XFL 2023: Third Time's the Charm!

[Cujo]

16 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

What's interesting about these leagues is that their schedules barely overlap. 

• XFL runs from February to mid-May. 
• USFL runs from mid-April to late June.
• CFL runs from early June to mid-November. 

 

I don't think the CFL has anything to worry about since they have such a have a huge following up north. I don't imagine folks up there straying away from their Rough Riders vs Rough Riders to watch the USFL.

 

However, the USFL has a potential problem on their hands because the first month of their season overlaps with the XFL. How many new XFL viewers, after investing a couple months into the league, are going to bail to watch the USFL? Perhaps people who are completely turned off by the XFL (for who knows what reason) or the several 'diehards' the USFL picked up in 2022.

[Sec19Row53]

39 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

One of San Antonio's DB's left Hamilton to play in the States. If Montreal is not the only CFL team with ownership issues I could see more guys making the jump. I also think we will see guys playing in the XFL, then going back to Canada, similar to how during the USFL/NFL days, players would jump between leagues if they weren't the stars. 

Huh? Are you saying that there were players who played in both leagues, one after the other, because they weren't stars? I don't remember that.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

9 minutes ago, Cujo said:

I don't imagine folks up there straying away from their Rough Riders vs Rough Riders to watch the USFL.

 

Note that the Ottawa Rough Riders folded nearly thirty years ago.

[MJWalker45]

2 minutes ago, Sec19Row53 said:

Huh? Are you saying that there were players who played in both leagues, one after the other, because they weren't stars? I don't remember that.

Yes, it happened. I want to say a few of the Browns defensive backups in the early 1980's would have been doing this. The salaries weren't as big as now, but they were still pretty decent for the time. The list below unfortunately only shows if they played in both leagues, not if they played in both leagues in the same year:

https://www.usflsite.com/nflplayers2.php

 

1 minute ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

Note that the Ottawa Rough Riders folded nearly thirty years ago.

And I just realized there's probably an episode of either the Simpsons making fun of these two teams playing each other.  That's flipping crazy!

 

[Sec19Row53]

9 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

Yes, it happened. I want to say a few of the Browns defensive backups in the early 1980's would have been doing this. The salaries weren't as big as now, but they were still pretty decent for the time. The list below unfortunately only shows if they played in both leagues, not if they played in both leagues in the same year:

https://www.usflsite.com/nflplayers2.php

 

 

That players appeared in both leagues isn't in dispute. You make it sound as if players moved from one league to the other on a season's basis. I did a quick search in that list for Browns and I'm not seeing it. In fact, many of the names on that list don't have NFL experience on both sides of the USFL's existence, or have experience in the NFL in 1987, which 'strikes' me as unique to that three week period in 1987.

[McCall]

I feel like the XFL is set-up better for players who were on NFL rosters during the season, but didn't play or get a lot of playing time. They're in playing condition, but don't necessarily have the wear and tear of a full NFL season. Whether they're free agents or if NFL teams would allow these players to play for the XFL, not having to wait 3-4 months for the USFL to begin would probably be more appealing to them. The USFL on the other hand, while it starts months after the end of the NFL season, it does, itself, end closer to NFL training camps, which means they may be better suited for those looking to potentially break into an NFL roster ahead of camp.

[MJWalker45]

1 minute ago, Sec19Row53 said:

That players appeared in both leagues isn't in dispute. You make it sound as if players moved from one league to the other on a season's basis. I did a quick search in that list for Browns and I'm not seeing it. In fact, many of the names on that list don't have NFL experience on both sides of the USFL's existence, or have experience in the NFL in 1987, which 'strikes' me as unique to that three week period in 1987.

I remember hearing about it, and I don't think it would have been a big group, outside of scabs in 1987 after the league already went under and they came in as scabs. I would not have been surprised to see the taxi squad players making up the majority of those moves since I don't believe they would count as NFL players if they never sat the bench in a regular season game. 

 

[TBGKon]

46 minutes ago, McCall said:

I feel like the XFL is set-up better for players who were on NFL rosters during the season, but didn't play or get a lot of playing time. They're in playing condition, but don't necessarily have the wear and tear of a full NFL season. Whether they're free agents or if NFL teams would allow these players to play for the XFL, not having to wait 3-4 months for the USFL to begin would probably be more appealing to them. The USFL on the other hand, while it starts months after the end of the NFL season, it does, itself, end closer to NFL training camps, which means they may be better suited for those looking to potentially break into an NFL roster ahead of camp.

Also, OTAs and minicamps usually occur in the April-June timeframe, so the XFL doesnt conflict with that either for the fringe NFL players the XFL would likely target.

[GDAWG]

1 hour ago, gosioux76 said:

 

What's interesting about these leagues is that their schedules barely overlap. 

• XFL runs from February to mid-May. 
• USFL runs from mid-April to late June.
• CFL runs from early June to mid-November. 

So it's not impossible for a player looking for exposure to land time in all three leagues if they really wanted to. 

 

As @GDAWG noted, there will be players on current XFL rosters who will be drafted by the USFL. I presume this would be less about poaching from a rival league and more an acknowledgement that some of those players will want to continue playing throughout the summer. 

 

When it became known that the XFL and USFL would be reborn, in my mind I had hoped it would result in some sort of super league, like AFL vs. NFL, in which the winners of each played each other in their own version of the Super Bowl. Instead, it seems pretty clear that the leagues are scheduled this way to to fill gaps on the TV schedule so there's always professional football going on during the entirety of the NFL offseason. 

 

If anything, I'd argue the CFL suffers the most from this. I'd tune in to early season games because it was a novelty to see pro football in late summer just as my interest in the NFL was starting to gear back up. But now with two American leagues filling that need, I'll probably want a break from football by June. 

 

Plus, right now we are in a dead period between the Super Bowl and start of the NFL League year on March 15th, unless Aaron Rodgers gets out from the darkness to make a decision before then, which will no doubt be talked about for days.  

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Have ratings been released for the XFL debut? Curious how the Seattle/DC compares to the NBA All-Star game.

[GDAWG]

We all know what Paxton Lynch is, and he's terrible.  If I am the Orlando Guardians I would give Quinten Dormady and Deondre Francios a shot to see what they can do.   I don't think those two ever even got a sniff of NFL rookie minicamps when they came out of college (there's nothing to indicate that either of them had any NFL tryouts either).  If one of them balls out, they might finally get a chance in an NFL training camp.  San Antonio has a guy named Jawon Pass, who also never got any NFL chances either and if he gets a chance to play and does well, he might get looks in the NFL.  

 

Look at Nathan Rourke.  He didn't get any looks from the NFL in 2020, the year he came out and had a tryout with the New York Giants as a wide receiver (the Giants under David "I Love Daniel Jones" Gettleman and Joe Judge) in 2021.  He balled out in Canada and earned an NFL deal with the Jaguars after many tryouts.  Rourke should be better than CJ Beathard.  

[Cruhawk7975]

Full Neilson ratings don't come out until tomorrow due to Presidents day delaying reporting. But I did see on twitter that apparently some local data is out. The St. Louis vs. San Antonio game outdrew the Daytona 500 in Saint Louis by nearly a 2:1 ratio.  

[Red Comet]

2 hours ago, gosioux76 said:

 

Instead, it seems pretty clear that the leagues are scheduled this way to to fill gaps on the TV schedule so there's always professional football going on during the entirety of the NFL offseason. 

 

 

The raison d’etre of these leagues basically being filler for the NFL is pretty funny to me.

[MJWalker45]

15 minutes ago, Red Comet said:

The raison d’etre of these leagues basically being filler for the NFL is pretty funny to me.

I think it's that, and that people would rather watch sports of any kind instead of doing something else. But they still would rather watch football than hockey, soccer, or basketball. 

[Cujo]

56 minutes ago, Cruhawk7975 said:

The St. Louis vs. San Antonio game outdrew the Daytona 500

 

A real sport drew more viewers than people driving a car. Shocking. 

[gosioux76]

1 hour ago, Cujo said:

 

I don't think the CFL has anything to worry about since they have such a have a huge following up north. I don't imagine folks up there straying away from their Rough Riders vs Rough Riders to watch the USFL.

 

However, the USFL has a potential problem on their hands because the first month of their season overlaps with the XFL. How many new XFL viewers, after investing a couple months into the league, are going to bail to watch the USFL? Perhaps people who are completely turned off by the XFL (for who knows what reason) or the several 'diehards' the USFL picked up in 2022.

 

I don't think this is the point. I was speaking primarily to the attention of the American audience, which otherwise might give CFL ratings a bump in mid-summer to fill the football void. The CFL's domestic audience is, I'm sure, as loyal as ever. But it's likely they'll lose some of that viewership bump from the U.S. with an American product on display.

 

Your second point seems to presume that an XFL fan would have to "bail" to watch USFL, but we're only talking about eight games over a weekend when the schedules overlap, all on major network airwaves.  I doubt anybody will have to bail on one to partake in the other. I can't imagine either of these leagues will produce die-hard loyalists dead set against the other one. 

 

If anything, it'll truly put to test whether Americans have an insatiable appetite for football programming. 

[BBTV]

1 hour ago, MJWalker45 said:

I think it's that, and that people would rather watch sports of any kind instead of doing something else. But they still would rather watch football than hockey, soccer, or basketball. 

 

Or, people would rather gamble on football, so these leagues provide some football for people to gamble on.  I have no idea how much (if anything) is bet on these games right now, but if the leagues can achieve some stability, maybe that'll be the purpose they serve.

 

 

 

[Red Comet]

Gambling can certainly help but another factor is that there are people straight up addicted to football and they’ll take any fix they can get.

[Cujo]

When you call The Rock a jabroni..

 

[Lumbergh]

I will say my original plan last weekend was not to watch the XFL. I had ncaa basketball on until the XFL evening game came on (Orlando vs. Houston). I watched it, and ended up watching the rest of the games. The Rock and ESPN have managed to put an entertaining product out there and if I were to guess, wouldn't be surprised if a few USFL teams eventually get absorbed into the XFL. I can't imagine the USFL wins this battle.