Is Vince McMahon going to start another rival league to the NFL?

[True Dough]

Remember the XFL he launched in 2001 that only lasted one season? Well, despite the XFL being short-lived, there are plenty of reports circulating that McMahon may be preparing to take another run at a football league:

If Vince McMahon is, in fact, planning a reboot of the XFL, it may have a different name.

Amid rumors that the WWE CEO is interested in bringing back the defunct football league, Corey Jacobs of WrestlingNews.co reports McMahon's Alpha Entertainment has registered for trademarks on URFL and UrFL. The trademarks were filed by K&L Gates, which is the law firm belonging to McMahon's long-time attorney, Jerry McDevitt.

VKM Ventures, another one of McMahon's companies, has also reportedly filed trademarks for UFL, United Football League, and "For the Love of Football."

https://www.thescore.com/news/1447964


Remember, Vince and Donald Trump are buddies. Trump has been repeatedly critical of the NFL over the past few months, particularly relating to the kneeling issue. I wouldn't be surprised if Dolt 45, or one of his flunkies, picked up the phone and put the bug in McMahon's ear. "You know, Vince, the NFL is struggling. Now would be a good time to pose some competition, or at least file for some trademarks to give Goodell et al something to think about."

[TexasTowelie]

1. Unless they come up with a way to pay the athletes big money

any new football league will have to settle for NFL rejects. The fans will also note the lower quality of play offered by those athletes which will undoubtedly affect the price that anyone (fans, advertisers, TV contracts) is willing to pay.

I guess that they could try direct streaming video, but would the production resemble those of D3 football teams like my alma mater? I have a reason to watch my alma mater play even if the video production values are mediocre. However, I don't have any allegiance to professional corporations and the allegiance that hardcore NFL fans have to their teams is built over decades rather than overnight.

There might be a few athletes that bemefit if they make the transition from a new league to the NFL, but if those athletes were already cut by NFL teams it seems a stretch to believe they will be resigned at a later date by the NFL.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. Are there even enough players at that level to create a rival league?

[Brother Buzz]

4. There are a ton of players chomping at the bit to play for $400,000-$600,000 a year

And if you combined Billy Beane Sabermetrics with Bing Russell's knowledge of the game, you could create a scrappy team that could hold its own against an NFL team.


"On any given Sunday, any team in the NFL can beat any other team."

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. One more team, yeah.

But how many teams and how many players would it take to field another league?

[JonLP24]

9. The average career is 3 years

There are plenty of players out there

[brush]

3. They already tried that. They'd be better off starting another basketball league as football...

is on the way down.

Too many injuries to star players as they've gotten so big and fast.

Every week this season at least one major star has been injured.

Ratings are going down as viewers lose interest when their team is suddenly out of contention when their stars go down.

Plus parents are stopping their kids from playing the game as the CTE issue of future brain injuries has been brought out into the open.

[JonLP24]

6. I liked the XFL

I got to see players I haven't seen in awhile plus they didn't have a preseason once teams worked out the kinks it was fun to watch. Still has better ratings than the arena league.

Then again I'm a football junkie.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. You Must Be, Jon

I thought the play was dreadful. I thought it greatly inferior to the CFL. And, it was presented in a cartoonish way.

It was a bad idea, poorly executed. No wonder it only lasted a season.

And, i don't think it's fair to compare to arena ball. Arena ball is played at a time when it's still competing with 2 major sports and given the small field and rosters, is a totally different game. Other football "junkies" like you might also be more purists and care less about the small field and the walls in play and that sort of thing.

I don't watch it either, but that's mostly because baseball is starting to heat up.

[JonLP24]

8. It only lasted a season because McMahon didn't want to cut wrestling to half a hour

The wrestling networks such as UPN agreed to carry it. NBC was out for all sorts of cowardly reasons.

I got to see LeShon Johnson and Peerless Price many players that while talented were unable to stay in the NFL but several players actually did make the NFL after the XFL.

[True Dough]

10. Vinnie Mac loading up on cash

Vince McMahon's plan to perhaps try his hand again at a professional football league came more into focus Thursday.

McMahon is chairman and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, which filed details with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about McMahon's sale of 3.34 million shares of WWE, equaling about $100 million.

He did so, the filing noted, "primarily to fund a separate entity from the Company, Alpha Entertainment LLC, which Mr. McMahon established to explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football."

http://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/21840316/vince-mcmahon-sells-some-wwe-shares-fund-alpha-entertainment-llc

[Kingofalldems]

11. Some of the players?

?1298517147

[True Dough]

12. Uh...

Dusty Rhodes (third one down) has gone to the great wrestling ring in the sky.

[True Dough]

13. ESPN reporting that McMahon will make a football-related announcement this afternoon...

Is it time for the return of the XFL?

WWE founder and chairman Vince McMahon is set to announce that he will make another attempt at starting a professional football league, sources told ESPN.

Alpha Entertainment, a company that McMahon formed, issued a media advisory Thursday saying that McMahon would have a "major sports announcement" on Thursday afternoon.

Last month WWE filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission stating that McMahon would sell about $100 million in stock to fund Alpha Entertainment, a company founded to make investments "including professional football."

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/22211134/wwe-vince-mcmahon-try-launch-professional-football-league

[True Dough]

14. New XFL promo

Not sure if authentic, but it went up on YouTube earlier today:

[True Dough]

15. Vince says it's moving ahead for 2020

WWE founder and chairman Vince McMahon announced Thursday he is giving a professional football league another go.

It will be called the XFL, the same name of the league McMahon and NBC tried for one season in 2001, but it won't rely on flashy cheerleaders and antics as its predecessor did, he said.

McMahon said he is the sole funding source for the league, which is slated to begin in January 2020. Its first season will have eight teams around the country playing a 10-week schedule. The initial outlay of money is expected to be around $100 million, the same amount of WWE stock McMahon sold last month and funneled into Alpha Entertainment, the company he founded for the project.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/22213241/vince-mcmahon-gimmick-free-xfl-return-2020