In 2001, WWE owner Vince McMahon started the XFL. A league that featured 8 teams in Orlando, New Jersey, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Birmingham, Memphis, and Las Vegas.
The XFL was different, instead of coin tosses to determine who got the ball first, players from each team ran to get the football and whoever got the ball, that team would get the ball first.
But this wasn’t smart at all, players were getting hurt doing this silly way of winning a toss. Players also had nicknames on their jerseys like Rod Smart of the Las Vegas Outlaws famous “He Hate Me”. There were no PAT kicks after a team scores a touchdown, instead, teams had to convert a two-point conversion.
There were some positives in the XFL like sky cam, which at the time was only used in college football, and mics to hear both the coaches and players which the NFL didn’t do at the time.
It was cool to hear both coaches and players calling for changing plays during the game. Players like Tommy Maddox, John Avery, Rod Smart, and other players got the chance to showcase their skills and after the XFL season, signed with NFL or CFL teams.
What didn’t help the XFL was it felt like you were watching a pro wrestling event instead of a football game. They would use wrestlers like former football player Dwayne Johnson, known as The Rock, and other wrestlers to use their famous catchphrases to hype up the game instead of the game itself. There were storylines in these games with players and cheerleaders acting like wrestlers.
As a result, pro football fans turned off the games, ratings declined every week after week 1 and in the end, the XFL folded. Vince McMahon and NBC lost over $100 million dollars.
Since then, a documentary called “This Is The XFL” debuted on ESPN last year. I recommend watching this because you learn more about what went on behind the scenes during the XFL 2001 season.
But, after the program aired, there was a conversation between Vince McMahon and Dick Ebersol. Here is a video of the two talking about starting over.
Over the past month, rumors began swirling that WWE owner Vince McMahon is planning to start another football league under the newly created Alpha Entertainment. Trademarks such as UFL, United Football League, and For The Love Of The Game are now active under Alpha Entertainment.
Even McMahon fueled these rumors when he sold shares of WWE stock worth over $100 million dollars to fund Alpha Entertainment. A Twitter handle by the name of Brad Shepard put a tweet out saying that McMahon could announce his intentions of starting a football league on January 25th.
The idea of McMahon starting another football league raises questions. Did he learn his mistakes the first time running a pro football league? After all, some of his business ideas haven’t done well like the XFL, WWF New York restaurant, and World Bodybuilding Federation.
What would he do differently with this league? Is he going to go back to old-school, smash-mouth football like what the NFL used to be? These are just some of the questions people are wondering especially given how much football has changed in the last 17 years since the XFL season.
If Vince McMahon really wants to invest in a pro football league, then he could pick up the phone and call CFL commissioner Randy Ambroise. The two of them could discuss the possibility of McMahon becoming an owner of a CFL team.
The CFL could benefit from having McMahon as one of the owners. What Vince is great at is his connections with high-profile owners like Jerry Jones, Arther Blank, Tom Benson, and more. He could help bring back CFL USA with his team in the United States and could convince other owners to field a team as well. McMahon is also a great promoter.
He could promote the heck out of the CFL and possibly bring in more fans to the league. McMahon would create more exposure for the CFL which might lead them to a good tv deal in the United States and Canada. Will Vince McMahon make an announcement on January 25th? We’ll have to wait and see.
Do you think Vince McMahon will start a football league? Leave a comment below.
