XFL Football Comes To Orlando

[spenser1058]

Orlando to host XFL franchise coached by Terrell Buckley
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/os-sp-xfl-0725-20220725-25q7qrl3pzerzlsrkep3byhh2u-story.html

From The Sentinel 

Here we go again. They’ll  be playing at Camping World Stadium.
 

Edited July 25, 2022 by spenser1058

[HankStrong]

Is this in addition to the TB Vipers or replacing them?

[spenser1058]

43 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

Is this in addition to the TB Vipers or replacing them?

“The other franchises and their head coaches include Arlington, Texas, (Bob Stoops), Houston (Wade Phillips), Las Vegas (Rod Woodson), San Antonio (Hines Ward), Seattle (Jim Haslett), St. Louis (Anthony Becht) and Washington, D.C. (Reggie Barlow).”

Of course, Tampa has the Bandits in the USFL separate from this.

Given college football’s top tier is hellbent on turning the top half or so of the FBS into NFL-lite, I’m not convinced we need any more pro leagues.

[HankStrong]

27 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

“The other franchises and their head coaches include Arlington, Texas, (Bob Stoops), Houston (Wade Phillips), Las Vegas (Rod Woodson), San Antonio (Hines Ward), Seattle (Jim Haslett), St. Louis (Anthony Becht) and Washington, D.C. (Reggie Barlow).”

Of course, Tampa has the Bandits in the USFL separate from this.

Given college football’s top tier is hellbent on turning the top half or so of the FBS into NFL-lite, I’m not convinced we need any more pro leagues.

Tell that to England.  They have 92 professional football (AKA soccer) teams in a country with less than 60M people.  I'd compare these to the NFL, USFL, and XFL.

That is just the top 4 tiers and doesn't even include the bottom 4 tiers that are mixes of pro/semi-pro and there are 276 teams in those 4 bottom tiers.  I'd compare those to misc. leagues around the country like arena ball and semi-pro indoor/outdoor leagues.

That doesn't even include the hundreds of developmental clubs around the country and school teams. I'd compare those to the American high school & colleges teams.

 

[spenser1058]

A fair point, but in the US these second-tier leagues seem unable to make it financially (admittedly, greed is some of that like The Donald torpedoing the original USFL for his own purposes). 

Otoh, as I note over in the Orlando City thread, Florida Citrus Sports seems to have found a gold mine with top tier soccer teams.
 

[AndyPok1]

On 7/25/2022 at 11:05 AM, spenser1058 said:

A fair point, but in the US these second-tier leagues seem unable to make it financially

The second edition of the XFL in 2020 was successful until Covid hit.  I don't think its unreasonable it can be again in 2023.  I don't think about first-year sports league could have succeeded with Covid.  At least not in a fiscally responsible way.

[spenser1058]

If you wonder why I’m a tad skeptical, let me share with you the list of “pro” teams at the Citrus Bowl in my lifetime:

Orlando Broncos (SFL) 1962–1963
Orlando Panthers (CFL) 1966–1970
Florida Blazers (WFL) 1974
Orlando Americans (AFA) 1981
Orlando Renegades (USFL) 1985
Orlando Thunder (WLAF) 1991–1992
Orlando Rage (XFL) 2001
Florida Tuskers (UFL) 2009–2010
Orlando Fantasy (LFL) 2011–2012
Orlando XFL team (XFL) 2023– (planned)

(Don’t forget the Orlando Apollos at the Bounce House)

Maybe this time will be different, but as Scotty liked to say on the Enterprise, “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me”.
 

[AndyPok1]

Not disputing those things, and it may not succeed in Orlando specifically.  But, at least for now, its an entirely different ballgame than any of those former ones you list.  Live sports broadcasts are basically the only things that make money anymore.  It's the content era, and the XFL can probably come close to subsisting on TV rights alone.

[spenser1058]

48 minutes ago, AndyPok1 said:

Not disputing those things, and it may not succeed in Orlando specifically.  But, at least for now, its an entirely different ballgame than any of those former ones you list.  Live sports broadcasts are basically the only things that make money anymore.  It's the content era, and the XFL can probably come close to subsisting on TV rights alone.

Again, you may be right, but it seems worth noting that neither the NFL or FBS football collapsed under the weight of COVID but the XFL did. It seems to have the same weakness as the others - weak underpinnings.

Despite all the various attempts to thrive (and there may well be others that never came to Orlando), the only one that ever seemed to reach parity with the NFL was the American Football League. Of course, the NFL’s response to that was to merge with it.

Probably the most successful attempt other than that was the USFL. Donald Trump was convinced the strength of that league was such that he could force his way into the NFL. Instead, he killed the nascent league.

I see nothing fundamentally different in the XFL from the most successful of these other leagues (yes, TV rules the roost today, but as many P5 teams are rapidly discovering, tying yourself to it is no guarantee of longevity - is any business more flighty than television? -  and the “national pastime” finds itself declining as well - where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?)

Football also has the same problem professional wrestling once did (it ruled television early on) - it fell out of favor as too dangerous. That’s starting to happen with football - increasingly, upscale demographics are beginning to walk away from it just as they did from smoking, especially for their children. The lawsuits for endangering players are increasing (they will eventually reach critical mass just as surely as the suits against Big Tobacco did). The NFL has even been financing flag football leagues to attempt an alternative. It’s not happening tomorrow, but I suspect we may be reaching “peak football” in the not too distant future.

My crystal ball is often clouded, so you may well be right. Otoh, who would have predicted back in the 1990’s that each of the Big 3 in Detroit would plan to exit the internal combustion engine business by the 2030’s, not to mention companies outside the US? 

Edited August 6, 2022 by spenser1058

[AndyPok1]

46 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

Again, you may be right, but it seems worth noting that neither the NFL or FBS football collapsed under the weight of COVID but the XFL did. It seems to have the same weakness as the others - weak underpinnings.

[...]

Football also has the same problem professional wrestling once did (it ruled television early on) - it fell out of favor as too dangerous. That’s starting to happen with football - increasingly, upscale demographics are beginning to walk away from it just as they did from smoking, especially for their children. The lawsuits for endangering players are increasing (they will eventually reach critical mass just as surely as the suits against Big Tobacco did). The NFL has even been financing flag football leagues to attempt an alternative. It’s not happening tomorrow, but I suspect we may be reaching “peak football” in the not too distant future.

The NFL and FBS have been around for 100 years.  Those are some DEEP roots compared to 6 months of XFL.  There's no way to prove it, but I believe that had the XFL had some slightly more mature roots (3-5 years maybe?) it wouldn't have declared bankruptcy.  We shall see this go-around.  I think a once-a century global pandemic resulting in an economic situation deserves to be considered an outlier for failure, but you do you.

And yes, there are challenges to football.  To be clear, I don't care about the XFL.  I'll probably go to some games since its in town and I like supporting local things, but probably won't watch.  I don't watch NFL, I'm not gonna watch a second-rate version.

But your analogy to professional wrestling is actually the issue.  Yes, it fell out of favor.  HOWEVER, even though it isn't nearly as big as it was in the 80s, let alone its mainstream run in the late 90s, it's massively profitable right now, FOR THE SAME REASON AS XFL... Live TV rights.

WWE's 3 big contracts right now:

• 200 million a year - FOX - Smackdown (2 hours every Friday)
• 260 million a year - USA - Raw (3 hours every Monday)
• 200 million a year - Peacock - "PPV" / Streaming Catalog (Special Event ~4 hours every month)

We are in the era of content.  How long will this era last?  Who knows!  I've said for 5 years that eventually we will all pay $30 to Netflix and $30 to Disney every month because eventually they will gobble up everyone.  But as of now, there's still 8+ competing (Netflix, Disney, HBO, Amazon, Apple, Youtube, Paramount, Peacock).  And until this settles out, which I don't think will be happening for at least another 5 if not more years, producing live TV, especially sports, is going to have big tech and content backing up brinks trucks to your doors.

[JFW657]

Oh boy!!!

Another third rate football team in Orlando!!!!

whoopee.

11 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

If you wonder why I’m a tad skeptical, let me share with you the list of “pro” teams at the Citrus Bowl in my lifetime:

Orlando Broncos (SFL) 1962–1963
Orlando Panthers (CFL) 1966–1970
Florida Blazers (WFL) 1974
Orlando Americans (AFA) 1981
Orlando Renegades (USFL) 1985
Orlando Thunder (WLAF) 1991–1992
Orlando Rage (XFL) 2001
Florida Tuskers (UFL) 2009–2010
Orlando Fantasy (LFL) 2011–2012
Orlando XFL team (XFL) 2023– (planned)

(Don’t forget the Orlando Apollos at the Bounce House)

Maybe this time will be different, but as Scotty liked to say on the Enterprise, “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me”.
 

You forgot the Predators.

 

[spenser1058]

Orlando’s XFL team adds Shane Matthews, Lamar Thomas as assistant coaches

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college-gridiron-365/os-sp-orlando-football-xfl-coaching-staff-additions-20220913-wjgyrbx3z5fsphgkqp4vttgqfm-story.html

From The Sentinel 
 

[orange87]

According to this article, the names of the XFL teams have leaked and Orlando's team will be called the Orlando Guardians.

[spenser1058]

8 minutes ago, orange87 said:

According to this article, the names of the XFL teams have leaked and Orlando's team will be called the Orlando Guardians.

Well, doggone, do they live at that new place at Epcot? Hanging out with Ellen DeGeneres…

[spenser1058]

Orlando’s new XFL team is the Guardians
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college-gridiron-365/os-sp-orlando-xfl-name-reveal-20221031-qfcutnshvvfdnfgb3soo5llq4u-story.html

(it’s official)

From The Sentinel