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The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001.

Founding

Created as a joint venture between NBC and the World Wrestling Federation under the company name "XFL, LLC", the XFL was created as a "single-entity league", meaning that the teams were not individually owned and operated franchises, but that the league was operated as a single business unit. XFL was intended to be a major professional sports league to compete with the NFL, but failed to find an audience and folded after its first and only season.

The concept of the league was first announced on February 3, 2000. The XFL was originally conceived to build on the success of the NFL and professional wrestling. It was hyped as "real" football without penalties for roughness and with fewer rules in general. The loud games featured players and coaches with microphones and cameras in the huddle and in the locker rooms. Stadiums featured trash-talking public address announcers and very scantily-clad cheerleaders. Instead of a pre-game coin toss, XFL officials put the ball on the ground and let a player from each team scramble for it to determine who received the kickoff option, which unsurprisingly led to the first XFL injury. This type of "coin-toss" has since been referred to as the "injury zone."

The XFL had impressive television coverage for an upstart league, with three games televised each week on NBC, UPN, and TNN.

The "X" in XFL did not stand for "extreme", as in "Extreme Football League." When the league was first organized, promoters wanted to make sure that everyone knew that the "X" did not actually stand for anything. This particular XFL had no connection to an indoor league also known as the XFL (Xtreme Football League) that had launched a few years earlier but merged with AF2 before ever playing a game in its own right (although the leagues did have a connection in both having teams in Birmingham, Alabama).

2001 season

The XFL's opening game took place on February 3, 2001, one year after the concept of the league was announced. The first game was between the Las Vegas Outlaws and the New York/New Jersey Hitmen. The game (remembered for WWF Chairman Vince McMahon's pre-game speech that ended with the emphatic, "This is the X...F...L!"), a 19-0 victory for the Outlaws, was watched on NBC by an estimated 14 million viewers. During the telecast, NBC switched over to the game between the Orlando Rage and the Chicago Enforcers, which was a closer contest than the blowout taking place in Las Vegas. The show had a 9.5 rating.

Although the XFL began with reasonable TV ratings (the opening-week games actually delivered ratings double those of what NBC had promised advertisers & the Saturday broadcast had more viewers then the NFL Pro Bowl) and fair publicity, the TV audience declined sharply after the first week of the season and the media attacked the league for what was perceived as the poor quality of play. This perception was paired with a perception that the XFL was formed from the dregs left over after the NFL, AFL and CFL had their drafts. Another problem itself was that the XFL was an entity of Vince McMahon, a person who was ridiculed by mainstream sports journalists due to professional wrestling's bad stigma as a "fake sport" and many journalists even made jokes about whether any of the games were rigged.

XFL rule changes

Despite the early boasts of a "rules-light" game made by the WWE promoters and the nearly universally negative reviews from the mainstream sports media, by and large the XFL's on-field professional athletes played a brand of 11-man outdoor football quite recognizable to fans of the NFL or NCAA. Aside from the opening game sprint to determine initial possession, there were other major obvious changes made to the game of football in the XFL.

No Kick Converts

One of the major and obvious changes was the lack of extra point kicks. To earn a point after a touchdown, teams ran a single offensive down from the two yard line (functionally identical to the NFL/NCAA two-point conversion), but for just a single point. By the championship game, two-point and three-point conversions had been added to the rules. Teams could opt for the bonus points by playing the conversion further back from the goal line.

Overtime

Ties were resolved in similar fashion to the NCAA and CFL game, with at least one possession by each side at the opponent's 25 yard line necessary to decide a winner. However, there were some important differences as well: there were no first downs – teams had to score within four downs, and the team that had possession first in overtime could not attempt a field goal until fourth down. If that team managed to score a touchdown in less than four downs, the second team would only have that same number of downs to match or beat the result. If the score was still tied after an overtime period, the team that had gone second in the previous OT would go first in the next OT.

The "halo" rule on kick-offs and punts

The heavily-hyped "no fair catch" (announcers tended to mention it on almost every punt/kickoff) rule almost by necessity was paired with a "five yard halo" rule to protect punt returners. Both rule variations were borrowed from Canadian football, and are also part of arena football. However, since few XFL players had played in the CFL or AFL the resulting inexperience with the "halo" rule led to a tremendous number of "halo"-infraction penalties, which took much of the excitement out of the punt return game (exactly the opposite of the intended effect).

Compensation

The XFL paid standardized player salaries. Quarterbacks earned States dollar|$" target="_blank" >*5,000 per week, kick-punt specialists earned $3,500, and all other uniformed players earned $4,000 per week. Players on a winning team received a bonus for the week.

Broadcast schedule

At the beginning of the season, NBC showed a feature game at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday nights, but also taped a second game. The second game would air in those team's home markets and nationally if either the feature game was a blowout (as was the case in week one), or encountered technical difficulties (as was the case in week two). Two games were shown each Sunday: one at 4 p.m. Eastern on TNN (now Spike TV) and another at 7 p.m. Eastern on UPN.

As of the third week of the season, the games were sped up and the broadcasts became subject to increased time constraints. The reason was the reaction of Lorne Michaels, creator and executive producer of Saturday Night Live, to the double-overtime finish of the Los Angeles Xtreme's eventual victory over the Chicago Enforcers. The game ended at 11:45 p.m. Eastern, with the start of SNL pushed back to 12:20 a.m. Sunday morning. This angered Michaels, who expected high ratings with Jennifer Lopez as the night's host. At the time, Lopez had just become the first entertainer in history to record the top-selling album in the United States (J. Lo) and to star in the most popular movie (The Wedding Planner) at the same time. The show had to be pre-recorded due to the late starting time. (Ironically, Michaels and XFL co-founder Dick Ebersol were once business partners.)

Broadcast teams

Media response

XFL aimed to be attempting to attract two distinct audiences to games, wrestling fans and football fans. Ultimately it failed to appeal to members of either group. Wrestling fans wanted drama and hype, while football fans simply wanted a better caliber of play on the field. As far as attracting fans from other areas of entertainment (e.g., movies), the XFL was a complete failure.

Also, many football fans distrusted the league because of its relationship to pro wrestling. They had a hard time accepting that a close, come-from-behind win or a controversial ending had not been scripted in advance, although there was absolutely no evidence to support this. The league was panned by critics as boring football with a tawdry broadcast style, although the broadcasts on TNN and to a lesser extent UPN and the Matt Vasgersian-helmed NBC coverage were comparatively professional and workmanlike.

Both Vince McMahon and NBC also seemed to have put far too much stock in a football cliché which is frequently mouthed by fans, particularly older ones, about a desire to return to the era of "old-time smashmouth football." While this is often voiced, in fact football is far more popular as a spectator sport now than it ever was in the earlier era supposedly longed for, and the move away from "smashmouth" to a more wide-open offense featuring more passing is largely responsible for this. In fact, scoring was so scarce that bookmakers couldn't set the total low enough. Wise gamblers that took the under, which was often in the mid 30s, would win consistently — they could even parlay the under for all four games of the week and win on a regular basis. Towards the end of the season, bookies needed to make the totals in the late 20s, unheard-of lows in pro football gambling circles. The league was forced to change rules during the season to afford receivers more protection, but the mid-season rules changes did little to bolster league credibility.

Notable personalities

Notable players included league MVP and Los Angeles quarterback Tommy Maddox, who signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers after the XFL folded. Maddox later became the starting quarterback for the Steelers, and led them to the playoffs. Interestingly, Los Angeles used the first pick in the XFL draft to select another future NFL quarterback, Scott Milanovich. Milanovich lost the starting quarterback job to Maddox, who was placed on the Xtreme as one of a handful of players put on each team due to geographic distance between the player's college and the team's hometown. Another of the better-known players was Las Vegas running back Rod Smart, who first gained popularity because the name on the back of his jersey read "He Hate Me." Smart stated that he had wanted to put "They Hate Me" (a jab at his critics) but there wasn't enough room. Smart, who was only picked 357th in the draft, later went on to play for the Carolina Panthers, and thus became the first XFL player to play in a Super Bowl, participating in Super Bowl XXXVIII, which his team lost. His Panther teammate Jake Delhomme named his new-born horse "She Hate Me" as a reference to Smart. Maddox became the second former XFL player to play for a Super Bowl team, in Super Bowl XL in Detroit, and he is the first to win a Super Bowl ring.

The league allowed, and even encouraged, players to wear nicknames rather than their actual last names on the backs of their jerseys. Apparently all of the teams but Birmingham had at least a few players who engaged in this.

Ventura's involvement was controversial in that some felt that his being an announcer took time away from his job of running his state, even though he did it on his day off from office. Ventura had previously done commentary for WWF wrestling telecasts, Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers radio broadcasts.

Actor Super Dave Osborne did announcing on the Los Angeles Xtreme's radio broadcasts.

On April 21, 2001, the season concluded as the Los Angeles Xtreme defeated the San Francisco Demons 38-6 in the XFL Championship Game (which was originally given the Zen-like moniker "The Big Game at the End of the Season", but was later dubbed the "Million Dollar Game", after the amount of money awarded to the winning team).

Failure

Though paid attendance at games remained respectable, if unimpressive (overall attendance were only 10% below what the league's goal had been at the start of the season), the XFL ceased operations after just one season due to astonishingly low TV ratings. The NBC telecast of the Chicago/NY-NJ game on March 31 received a 1.5 rating, the lowest ever for any primetime television broadcast in the United States.

NBC itself attempted to win back the audience that it had lost when it lost the rights to air NFL games two years previously, which seems to have been the reason behind both its investment in and broadcasting of a new professional football league. But despite initially agreeing to broadcast XFL games for two years and owning half of the league, NBC announced it would not broadcast a second XFL season, thus admitting failure in their attempt at airing replacement pro football. WWF President Vince McMahon initially announced that the XFL would continue, as it still had UPN and TNN as broadcast outlets. However, in order to continue broadcasting XFL games, UPN demanded that WWF SmackDown! broadcasts be cut from two hours to one and a half hours. McMahon found these terms unacceptable and he announced the XFL's closure on May 10, 2001.

One reason for the failure of the league to catch on, despite its financial solvency and massive visibility (perhaps infamy), and perhaps epiphenomenal of its TV ratings, was the lack of respect for the league in the sports media. XFL games were never treated as sports events, but were regarded more as WWF-like sensationalism. Lacking any noteworthy exposition of talent, save Tommy Maddox, the league's MVP, or thoughtful analysis or even consideration by sports columnists, the XFL never gained the necessary recognition to be regarded as a viable league. Most news teams refused to air clips or scores of XFL games. Most newspapers did not report the scores either. This led to many football fans treating the XFL as a joke, rather than competition.

Both the WWF and NBC estimated that they have lost approximately $70 million from the operation of XFL.

Legacy

Despite its unimpressive showing among the TV audience, the XFL gave its small group of dedicated fans an intriguing 12 weeks of football. It restored an outdoor professional franchise to Birmingham, Las Vegas and Memphis, each of whom had lacked an outdoor pro team since their CFL franchises were shuttered in 1995, and to Orlando, which had had no professional outdoor football since the WLAF (now NFL Europe) folded North American operations in 1992. The XFL brought a football franchise to Los Angeles, a market which has been a troubling wasteland for the NFL for years, and demonstrated that a baseball-specific stadium such as San Francisco's Pac Bell Park made a remarkably pleasing venue for football as well. However, none of these novelties translated into commercial success.

Many XFL "alumni" went on to play in the NFL, including Kevin Kaesviharn of the Cincinnati Bengals, Tommy Maddox of the Pittsburg Steelers, Jose Cortez of the Indianapolis Colts, and Rod "He Hate Me" Smart of the Oakland Raiders.

The XFL helped popularize the Sky Cam, an innovative "birds-eye" technique in which the camera hovered directly over the action on the field. The Sky Cam was eventually adopted by both the NFL and CFL after the XFL folded.

The defunct league also popularized "in-game" interviews. The XFL would interview head coaches between plays. Now, in the NHL, players are interviewed between commercial breaks and Major League Baseball, a league notorious for being behind the times, has managers and coaches being interviewed. During FOX's Saturday Game of the Week, players are often mic'd for a sounds of the game segment.

Teams

2001 standings

Eastern DivisionWonLost
Orlando Rage82
Chicago Enforcers55
New York/New Jersey Hitmen46
Birmingham Thunderbolts28
Western DivisionWonLost
Los Angeles Xtreme73
San Francisco Demons55
Memphis Maniax55
Las Vegas Outlaws46

Awards

Statistical leaders

Trivia

  • Despite the failure of the league, it did give a number of players a chance to resume their careers in the NFL. Ironically, it gave increased exposure to the AFL after initially being viewed as threatening to take the league's best players away. After another year with no professional football on NBC, in 2003 the network convinced the AFL to move its schedule to coincide with the end of the NFL season (just as the XFL's did) and began broadcasting weekly Sunday afternoon games, with a much smaller investment of money and publicity than the XFL received. In 2005, NBC won the rights to Sunday night NFL games beginning in the 2006 season.

  • During its only season, the XFL had higher TV ratings in the U.S. market than the NHL.

  • As the season drew to a close, most of the tawdry elements and gimmicky camera angles of the XFL's broadcasts had been toned down significantly, and the league's fans were optimistic for a second season.

  • Fans in non-NFL cities that hosted XFL franchises (Birmingham, Memphis, Las Vegas, Orlando, and Los Angeles) hold out hope that their cities can host a new or re-located NFL franchise just as Jacksonville did when the city enthuastically accepted the Bulls of the USFL. That city, like several XFL cities, had previously been considered too small of a market to host professional football. 10 years later, the Jacksonville Jaguars started play in the NFL. Meanwhile, Memphis and Orlando have already an NBA franchise each. Orlando has also an AFL team, which could put any attempt to get a NFL team in those small markets in jeopardy. In addition, Los Angeles continues to be a city without an NFL team. Las Vegas and Birmingham, which are also pursuing a pro team from one of the other pro leagues, will have to wait and hope that one lands in their city.

  • The XFL featured a pregame show in some league cities called XFL Gameday hosted by shock radio jocks Opie & Anthony. During an interview with McMahon, Bob Costas called the pregame show an "abomination", which Opie & Anthony later mocked on their nationally syndicated radio show. When Costas' interview with McMahon turned ugly, Opie & Anthony played clips of McMahon verbally blasting Costas.

  • Years before the controversial locker room shower scene between Terrell Owens and Nicolette Sheridan on Monday Night Football on ABC in 2004, the XFL launched a series of cheerleaders commercials on NBC with adult models like Pennelope Jimenez, Karen McDougal and Rachel Sterling in 2000. The most famous one featured them as some of the cheerleaders taking a shower in the locker room. Using clever camera angles and strategically placed objects, the commercial gave viewers the titillating illusion that the cheerleaders were nude in the shower with little left to the imagination. The edgier XFL commercials backfired and caused controversy. Deemed too risqué by family values groups, the commercials were quickly withdrawn before the launch of 2001 XFL inaugural (and final) season.

  • A commercial that aired for Survivor Series 2003 (a WWE PPV event) poked fun at the XFL. It began with football players walking onto a field getting pumped up for a big game. They found their "opponents" were real-life WWE wrestlers. The next few seconds consisted of the wrestlers fighting the football players with wrestling moves (such as anklelocks and dropkicks). Vince McMahon watched the whole thing from his limo with binoculars saying to himself thoughtfully "The WWE and football? Nah." He then rolled up his window to conclude the commercial.

  • Vince McMahon's original plan was to purchase the CFL, which had been on the verge of going under. However, CFL officials decided against selling the league for fear that McMahon would ruin the Canadian game. The CFL has since enjoyed a resurgence in popularity, expanding back to Ottawa (with the Renegades in 2002) and considering the addition of a tenth team with Quebec City and Halifax as frontrunners.

  • The Simpsons referenced the XFL folding in one episode. In the gag, Homer was seated on the couch wearing XFL merchandise, holding a miniature XFL flag, saying "I can't wait for the new season of the XFL. Who will win this year's Million Dollar Game?" prompting Marge to tell him that the league had folded. When asked how she knew, she said it was because the janitor at her hair salon told her, seeing that he was the MVP of the last season.

  • On November 30, 2005, CBS aired "Jamalot", an episode of the dramatic TV series NY, In the episode, the death of a roller derby jammer is investigated. Her name was "She Hate Me."

  • The XFL's opening game drew the highest ratings in the city of Philadelphia, despite the city not having an XFL franchise. However, at a taping of SmackDown! on April 10, 2001 held at the First Union Center, an advertisement for the XFL was booed by the soldout crowd.

  • The XFL used several WWF personalities in its programming. After the initial week one success, WWF superstar The Rock appeared as part of the pre-game festivities at a Los Angeles Xtreme home game in which he mocked the NFL's lack of commmitment to professional football in Los Angeles and former NFL commissioner, Paul Tagliabue. WWF superstar The Undertaker also made a week two appearance. Vince McMahon's daughter, Stephanie McMahon was also used as an off the field reporter.

  • Coming off the ratings success of the XFL's opening week, Vince McMahon threatened an Atlanta crowd on RAW after they booed him with the statement, "If you're not nice to me I won't bring you an XFL franchise!"

  • The original name of the XFL franchise in Birmingham was the "Birmingham Blast." However at the last minute the name was changed to the "Thunderbolts." The uniforms and helmets remained the same and the large "B" on in the logo was said to stand for the teams nickname which was the "Bolts." The last minute change was due to the name "Blast" being associated to the history of racially motivated bombings that have occured in Birmingham.

  • The Rundown, starring The Rock, included footage of the XFL to showcase the film's players.

  • On a recent episode of WWE RAW, Triple H made reference to the XFL whilst dressed as Vince McMahon. When 'Vince' stated that D-Generation X (the faction that Triple H is a member of) embarrassed him the previous week, he said that it was "more embarrassing than the XFL."

See also

External links

Defunct sports leagues | Defunct American football leagues | Sports television in the United States | NBC network shows | UPN network shows | World Wrestling Entertainment | World Wrestling Entertainment television programs | NBC Sports | 2001 establishments | 2001 disestablishments | Sports-related flops | 2001 in sports | XFL players | Joint ventures

XFL | XFL | XFL

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "XFL".

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