Can You Smell What The XFL Is Cooking?

On Aug. 3, it was announced that, in a partnership between Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Dany Garcia and RedBird Capital; the XFL was purchased from Vince McMahon for $15 million.

Her League

Before diving into what this could mean for the league itself, I would be doing a disservice to this story if I did not begin by discussing Garcia, who has become the first-ever female sports league owner.

Yes, we all know how megastar “The Rock” materialized, but some may not have heard of Garcia until now.

Perhaps most renowned for her fitness videos and intense workout routines, Garcia, Johnson’s ex-wife and business partner, is a multimillion-dollar businesswoman, who co-founded the “Seven Bucks” production company that has produced many of Johnson’s films and TV shows.

Garcia has been a lifelong football fan, and now could cultivate the most successful spring football league to date.
When asked what she expects from this experience on SportsIllustrated.com Garcia said, “for me, the XFL is not a spring league, it is not a junior league, it is football—beautiful, fantastic football.”

Troubled Beginnings

The XFL experience was first brought to life in 2001, but its inaugural season ended up flopping.

After a 19-year hiatus, the XFL produced its second season in the spring of 2020 to a somewhat surprising amount of fanfare.

The rebirth was brimming with new aspects of the game that the average football fan was not yet privy to. From new look kickoffs, the 4th and 15 onside-kick conversions, the thrilling overtime setup, the electric double forward pass, and a heavy gambling influence; the new-look XFL was heading in the right direction.

Promising Open

On the heels of the freshly defunct AAF, the XFL saw 3.5 million viewers tune in to Week 1 of the action. By Week 5, the viewership had dipped to 2.3 million, but was widely viewed as a successful foray into professional spring football.

The XFL had been slated for a 10-week season, but was canceled after just five, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, which had swept the nation and the world.

Player Success

Through five weeks, the XFL showcased a budding star in the form of Houston Roughnecks QB PJ Walker, who was leading the best offense on the best team with highlight after highlight.

Walker’s stellar performances landed him a spot on the Carolina Panthers roster for the upcoming NFL season, where he is expected to compete for a backup job to newly acquired quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

Perhaps the more interesting story, however, was that of defensive back Kenny Robinson.

Robinson was once a highly-recruited prospect who played two seasons with the West Virginia Mountaineers, where he was awarded two All Big-12 selections before landing himself in some hot water—academic fraud to be exact.

After declaring his intent to enter the transfer portal, Robinson decided to take a new and unconventional route, by entering the XFL Draft, where he was selected by the St. Louis Battlehawks.

He posted impressive numbers from the safety position through Week 5 and was subsequently drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL draft.

Future Considerations

Looking ahead, with college football in constant turmoil over “preserving amateurism,” paying collegiate athletes, corruption and cancelation, the XFL could act like the USFL did in the 1980s, scoring top collegiate players more interested in supporting their families with a paycheck than pursuing degrees.

I personally think we will see many college athletes take advantage of being able to earn real money while in the same right showing their talents to potentially be drafted.

The 2020 version of the XFL paid its players in a structured format, which included $2,725 a week for each player on the active roster for game days; $1,040 of which was guaranteed, and an additional $2,222 was awarded to each player on the winning teams for each week. We do not know yet if this format will carry over to the 2021 version of the league; but it is worth noting the numbers.

Another looming question will be if this version will choose to retain the teams created by McMahon. The XFL of 2020 consisted of eight teams split into two divisions (East and West). The East division included the DC Defenders, New York Guardians, St. Louis Battlehawks and Tampa Bay Vipers; while the West featured the Dallas Renegades, Houston Roughnecks, Los Angeles Wildcats and Seattle Dragons.

The goals of the AFF and XFL have been clear, that a spring football league is wanted as a type of developmental league to bridge the gap between college football and the NFL. Many American professional sports leagues have such development programs already in place, that have proved to be sustainable and beneficial, not only to the players but the cities in which these teams reside.

Despite this and the fact that the NFL has grabbed talent from the AFF and XFL (and CFL for that matter), the NFL has offered no olive branch to either league, which ultimately led to the downfall of the AFF and could eventually prove to be fatal to the XFL as well.

Final Thoughts

Having a spring league is good for the sport of football. We are seeing many young athletes across the country choose different sports for many reasons. It is arguably the most difficult professional league to make it in.

Take Major League Baseball for example, you have many players who are lifetime Minor leaguers and can live happily and continue to play their respective sport professionally. Allowing the sport of football to have another level, one that is both exciting and competitive, could succeed in America.

But why hasn’t this been perfected yet? Why have so many leagues tried and failed? Personally, I believe it is because of the comparison to the NFL and teams made up of more former NFL washouts than budding young talent.

So how does this change? Well first off, the ridding of Vince McMahon was essential.

His need to compete with the NFL for ratings and overall viewership was never going to succeed, and neither were the gimmicks or WWE style of play.

Next, the league needs a relationship with the NFL. Not only for advertisement, but a monetary partnership. Let us face it, the NFL has money to spend and the fact that it benefits directly from a pipeline like a spring league, should result in a mutually beneficial partnership.

But the league also needs to exist independently. The uniforms, stadiums, and logos should be visually appealing and fun, while the target audience should be young adults.

The players also need to be compensated fairly and at a competitive rate; this will help entice more high school and college talent to sign with the XFL, rather than accept a scholarship offer from an NCAA program.

And finally, sustainability is essential.

How can this league be turned over year after year without losing the attention of fans and players?

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is one of the brightest and most charismatic entertainers in Hollywood. He was just named the highest paid actor for the second year in a row, generating $87.5 million in the past fiscal year.

If anyone can get this right, I would place my bet on the former University of Miami defensive lineman and Dany Garcia, to get this show up and running.