Xfl History
The #1 source for XFL news since 2018. Latest players news, scores, draft recaps. XFL Fantasy guides and DFS insight. Breakdown of all the news XFL rules. The History of the XFL There have been several ill-fated attempts to create a professional football league that could serve as an alternative to the NFL. One of the most well-known examples was 2001’s XFL, where the world of pro football was taken to places it hadn’t journeyed before or since. Every XFL game – yes, every XFL game – will air live on national television thanks to our world-class partners: ABC, ESPN, and FOX Sports. During the regular season, four games are scheduled each week at the times football fans love to watch football, typically with two back-to.
In 2020, the XFL will be revived by the chairman and CEO of WWE, Vince McMahon. The first incarnation of the league left behind a legacy of missteps, questionable decisions and failure, but added new innovations to the game that the NFL uses to this day.
The XFL was first introduced in 2000 by McMahon and then-chairman of NBC Sports, Dick Ebersol. They pushed the concept as a more fun alternative to the NFL, which McMahon christened as the “no fun league.”
It ran for one 10 game season with strong ratings for the first week’s games. The debut game had 54 million views, compared to the 84 million Super Bowl XXXV drew. Afterwards, ratings tanked due to poor quality of play, and negative reactions from fans and sports media.
The league had an ever changing rulebook that included no fair catches (a major part of the marketing campaign), no point-after kicks and the controversial opening scramble.
The scramble replaced the coin toss at the beginning of games. One player from each team would line up on the 30 yard line, and fight to retrieve a football sitting at midfield. At the sound of a whistle they’d rush to the ball, and whoever got it chose their possession.
This resulted in many injuries. It included Orlando Rage’s free safety Hassan Shamsid-Deen, who separated his shoulder in the very first scramble. He missed the remainder of the season.
The constant changing of the rules hurt the quality of play as well. Coaches and players struggled with adjusting to the changes. This led to games with little offensive production that was criticized as slow, sloppy and uninteresting by the media.
Another factor in the company’s game quality were the players. There were 475 players involved in the inaugural season’s draft and each team had a roster of 38 athletes, compared to 53 in the NFL, resulting in a lack of depth in non-quarterback positions.
Most eligible players came from either the CFL, the Arena Football League, NFL Europe, were retired NFL players or were previous college players who had gone undrafted by the NFL but had not yet signed with another league.
The presentation of the league was a source of controversy. McMahon was ridiculed by mainstream sports media, due to his connections to fake pro-wrestling. This perception followed the XFL, as few mainstream sports media entities would cover it, and the ones that did were not kind to the organization.
A February 2001 edition of Sports Illustrated featured the XFL on the cover with the description being “sleazy gimmicks and low-rent football.”
McMahon appeared on longtime football analyst Bob Costas’ program “On the Record” in the middle of the season. McMahon’s confrontational and defiant attitude only lowered public opinion of the league.
Costas later commented his feelings on the encounter with McMahon and the league as a whole:
“Everything about it screamed to me schlock and crap. Everything that subsequently occurred validated that impression.”
The addition of wrestling elements such as storylines, commentators playing characters and skits hindered the league as well.
Every team had scantily clad cheerleaders that danced provocatively and were encouraged to participate in storylines and become romantically involved with players. It was an environment fostered by McMahon in an attempt to increase viewership according to the ESPN “30 for 30” film called “This Was the XFL.”
The use of storylines, appearances by WWE personalities such as McMahon and The Rock and games being commentated by wrestling announcers Jesse Ventura, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler damaged the reputation of the league and caused fans and media figures to believe the action was fake and pre-determined like professional wrestling.
Accidents also plagued the season. During the Los Angeles Xtreme versus Chicago Enforcers game in week two, a power outage occurred due to a generator not being fueled. The game was off the air for 15 minutes before the problem was fixed, causing a drop in viewership.
The same game then went into double overtime, and pushed back the airing of “Saturday Night Live” by 45 minutes, angering its creator and influential NBC personality Lorne Michaels.
Teams faced a large number of injuries during the season, with two running their third string quarterback by the end of the season.
These issues led to a loss of $35 million dollars by the end of the season and the ending of the league. It was considered a flop by sports media, those involved with professional football and McMahon himself, who called it a “colossal failure.”
However, some aspects of the XFL lived on after its death. While it wasn’t the first to do so, it popularized the use of the sky cam, which was an overhead shot that focused on the action behind the offense. It was an acclaimed choice and was picked up by the NFL, becoming a staple of their camerawork.
They also used the Bubba cam, which was a cameraman running on the field and getting up close with the action. It did result in a couple injuries, but was applauded for making the presentation look like a video game.
There were some notable players to come out of the XFL as well, including Tommy Maddox and Rod “He Hate Me” Smart.
Maddox was the quarterback for the LA Xtreme and led them to win the final game of the season. He was the league MVP. He then signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2002, leading them to a 10-1-5 season.
He was injured after two more seasons and became a backup to Ben Roethlisberger. He was part of the team when they won Super Bowl XL in 2005.
Rod Smart played for the Las Vegas Outlaws in the XFL and became popular for the phrase on his jersey, “He Hate Me.” It became the highest selling jersey in the league.
Smart explained the meaning of the phrase in 2004:
“Basically, my opponent is going to hate me. After I win, he’s gonna hate me. It is what it is. It’s a saying I was saying when I’d feel something wasn’t going my way.”
He then went on to play for the Philadelphia Eagles for a season, and then joined the Carolina Panthers from 2002 to 2006, winning an NFC Championship in 2003 and playing in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
In total, 39 XFL players went on to play in the NFL. Nine of them played in a Super Bowl and six of them won.
The XFL was a failed experiment that was a spectacle for sports media and fans, and provided innovations in camera work and noteworthy players to the NFL.
Henry Wolski
Executive Editor
There have been several ill-fated attempts to create a professional football league that could serve as an alternative to the NFL. One of the most well-known examples was 2001’s XFL, where the world of pro football was taken to places it hadn’t journeyed before or since.
In an attempt to mix the spectacle-driven world of pro wrestling with traditional American football, the XFL and its owner, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, struggled to gain any kind of traffic with the product. After one year of activity, the league folded.
With the relaunching of the 2020 XFL, McMahon is once again trying his hand in the world of pro football, this time, presenting something far more legitimate. With the new and improved XFL off and running, we have created this XFL history page to help you connect the dots between the two installments of the league and see how it went from a failure to a legitimate sports organization.
History of the Original XFL (2001)
From the very beginning, the original XFL attempted to differentiate itself from its competition by flipping the script on what professional football was at the time. Fusing the entertainment-oriented presentation of WWE professional wrestling with a tweaked version of professional football, the XFL had identity issues from the very beginning of its history.
Due to the novelty of the idea and the apparent effort to offer a new football product to the masses, initial ratings for the league were strong. But as the season went on, this format began to lose appeal. Soon, the on-the-field product was deemed a laughingstock by much of the sports and entertainment worlds.
With the pro wrestling influences seeming contrived and out of place with the caliber of play, and football talent not up to par, the league dwindled down the stretch of what would be its lone season in 2001, leading to it folding soon after play had wrapped.
In the end, the league was viewed as a disastrous failure for McMahon and TV partner NBC, who took a hit of $35 million on the doomed project.
McMahon quickly exited the football world and for the next two decades, the sports community would reflect back on the XFL as something of a humorous blunder.
What Went Wrong With the 2001 XFL?
With the league making its return, many skeptics will wonder if history will repeat the same mistakes that led to its fallout all along. But what exactly went wrong with the XFL? Despite opening to a lot of buzz, the league just could not keep any form of interest going with the public. Here are some of the reasons why:
- A concept that would just not work
- While McMahon had his background in mind when shaping this idea, viewers were ultimately not pleased with the concept of mixing pro wrestling elements with pro football gameplay. The disjointed, poorly executed approach at blending the two worlds led to a lack of respectable identity and negatively impacted the game’s already weak presentation.
- A disastrous broadcast
- Part of the weakness in the XFL’s presentation was the struggle the league had with its game broadcasts the whole season. With a lack of realistic football commentary in lieu of wrestling-oriented storytelling, the shortage of professionalism and emphasis on drama only hurt the league more as the season rolled on. Additionally, having pro wrestling personalities on the call in place of legitimate sportscasters and ex-football players made the product seem even further removed from pro football.
- A plummet in ratings
- Despite strong viewership on the night of its launch, ratings severely dipped in the ensuing weeks to the point where consistent viewership became the league’s biggest problem. Upon the league folding at the conclusion of the lone season, poor ratings and suffering viewership were cited as the main reasons why play could not go on longer.
- Poor caliber of play
- While the broadcasting and production of the league was a mess the whole way through, it was also not helped by what took place on the field. With an obvious gap in talent, paired with strange rules that challenged the conventions of traditional American football, the action seen in the XFL was very subpar for something that was deemed to be football at the professional level.
- An unfamiliar presentation
- While certain elements of the XFL would go on to be staples of football broadcasting, such as aerial shots from sky cams and player audio from on the field microphones worn by the athletes, too much of the XFL product was out of the blue for casual sports fans to fully invest in. Too many people were unsure of what they were watching and, as the action on the field unfolded, it only made it seem more of a hopeless project.
The Future of the New 2020 XFL
For nearly 20 years, all of these miscues hung over the XFL’s history like a storm cloud. But with the league’s successor aiming to eradicate these fatal errors on the second time around, fans and bettors will get to experience something far different than the entertainment circus they witnessed back in 2001.
With the effort aimed to package the brand as a true, professional sports league as opposed to a television experiment, the new XFL is already closer to the NFL than the old XFL could have ever been.
Much of this stems from the league looking to balance out the respect and appreciation for world-class football, but also desiring to make the game more exciting in its own way.
XFL Rule Changes
The rule changes of the XFL help do just that, as the tweaking of certain rules helps add a new element of excitement to the game, while also showcasing the league’s deviation from the NFL.
We have a detailed breakdown of what these rules modifications entail and how they are applied to both the spectatorship and gambling involvement of the league on our XFL rules page.
Xfl History 2001
These rules will have a direct impact on scoring, pacing of the game, style of play, and the wagering ramifications, as their departure from the standard NFL protocol further emphasizes that the league intends to be more than just an alternative source to pro football. The XFL wants its own identity with its own rules associated with it, and doing this is the best way to erase constant XFL vs NFL comparison while still having the luxury of shining light on the parallels between both leagues.
Broadcasting of XFL Games
The issues with the original league’s broadcasts are nonexistent, as the new XFL employs professional commentary from established, network announcers. This is a result of the league’s television partnership with two of the biggest entities in the sports and entertainment worlds, ESPN/ABC, and Fox Sports.
These media outlets serving as the home of the league under the lends of a football contest rather than the prior model will make the league far easier to consume for both casual and diehard sports fans.
With a reputable television presence being carried out by solidified sportscasters rather than scripted WWE personalities, the new XFL’s desire to be a football-first product and a true, mainstream sports league will be easier met and its reputation will benefit from it as a result.
Betting on the XFL
The league is not unaware of the current times as it re-enters the mainstream sports world, so it’s only natural that the new XFL looks to establish footing in the sports betting community. McMahon and company made it clear that the XFL would look to professionally and ethically tap into the sports wagering market, as integrity plans and betting implementation systems have been considered along with the start up.
While the league will need to get the wheels rolling underneath it before generating any kind of significant betting traction, the fact that they’re already considering it shows the brand is looking to capitalize on the growing gambling market.
Xfl History
Online sportsbooks are far more relevant than they were during the original run, so betting handle through the internet is something the XFL can pride itself on having from 2020 onward, in addition to the traditional approach of gambling at a sportsbook.
As the league attempts to streamline their relationship with the sports betting world, and the very entities that keep it running, the company’s overall popularity should see a gradual climb, as more people place their bets each weekend of the return season.
Questions About the History of the XFL
Will Learning About the History of the 2001 XFL Help Me in Understanding the New XFL?
No doubt, even if it is just based on comparison. By comparing the two leagues as business models, one can easily find the variation between the old and new XFL and become informed on why the new league is different.
History Of Xfl
Have There Been Other Sports Leagues Who Have Been Revived After a Failed First Attempt?
Not like this, as the branding and ownership are very much the same for the relaunched XFL. Rather than launching a similar concept under a different name, the new XFL will be a different concept under the same name, providing both continuity and specificity.
Why Was The Xfl Created
Will the New XFL Cover the Sports Betting Market?
Yes, and it is being very proactive in doing so. In fact, the XFL’s friendliness to sports betting is a highlight of their second attempt, and the league is already working on building a strong relationship with the gaming entities required.
Should I Feel Differently About the New XFL Compared to the Original in 2001?
Xfl History 2001
It has corrected the mistakes that plagued the first installment. While the league will still have to discover an identity of its own, its presentation as legitimate football despite being a step down from what is standard is a huge help in gaining respect and attention.