of lesser quality athletes play with every bit of their ability EVERY PLAY than watch overpaid “top quality” athletes only use half their ability.

Give me players who play for love of the game and I will watch.
Until they start kneeling.

[oldvirginian]

McMahon also learns from his mistakes.
At one time WCW was kicking WWE butt and people were looking for McMahon to fold.
Instead he revamped his product and repackaged the company and ended up buying WCW.

Mac won’t make the same mistakes this time.
The man learns.

[demsux]

They can finance the whole thing via a new XFL owned fantasy football operation like Draftkings...I’d be in.

[dfwgator]

Here’s the problem.

The quality of play in the NFL has declined significantly, at times games are just unwatchable as a result. What kind of players are going to be in the XFL? The only thing that keeps the NFL where it is, is the history of the teams, and the built-up loyalty to those teams. There is no history, or tradition with the XFL, it’s most likely just going to be bad, boring football. And bad football is very boring.

[zeestephen]

Re: “The XFL will be a minor league, no matter what happens.”

We already have a highly successful minor league.

It’s called “college football.”

[zeestephen]

Re: “They can finance the whole thing via a new XFL owned fantasy football operation like Draftkings...I’d be in.”

That's a really interesting idea.

One wild card, though.

I think the NFL has just begun to deal with the long term medical liabilities created by their former players.

Until somebody gets a good fix on what that final number will be, I think McMahon will struggle to attract investors.