I’m really bored because I have USFL game on while playing on my phone. I do think with enough patience and investment that spring football could be successful. But 2 spring leagues? Totally unnecessary. Merger would be wise. I watched a little XFL and knew a few players. Not one player I know on the Michigan or Houston teams (and why they playing in Memphis?).
The original USFL in the 80’s was good fun football. Could have still had a spring league that was solid if Trump had not ruined it. A merger of the current USFL and XFL would not even come close to being as good as the original USFL. RIP John Bassett
I attempted to watch the game yesterday afternoon waiting for our baseball game to start. Obviously it was the "G League" for football (better candidates than your typical college team) and yet, it did not catch my eye. The announcers were okay (they are auditioning for the big leagues also) but I think the energy is bad with no one in the stands. Reminded me of 2020 during Covid. It pretty much goes to what I do with any sports team: figure out where any former Gators are playing and see if they are doing well. And then maybe I will get attached. Probably not that much different from most other viewers and motivations.
And it's easy to see why there is no one in the stands. For some reason beyond my understanding they play their games at neutral sites. For example, next week Michigan plays Philadelphia in Canton, OH. How many Michigan or Philadelphia fans are going to travel to Canton, OH? It's just a brilliant business plan.
To be honest, I'm not watching nor interested in either. I've been focused on gymnastics, softball and baseball.
TV revenue is all they care about. Its really that way in the NFL too. The gate is a drop in the bucket. If the TV product takes off, they will move them into their home markets.
I get the idea that $255 million for Hurts is a drop in the bucket too. Talk about gold mines, the NFL has them. Personally I'd rather watch "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre."
Chicken or Egg dilemma. Does fandom drive viewership or viewership drive fandom. Personally, I would be in the former group, but as demonstrated by the Braves when they were broadcast nationally on a superstation, they generated a large national following.
That was back when the Braves manager got into trouble over some alleged domestic violence, i.e. slapping his wife. As I recall, he argued that her face somehow got in the way of his hand.
I think the key to a Spring league would be the territorial draft and territorial allocations. Your local team gets first dibs on every player. And cheap tickets. I think we'd be willing to support a spring league if it were done with only fan service in mind. Have a product designed simply for entertainment -- get rid of all the TV timeouts and switch to a split screen for commercials like soccer does. Experiment with rule changes, like a call has to directly influence the play to be called. If a guy is injured on the field and the clock stops, he's out for the duration of the series. Make it a long season rather than a short one, so you have a chance to follow the team. And create strong social media presences for each team in town. I think both the X and the US Fls started with TV in mind, and they should have started with building local support. That's what the original USFL did.
I come to praise XFL (and plug CFL) the gameplay ain’t great, but the commitment from the communities is amazing. St. Louis is a top team and have a great fan base, Texas has a lot of support for its (very capable) teams. the DC Defenders are unquestionably the best-supported team in the DMV and are leading the league. lots to love here, XFL has the recipe. USFL being in Bama again is ridiculous. they should have just shut it down last year - the only logical conclusion is that Alabama is giving them incredible tax breaks. my favorite is definitely the CFL, I am a huge fan. community support is great, the teams are historic. CFL is a gateway drug to XFL/AAFL/spring football generally, let’s mainline this football folks
what Dean Blandino is doing for the XFL and refereeing is historic, remove the obfuscation. this is probably the lasting legacy of the XFL - removing the veil from refereeing
