What Happened To The XFL?

In 2001, Vince McMahon, the mastermind behind the WWE partnered up with NBC to create a one of a kind, unique football league that had aspirations to one day challenge the NFL’s superiority. In today’s video we’ll take a look back at the XFL’s sudden rise to prominence and its even faster demise after just one season.

The Extra Fun League

The story of the XFL’s first incarnation actually begins in Canada, and more specifically with the Canadian Football League. During the 1990’s, one of the CFL’s flagship franchises, the Toronto Argonauts (AR-GO-NOTS) had been facing sliding attendance amid inconsistent play and string of ownership changes that made any stability virtually impossible. Even though the Argonauts had experienced a mini dynasty of sorts during the decade, having won the grey cup three times in just a six year period, attendance fell to an average of just over 16,000 per game by the middle of the decade. The CFL felt that the team needed an owner who not only had deep pockets but could also help market the team and attract more people to games. The league then decided to reach out to none other than billionaire Vince McMahon, the man behind World Wrestling Entertainment Incorporated, otherwise known as WWE. The thought process being, who better than McMahon to come up with wild, and innovative ways to get people to come to games? Possibly to the CFL’s surprise, not only was McMahon interested in buying a CFL team, he wanted more, much more. He countered the CFL’s offer of buying the Argonauts with buying the entire CFL instead, with the plan to ultimately move the league to the United States. Obviously, that was not what the CFL wanted to hear, nor would they ever agree to such a deal as it would be the end of Canadian Football as they knew it. During this same time period, the NFL was renegotiating TV rights with their broadcast partners. NBC, who had held rights to the NFL games for over 30 years suddenly found themselves without the NFL when CBS swooped in and outbid them, giving the NFL $4 billion dollars over an 8 year period. Not long after, NBC began to devise plans to replace the football void in their schedule by creating their own football league that would have some control over. 

With McMahon’s interest in football at its peak, and NBC’s need to replace the NFL on their network, the perfect opportunity arose for the two sides to work together. A plan was then hatched, where the two sides would split ownership 50-50, with the league starting operations for the 2001 season. How the league planned to separate itself from it’s much larger competitor, the NFL, was by offering a more “exciting, violent, and even sexualized” brand of football (more on that a little later). How they would accomplish this was by introducing rule changes and gameplay innovations that would increase the pace of the game and make it more appealing for fans. The XFL also aimed to appeal to a younger demographic by promoting a more aggressive, hard-hitting style of play that was intended to be more entertaining than the more restrained style of the NFL. The league’s emphasis on excitement and entertainment over tradition and caution proved to be both its greatest strength and one of its biggest weaknesses, as it attracted a large audience initially but failed to retain that audience over the course of its short existence. The new league was set to be called the “XFL”, and contrary to popular belief the “X” in XFL didn’t actually stand for “extreme”. This was because another league already called themselves the “Extreme Football League”. So for legal reasons, the X doesn’t officially stand for anything. But McMahnon was once quoted saying that if the NFL stood for the “No Fun League” then the XFL was the “Extra Fun League”.

The Inaugural Season

While the XFL’s initial marketing targeted the NFL as being too traditional and soft, McMahon and NBC knew they had no chance of succeeding if they scheduled games head to head with the NFL. So one of the XFL’s key strategies was to fill the gap in the sports calendar during the NFL off-season. The league organized its games in the spring, after the Super Bowl had concluded and before the start of the NFL pre-season. This timing was intended to capitalize on the continued interest in football among fans during the off-season, as well as to provide an alternative to other sports that are typically played during the spring, such as basketball and baseball. By positioning itself as a complementary product to the NFL rather than a direct competitor, the XFL hoped to attract a broad audience of sports fans who were hungry for football content year-round. McMahon’s marketing strategy for the league, seemed to capitalize off of the already successful “Attitude Era” that the WWE had undergone during the late 1990’s. The “Attitude Era” marked a significant shift in the WWE’s programming to a more edgier, mature, and adult version of wrestling. McMahon wanted the XFL to have fewer rules, resulting in fewer penalties, and have games feature mic’d up players and coaches, and television access to the team’s locker rooms. The games would also feature trash-talking public address announcers, and suggestively dressed cheerleaders who were reportedly encouraged to date the players (a practice that is forbidden in the NFL). When asked about the dating rule by ESPN the Magazine, McMahon went even as far to say that if a player made a mistake during the game, and he happened to be dating one of the cheerleaders, he didn’t see a problem if that cheerleader was interviewed on the sideline and asked if they had “done the nasty” the night before (implying that the “nasty” may have something to do the player’s performance). MaMahon would later clarify his remarks saying he said them in jest, but the mandate for the league was clear in positioning itself as the not-so-family friendly alternative to the NFL.

With the inaugural season set to kick off in February of 2001, the broadcast schedule of games was divided by NBC, UPN, and TNN, with NBC getting the most marquee matchups in primetime. The league featured eight teams from major US cities, and also smaller markets that didn’t have professional football at the time. Los Angeles for instance, while considered a major market, was in the midst of its 21 year drought of NFL football after both the Raiders and the Rams left the area in 1995. This made it seemingly a perfect fit for the XFL to fill that void. The league also differentiated itself by forgoing the usual franchise model that most other professional sports leagues used, and instead opted to have all eight of its teams league owned and operated. For the the marketing and branding of each team, with the exception of the Demons, the league chose to use team names that invoked either emotional instability like the Memphis Maniax, Orlando Rage, and Los Angeles Xtreme or some kind of criminal activity like The Las Vegas Outlaws, Chicago Enforcers, New York/New Jersey Hitmen, and the Birmingham Blast. (Vince McMahon meme). Some controversy arose after the Birmingham Blast name was announced, because of the city’s tragic history with bombings. The most infamous being the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church by the Ku Klux Klan, which killed four African-American girls and injured a dozen more. In another instance, just a few years before the XFL launched, a local abortion clinic in Birmingham was bombed by Eric Roudph, the same man who bombed the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. WIth the criticisms, the XFL moved to change the name from the “Blast” to the Birmingham “Thunderbolts” instead. The organized teams into two divisions, East and West. In the west were the San Francisco Demons, Los Angeles Xtreme, Las Vegas Outlaws, and the Memphis Maniax. In the east there were the Orlando Rage, Chicago Enforcers, New York/New Jersey Hitmen, and the newly renamed Birmingham Thunderbolts.

“He Hate Me”

One of the ways the XFL differentiated itself was by allowing custom nicknames and phrases on player’s jerseys. Each player was given the option to choose a personalized nameplate to display on the back of their jersey, allowing fans to easily identify their favorite players and creating a more personal connection between players and fans. The variety of nicknames ranged from the playful, such as the “Baby Boy” jersey)  to the humorous “He Hate Me” jersey, reflecting the diverse personalities and backgrounds of the XFL’s players. While the jersey nicknames may have been seen by some as a gimmick, they became a memorable part of the XFL’s legacy and demonstrated the league’s willingness to try new things and take risks. While in some other leagues, individual players had embraced nickname jerseys in the past, it wasn’t’ until the XFL’s league wide usage of nickname jerseys that other leagues (like the NBA, and MLB) later began to run promotional one-off events where players could at least temporarily, use nicknames for a few games a year. The official XFL game balls were made by Spalding, and were predominantly black in color with a red “X” on it. An issue arose with the game balls however, when during the course of the season, the players complained that the balls were sometimes hard to grasp, and slippery (that’s what she said). The XFL remedied the situation by making it routine before games to have the footballs rubbed down with sandpaper to remove the excess slickness.

Part of the XFL’s initial appeal was it’s unique rules that distinguished itself from the NFL. One of the most significant changes was the kickoff rule, which required the kicker to kick the ball to the receiving team from their own 30-yard line, while the coverage team lined up on the opposing team’s 35-yard line. The goal was to reduce high-speed collisions during kickoffs. Additionally, the XFL allowed two forward passes on a single play, as long as the first pass was completed behind the line of scrimmage. The league also eliminated extra-point kicks, requiring teams to either run a play from the two-yard line for one point or from the five-yard line for two points. In an interesting move, the league required all of its stadiums to have natural grass playing surfaces instead of artificial turf. The XFL believed that natural grass would provide a more authentic and safer playing experience for its athletes. This rule essentially prevented teams from using domed stadiums, because at that time most domed stadiums didn’t have retractable roofs as many would in the years to come. In fact, the first NFL stadium with a retractable roof would open a year after the XFL’s first season, when the Texans’ Reliant Stadium (now known as NRG Stadium) first opened its doors in Houston in 2002. While the XFL prided itself on player safety when it came to playing on natural grass, the league simultaneously introduced a unique pre-game ritual that became nicknamed “The Human Coin Toss” during its first season. In this gimmick, one player from each team would race to grab a football placed at midfield, with the winner gaining the choice to receive or defer the opening kickoff. Not exactly the safest way to decide who gets the ball first, and a player actually separated his shoulder on one of the first races causing him to miss the rest of the season. In another interesting, and possibly cost-saving move, the league decided that the end-zones and the mid-field logos for each game would be XFL branded only and would not allow teams to create their own individual team designs. This seemed to fly in the face of a league that boosted itself on its unique originality, and near anything goes attitude. 

The Million Dollar Game

In what turned out to be a harbinger of future events for the league, during an NFL playoff game between the Miami Dolphins and the Oakland Raiders, a blimp advertising the XFL crashed into a nearby marina after getting caught on the mast of a sailboat. Prior to the crash, the pilots lost control of the blimp and after unsuccessfully attempting an emergency landing at an airport, they were then forced to jump from the blimp in mid-air. Thankfully no one was seriously injured, as only one of the pilots ended up in the hospital sustaining minor injuries. Needless to say the event was an embarrassment for the XFL, causing damages to the blimp that were estimated to be around $2.5 million dollars. A few weeks later, the first two games for the 2001 season took place on February 3, 2001, a week after the Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXVI (35). The inaugural games featured the New York/New Jersey Hitman vs the Las Vegas Outlaws and the Chicago Enforcers visiting the Orlando Rage. The Outlaws ended up defeating the Hitman, 19-0 in the first game that drew an impressive 14 million viewers on NBC. The first week of ratings drew a 9.5 nielsen rating (essentially meaning that 9.5 percent of households in the US were watching the XFL, which was actually double the viewership numbers that NBC had promised their advertisers). The entirety of the first season ran for 10 weeks, between February and April, with the top two teams in each division qualifying for the playoffs. Because there were only 8 teams, and the league didn’t want two teams from the same division playing each other in the semi-final round, for the playoffs the XFL had the number one seed in the western division play the number two team in the eastern division and vice versa. The first semi-final game was held at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida, with the San Francisco Demons narrowly defeating the Orlando Rage 26-25. The second semi-final game was held at the Los Angeles Coliseum, where the LA Xtreme beat the Chicago Enforcers 33-16. The XFL championship game, known as the “Million Dollar Game”, due to the million dollar prize that would be split amongst the winning team’s players, was also held at the LA Coliseum. Interestingly, the Million Dollar Game was not the first name the XFL came up with for the championship game, as it was originally called the “Big Game At The End Of The Season”. While efinitely not the most creative name ever. In the championship game, The LA Xtreme lead by league MVP quarterback Tommy Maddox ended up defeating the San Francisco Demons 38-6 in a blow out game, making the Xtreme the first team to win an XFL championship. 

While the initial ratings for the XFL’s first few games were high, interest in the league quickly fell off. The second week of the XFL drew half of the first week’s ratings, and by the end of the first season some XFL games were earning only a 1.5 nielsen rating. The same was true for in-game attendance, as the season went on the games became less and less attended by fans. This prompted broadcasters to have to get creative in not showing empty stands, by focusing only on  full sections or shooting at different angles to hide empty seats. It didn’t help either that the league had no real pre-game, halftime, or post-game wrap up shows to allow audiences to catch up on what was happening. Most of the halftime shows featured head coaches going over strategy and adjustments during live look-ins into the player’s locker rooms. As ratings began to slip, a desperate McMahon promoted a WWE inspired promotional stunt that would feature a “Live Look-in” into the cheerleader’s dressing room during halftime of the Week 6 matchup between the Orlando Rage and the Las Vegas Outlaws. In the sketch, McMahon and his cameraman try to force their way into the cheerleader’s dressing room, with McMahon pushing the cameraman into the door and managing to knock him out in the process. Which was then followed by a dream sequence with the cheerleaders in bathrobes, and also featured a random surprise cameo by Rodney Dangerfield. Predictably, the sketch was considered to be in poor taste and objectifying to women, and led to the league toning down its approach to cheerleading performances in later games. This massive drop in ratings caused both McMahon and NBC to lose $35 million each, only netting 30% of their initial investment into the XFL. NBC, knowing they’d have a hard time convincing advertisers to pay top dollar for ad placements, quickly pulled out of their deal to show XFL games at the conclusion of the first season (even though they had a two-year deal to broadcast games). McMahon, trying to salvage the situation, announced that games would move to their other broadcast partners UPN and TNN. But UPN requested that McMahon cut down WWE’s Smackdown from two hours to one and a half hours in order to make room for the XFL on their schedule. McMahon refused to make the change, not wanting the XFL’s struggles to interfere with WWE in any way. So on May 10, 2001, not even three full weeks after the Million Dollar game, the XFL announced it would be shutting down for good. Unfortunately, this left the hardcore fans of the league like “Darth Ball” here (now streaming on Disney plus) without any XFL football for the foreseeable future, and confusing those who weren’t exactly in the loop.

XFL, “F For Fake?”

While there are numerous reasons that contributed to the league’s sudden and swift downfall, I believe that there are two major reasons that played a factor. The first being the overall quality of play, or lack thereof. Most of the XFL players were guys who were trying  to make the NFL at one point or another and had not yet made it. Even with the high ratings for week 1, NBC sports president Dick Ebersol (EB-BER-SAL) was not satisfied with the quality of play on the field. He even let some of the network’s most established on-air talent like Bob Costas opt out of covering the XFL if they chose to (Though Costas did later interview McMahon in a contentious back and forth over the XFL’s sinking ratings). With some exceptions, most of the on-air talent for TV broadcasts were at the time young unknown broadcasters or WWE stars doing play by play and color commentating. A fact that didn’t help lend credibility to the league that at the point was desperately trying to earn. Which brings me to what I believe to be the second major reason for the XFL’s failure, which was it’s perceived phoniness due to it’s WWE association. As soon as the league launched, there were jokes and rumors that the XFL games might be fake or that it was rigged somehow, which turned out to be unfounded. But what had been a strength to McMahon with wrestling, the over the top showmanship, and building storylines around the star wrestlers, proved to be a detriment when it came to football. At the end of the day, people really just wanted to watch the games, and be entertained by the exciting play on the field, and not by whatever antics were happening on the sidelines or in the locker room.

In the years since the XFL’s first season ended in 2001, interest in launching a legitimate spring football league has only grown. There have been a countless number of leagues that have sprung up, only to fold for one reason or another after just a few seasons. In 2017, ESPN revisited the XFL with their 30/30 documentary on the league’s failures in 2001. The documentary interviewed many of the key decision makers at that time, including Vince McMahon and Dick Ebersol. Infact Ebersol’s son, Charlie directed the documentary and even went on to create the Alliance of American Football League (which later folded in 2019). The 30/30 documentary spurred a renewed interest in the XFL for McMahon, who in 2018 announced that a new incarnation of the XFL would debut in early 2020. This time however it would be different, with McMahon promising a more serious, updated take on football, rather than trying to upstage the NFL with its WWE style stunts. Because this was considered a total reboot from the 2001 XFL, none of the original teams were brought back. The new lineup of teams for the 2020 season included the Dallas Renegades, DC Defenders, Houston Roughnecks, Los Angeles Wildcats, New York Guardians, Seattle Dragons, St. Louis Battlehawks, and the Tampa Bay Vipers. The season kicked off on February 8, 2020, with eight teams divided into two divisions, playing a 10-game regular season schedule. The league received some initial hype, with decent TV ratings and fan attendance, but in an unforeseen turn of events, the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many other sports leagues were forced to temporarily shut down as well and ended up truncating their seasons. However, the XFL later announced on March 20, 2020, that the remainder of the season would be canceled. This was a huge blow to the XFL, as the shutdown caused the league to lose tens of millions of dollars. Just three weeks after canceling the season, the XFL announced that it was suspending all operations permanently and filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy. As part of the bankruptcy process, the XFL would have to sell off its assets, with McMahon agreeing that he would not try to buy back the league.

XFL 3.0 

Later that summer, just before the XFL was to go to an auction sale, former WWE star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and his business partners Danny Garica and Gerry Cardinale (CAR-DEN-NULL) (seen here standing next to the incredible hulk for no apparent reason) bought the league for $15 million dollars. Putting the WWE connections aside, the Rock was also a former college football player who had dreams of making it to the NFL, which never materialized. So understandably, getting the chance to buy the XFL felt like the perfect once in a lifetime opportunity for him. On August 21, 2020 the sale was officially formalized, with the new ownership later announcing that the XFL would once again make its return in 2022. Over the next year and a half, the XFL held brief discussions with the Canadian Football League about possible ways that the two leagues could work together or possibly even merge. But after months of ongoing talks, the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement on any plan to move forward together. By this point, the XFL decided to pause the relaunch for 2022, saying they’d return in the spring of 2023 instead. It was announced that most of the teams from the 2020 season would return, with the exception of the LA Wildcats who were replaced by the San Antonio Brahmas (BRAH-MAS). There were also a couple of relocations, with the Tampa Bay Vipers moving to Las Vegas, and the New York Guardians moving to Orlando. The 2023 season kicked off on February 18, and just like the past seasons, the initial first weeks were well received. Although, midway through the season the TV ratings were down overall somewhat as compared to the 2020 season. The season concluded on May 13, 2023 with the Arlington Renegades defeating the DC Defenders, 35-26 in the first XFL championship in over twenty years. The jury is almost certainly still out on the prospect of the XFL’s longevity, but as of the recording of this video the XFL has already stated that there will be a 2024 season for the league.

While the original XFL’s existence was relatively brief, the league featured a number of notable players who went on to have successful careers in professional football. Perhaps the most well-known XFL alum is quarterback Tommy Maddox, who as mentioned won the league’s Most Valuable Player award in 2001 before going on to play in the NFL for several seasons. Other notable players include running back Rod Smart, A.K.A “He Hate Me” went on to play in the NFL and CFL, and linebacker Paris Lenon, who was the last active former 2001 XFL player to play in the NFL in 2013. The XFL also provided opportunities for players who may have otherwise gone overlooked by NFL teams, and helped to launch the careers of several players who went on to have successful playing time in the Arena Football League and other alternative football leagues. Despite its short-lived existence, the XFL has left a lasting legacy on professional football. The league’s innovative approach to rule changes and on-field elements have influenced the NFL and other professional football leagues. For example, the XFL’s use of the sky cam for overhead shots of the game has become a staple of NFL broadcasts. The league also experimented with a unique sound experience with the use of on-field microphones to capture the in-game sounds and provide commentary from the sidelines, creating a more immersive and entertaining experience for viewers. They also utilized their own sound system for the in-person game experience, using a “Hi-Sonic Speaker Support Pole” in the corners of the field (which are more commonly used for concerts). This added dimension amplified the sounds on the field to the crowd in the stands, providing a fresh take on traditional game viewing experience. Additionally, the league’s focus on player personalities and individuality has become more prevalent in the sport, with players being allowed to customize their uniforms and celebrate touchdowns in unique ways. The XFL’s failure also served as a cautionary tale for other professional sports leagues, highlighting the difficulties of launching a new league and gaining a foothold in the crowded sports market. While the XFL may not have succeeded in its initial goal of challenging the NFL’s dominance, its impact on the sport of football continues to be felt today.

So what did you think about the original XFL folding after only one season? Do you think the XFL will finally last as a legitimate spring football league? Let me know in the comments below!